Cousins Maine Lobster Restaurant - Pier 41 San Francisco — Restaurant in San Francisco

Service to Seafood it’s Not Maine

I was visiting a couple of weeks ago and stumbled upon this restaurant during Google searching for a place my parents would enjoy. One loves lobster, the other clams. Seeing the Maine Specialities listing fried whole belly clams was a shock and made this a must go. We decided to visit for lunch on Saturday, July 5. I downloaded the app and checked the hours, 11:30 - 9 pm. We get there at 11:55 and the door is locked. Hours on the door actually list 11 as opening on Saturdays. A staffer inside indicated (talking through the close doors) they’d open at noon. We decided to wait. The doors open a little after noon and staff starts bringing chairs out. We go inside, but a different staff member says they aren’t open. He explains they are opening late this morning because they were open late the night before. Says 12:30. At this point hungry, but still wanting this food and with no one else nearby having whole belly clams, we wait. 12:20 we’re back near the entrance and see a line inside! We get in line, and get excited. We reach the front and I place my order then my dad orders his clams and the staffer said “we don’t have clams.” Deadpan. No apologies, no explanation. Nothing. When we ask what he means, he checks with another staffer who says there are no clams today. My dad doesn’t even respond, he just walks away angry and dejected. At this point we waited nearly 50 minutes (that line moves SLOW) to find out they didn’t have one of their menu specialities in stock.

Clearly this place is run by people who don’t know how to run a restaurant or don’t care. If they knew how, a sign would’ve been up in the door apologizing for the late opening and the anticipated opening hours. They would’ve had tape over the Maine Specialty Whole Belly Clams item on the giant menu right outside the doorway. They would’ve tried to make it up to us rather than see us walk away.

Now this franchise has a food truck trying to break into my home city. As a guy who grew up with nostalgia about visiting an actual Maine food hut with family, I should be a dream customer for them. Instead I recommend everyone I know avoid this place. If you’re on the Wharf, go try Chowder Hut instead. They got us in and out fast, made sure we had everything we needed, and were very reasonable prices on...

Solid first-time experience at Cousins Maine Lobster – good flavors, great tots, just a bit underwhelming on portion size.

I recently tried Cousins Maine Lobster for the first time and went with the San Francisco Special (Connecticut Edition) — a warm lobster roll served with lemon butter on a soft, toasted New England-style roll.

The flavors were definitely good. The lobster was fresh and tender, and the lemon butter added a nice richness without overpowering the meat. The roll was warm and lightly toasted, which gave it a great texture. However, the portion of lobster felt a little small for the price. It tasted good, just didn’t quite have that “wow” factor I was hoping for.

We also got a side of tater tots, and honestly, they were the surprise highlight — crispy, golden, and fried to perfection. They were hot, crunchy on the outside, fluffy inside, and seasoned just right. If you’re on the fence about adding tots to your order, do it.

Service was friendly and the food came out relatively quickly. It’s definitely a fun spot to try, especially if you’re craving lobster in the city.

Overall, it was a solid meal and I’d try them again — maybe next time I’ll go for the Maine-style cold lobster roll to compare. 4 stars for quality, service, and those perfect tots — just wished the lobster roll packed a bit more punch...

We came to SF for 4 days and 2 of those days we ate at Cousins Main Lobster Restaurant. 1000000% recommend this restaurant. The food was phenomenal. We tried the new garlic butter lobster roll, the lobster tacos, the clam chowder soup and also the lobster bisque soup. ZERO complaints on the food! It was soooo good! The food quality was also consistent both times. The service… the service was also great! They were so friendly and kind. It’s very nice to see people enjoy what they do and show that vibe to their customers. One woman even remembered us from a few days prior and helped celebrate my sister’s birthday! Soooo sweet of her! Then the atmosphere, personally I loved it. The food board is so clear and visually appearing and each time I look at it I see something else I want to try. I wish we had this resturant where I am from. They also have a very nice looking and clean restaurant. They have pics on the wall with Shark Tank and Celebrities and a tv screen that I watched continuously with several people they have come across on their journey of building a brand. If you are in the area please go! The food it top notch! They also have a food truck we...