Bar Harbor is located on the southeast strip of Maine, a heaven for foodies. It is conveniently located near Acadia Parkland and boasts some delish and fresh seafood that flies off the coast each morning. Beyond seafood, it also boasts a cultural explosion of delights. This place also offers a variety of cuisines, including Mexican, Italian, Cuban, and other delicacies around the globe. You can’t miss the locally brewed beer.
Bar Harbor is a charming town on Mount Desert Island along the Atlantic coastline. Since Bar Harbor is a coastal town, it is not surprising the city has an excellent seafood scene. The food of the coastal town is quite diverse. Several new English restaurants and bars are on-site, including the famous Old English food, the Italian restaurant, and some great places that serve hand-brewed cocktails.
If you are planning to visit Bar Harbor, then here are some of the best restaurants in Bar Harbor recommendations, in no particular order, that will make your experience amazing.
1. Best Restaurants in Bar Harbor
1.1. The Chart Room
Address: 565 Eden St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, United States
The Chart Room sits just two miles aloof from downtown Bar Harbor on the seaside. It’s a staple among Bar Harbor restaurants and has served for 20 years. It provides an amazing ocean view and various seafood delicacies.
Established in 1992, Chart Room is a stunning waterfront restaurant that is a beautiful choice for couples stopping around the region for a trip to Acadia National Park. It offers indoor and outdoor seating at the Piers and serves a full selection of top-quality continental cuisine. House specialty foods include macadamia nut halibut blackfin tuna, Maine-style crab scamps, and Maine-style boiled lobster. Specialties like prime rib and blackened fish should not be missed as well.
To say their portions are abundant is an underestimation. The restaurant is a summertime favorite of locals and tourists alike.
1.2. The Thirsty Whale Tavern
Address: 40 Cottage St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, United States
As the name implies, Thirsty Whale specializes in stout beverages and delish dishes. The Thirsty Whale is a family-friendly establishment for daytime and part of the local nightlife at night. Thirsty Whale Tavern is a welcoming place downtown that helps you unwind after a hectic schedule.
Thirsty Whale Tavern has a classic American flair. The restaurant has Burger Sandwiches and lots of fresh seafood to tie you in. Everyone on the streets tells you it’s impossible to leave without ordering their signature spicy fried pickles or the grilled Cuban sandwich. Specifically and exclusively, the Thirsty Whale brags about lobster rolls, chowders, and regional craft beers.
It’s an excellent opportunity and time to experience all the cultural offerings of Maine in one place. From delish lobster rolls to a unique offering of craft beers, The Thirsty Whale doesn’t disappoint. Their selection of craft beers includes fourteen draught lines that range from local brewers to those from around the area.
Unfortunately, breakfast isn’t served. The tavern opens at 11 a.m. and allows customers to remain until 1 in the morning. While you can’t begin your morning at The Thirsty Whale Tavern, you’ll be able to end your night there and be amazed by their dinner set.
1.3. Great Maine Breakfast
Address: 15 Cottage St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, United States
The list of my Bar Harbor favorite restaurants can’t be complete without an excellent breakfast spot. Great Maine Breakfast serves up several of the most spartan breakfasts in Bar Harbor. It’s located in downtown Bar Harbor and boasts an incredible view of the sunrise because it peeks over the Cadillac Mountains that grace the realm.
Their menu only uses the freshest ingredients possible; everything is cooked in-house. You won’t find a frozen sausage in sight at Great Maine Breakfast. Gluten-free and vegan options are also available for those with dietary restrictions. Oatmeal pancakes with walnuts are a highlight of their restricted options.
Great Maine Breakfast has made it their goal to expand its gluten-free options on the menu, so keep an eye out for other options being added to the menu. Other breakfast options include blueberry pancakes, tofu scramble, and their special Great Maine Breakfast.
1.4. Rose Eden Lobster
Address: 864 ME-3, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, United States
The Rose Eden Lobster could be an excellent spot for on-the-go seafood without sacrificing the standard of your meal. Formerly called the Travelin’ Lobster, Rose Eden Lobster is now a takeout lobster shack. They serve lobster prepared to travel, also as live Maine lobsters if you’re in a rush to require one at home. As a bonus, they also deliver to local campgrounds, motels, and cottages.
Rose Eden is found just a touch north of Bar Harbor and includes a great location for those traveling and visiting nearby sites. Activities nearby include whale watching, kayaking, bicycling, the Atlantic Brewery, Pirate’s Cove Adventure Golf, a drive-in theatre, and the gorgeous Acadia Park.
It’s an excellent popular spot to urge a fast bite when traveling.
1.5. 2 Cats Restaurant
Address: 130 Cottage St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, United States
2 Cats incorporates a history that spans 20 years in Bar Harbor. It’s been featured in Down East Magazine and quickly became a staple within the Bar Harbor restaurant scene.
