Claws — Restaurant in Rockland

Over-rated tourist trap. This place has a decent location with a view of the Rockport harbor, but that’s where the magic ends. The food was not that good, and very expensive. We had several other similarly expensive meals the week we were in the area, but the others were exceptionally good and somewhat justified the price. This did not. The service was also managed in an odd way that was far from efficient. We first waited in line for almost an hour to get to the single ordering window. Where one girl is taking orders. I don’t know, but if I were operating a business that regularly had lines where people were waiting for an hour, I’d add another order window or two to improve the flow. The girl taking the orders was friendly enough, but spent an inordinate amount of time trying to upsell us into ordering their blueberry cobbler desert. We clearly said we didn’t want it right off the bat, but she kept trying, which only served to increase the wait of those in line and generally made the process that much more awkward. After ordering, you’re sent to a bar window to pick up your beverages. There, a girl is preparing the drink orders and lining them up on the bar at the window. Now, there is no indication of what drinks go with what order, except once in a while the girl calls out an order number in a thick Russian accent. So people are standing around not knowing if the drinks on the counter are theirs or some else’s. Which brings another issue., you are forced to stand in a high-triaffic area where you are in the way of the servers and other patrons coming and going, and so getting bumped into as you try to pick up and carry your drinks. However, the most frustrating thing was the bar tender missed one of drinks and another drink in our order was incorrect. Maybe if the girl at the order window focused more on getting orders right instead of upselling deserts, this wouldn’t have happened. The bartender fixed the incorrect drink because we caught it before she poured it, but copped an attitude about the missing drink. The owner or manager stepped in and unapologetically said “just give it to him” which seemed to imply that I was in the wrong and asking for something I hadn’t ordered or paid for. Not the case.

Finally, we received our food, which was very mediocre. The lobster rolls were bland with barely any mayo and no seasoning or flavor. Nowhere near as good as others we had at other places during the week. The others in our party that had other items also reported them to be mediocre at best. In short, of all the dining experiences we had in the Camden, Rockland and Boothbay areas during the week, this was the least satisfying by far. We left here feeling ripped off. Do yourself a favor and give it a miss. There are many far...

It was a fun place to try out. I got the trio salad. It didn't come out looking like other online pics is all I can say. Firstly they were out of crab salad so you could upgrade to a "double portion" of lobster for another 6$ or get double shrimp. These are the smaller shrimp you'd find in shrimp salad mostly anywhere. Not tiny but not anything you'd see on a main entree or shrimp cocktail. I am uploading a couple of pics so you can see the portion of this shrimp after eating two. The first pic is of the salad as it came out. Cleverly they stacked all the salads on top of each other so you can't really judge what you are getting. After realizing I didn't seem to have much shrimp I pulled the "double portion" of lobster off and was not pleased with the shrimp portion. Not nice guys. That was a bit of a switch the bait when you were already out of the crab and ipcharged for the lobster. The lobster portion was nice. But it was a double so... the upside is that the veggies were delicious and the flavor overall was good overall. They need to cut the veggies more though. Glad I was not on a date bc that salad is messy even after attempting to cut it myself. The blueberry vinaigrette was mostly oil but it wasn't bad. Ranch was not good. More like a sour cream dill tzatziki kind of thing. I paid 49$ (small fries at 4$ and iced tea at 3.50 plus tax and tip, salad approx 32) bucks for the experience. Once fine. I liked the atmosphere on a cool day. I'm a Floridian so this gave off some Florida seafood shack vibes I appreciate. Lots of summer work and travel students (people be nice I saw on guy being so rude to one of these young people bc she brought him oyster crackers instead of saltines; what a cretin. they work hard to be here and it's not easy to get that visa and they pay us often not so much as they had imagined so for gods...

Claws is an institution that you can not miss. As a local to the Midcoast I look forward to when they open for the season and get pretty bummed when it’s the last week- and it’s convenient location makes it hard not to stop on a more regular basis whenever I’m driving by. The views are outstanding and it’s an excellent place to wait for the ferry to Vinalhaven or North Haven because you can see the ferry enter the harbor just past the breakwater/lighthouse. The menu is just large enough to have everything you would want, without doing too much. If you’re looking for seafood on the coast- this is it. Either boiled or fried, the selection is there. Voted best lobster roll in consecutive years - I can understand why (options and amazing quality.) This particular visit I took my mom out for a friend haddock sandwich- perfectly cooked, delicious batter, not greasy - and complimented by a buttery bun and the freshest veg. The lobster Rangoon was 10/10 and I will be getting them more often now that I’ve tasted how incredible they are - the dipping sauce was zesty and delicious. Once you order at the window (there is usually a lengthy line so be patient and don’t complain - it’s worth the wait to order) you can choose your own seating on the deck that is partially covered, but very open air. It’s certainly nice to be able to wait with such an incredible view, and they give you a little toy/plastic lobster with your order on it to give it that fun authentic summer in Maine feel. Highly recommend for everyone of all ages and group size. Food comes out fast, fresh, and staff is very friendly, accommodating and is one of my favorite places in all of...