Two Cats is more than an early-night eatery. It’s a local staple. The cafe has a huge following, serving 250 breakfasts daily during the summer. They pridefully make their meal fun yet make it all homey and delicious. They serve typical breakfast options like pancakes, bread, omelets, and many kids-sized meals. It’s a well-liked tourist destination and boasts between 300-500 breakfasts every morning when the tourist season is at its peak. They’re known for delivering fresh seafood as well. You’ll also find chocolate pancakes smothered in paste, homemade granola, and traditional breakfast menu items.
Everything is created from scratch, down to the fruit juice. Expect your OJ to be freshly squeezed for your pleasure. Nearly everything is served on small plates. The casual and calm atmosphere may remind you of your home when growing up. The walls are salmon-pink, appropriately themed, perfect for the nearby coastline.
Unfortunately, they’re only open for breakfast and at certain times during the year. They usually operate from January to September and are available on weekends during January and February. If you discover and explore yourself attempting to find Bar Harbor restaurants at the correct time, you will feel blessed enough to experience what everyone raves about.
1.6. Galyn’s
Address: 17 Main St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, United States
You’ll find Gayln’s in the corner of Bar Harbor, near the town pier. Galyn’s is a traditional Downeast dining venue in an old Victorian-era boarding house since 1986 and offers a delicious choice of seafood dishes and handcrafted steaks with a variety. This Family Restaurant, managed by married duo Gail and Rick Leiser, is governed by Larry Jones as Executive Chef. The space has diverse artwork and décor and features five dining rooms.
Fresh Maine lobsters include lobster enchiladas, seafood plates, or boiled whole lobsters. Creative seafood menus range from Maine-style crab cakes & shrimp Lafayette to daily fresh fish caught on rice and seasonally grown vegetables. They specialize in hand-cut steaks and fresh seafood and have operated for over 30 years. Their success isn’t any doubt associated with the magnificent food they prepare daily.
Galyn’s is often considered a fine dining establishment, but don’t worry about wearing the proper clothes. It’s casual enough for jeans and a T-shirt, but you’ll desire you’re in an exceedingly much classier environment. Their dining rooms are plastered with art right along the walls. Locals and tourists enjoy taking within the artwork and observing its intricacies while enjoying one of the best restaurants in Bar Harbor.
Whether you want an off-the-cuff lunch/dinner or a date night, Galyn’s is a superb pick. Outside seating is obtainable on their wrap-around patio. At night, candlelight will light your table to produce a finer dining experience.
Fresh Maine lobster, hand-cut steaks, fresh local fish, and a range of wines and beers make this restaurant too good to pass up. Some say they’re known to hold the most effective lobster in Bar Harbor. Their food is taken each morning because the cannon fodder is brought in. You won’t find fresh seafood anywhere else in this region. Likewise, their local beer, wine, and cocktail list is extensive. They include local beers and aged wines that aren’t commonly found.
1.7. Havana
Address: 318 Main St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, United States
Havana will gladly prove you wrong if you think traditional American seafood is the only thing Bar Harbor restaurants offer. Havana is an elegant American cuisine destination near Acadia National Park, providing dinner services for the past 20 years. The restaurant works with numerous local suppliers and producers, including a Mandala Farm and a Downtown Organic Farm, for the best American food each evening.
Entrees feature incredibly delicious seafood paellas, filet mignon, and flank steak. Sharing appetizers are available for two, including meat dishes, oyster cakes, and empanadas. They use fresh seafood and naturally raised meat products to bring quality meals with a Latin flair to them, which makes them unique and memorable at the same time.
Naturally raised means your meat won’t be fed steroids, antibiotics, or hormones. They’re also ensured to be humanely raised. It’s worth what they care deeply about, and customers cherish them for it.
They partner with several local farms to produce their meats and own their organic garden for the produce. You’ll find the organic garden in downtown Bar Harbor. Havana takes its food seriously; few other restaurants can say the same.
If you want wine on, you’ll be pleased to understand Havana is well recognized for its excellence in the world of wine. They’re famously one of two Maine restaurants that have received the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence. Beyond simply winning the award, they’ve won it each year since 2004. Good food and great wine could be a hard pair to beat. This, plus their unique blend of Latin flair and seafood, makes this restaurant land on the must-visit list of Bar Harbor restaurants for tourists and locals alike.
1.8. Jordan’s Restaurant
Address: 80 Cottage St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, United States
Jordan is a family-owned restaurant in Bar Harbor. It was established when the family saw the community’s need for a home-style restaurant. It would be ten times more pleasant to describe Jordan’s than the breakfast chain, but it was more like home-cooked meals served on a plate. Jordan’s restaurant serves lunch and does the usual dinner dishes. It’s a good place for lunch every day, at night. Whatever your appetite for lunch or breakfast is, try their Maine blueberry pancakes or muffins, which they are famous for.
They’re home to the excellent Wild Maine Blueberry Muffin. The entire restaurant focuses on featuring wild Maine blueberry products. While they’ve evolved to serve food that doesn’t use blueberries, they create a degree to supply as many delicious meals that include them as possible.
The only downside is that they’re seasonal, like many Bar Harbor restaurants. Due to the scarcity of tourists, you won’t find them open during the off-season. However, when they’re available from early April through late November, you’ll find the restaurant full of happy customers.
1.9. Side Street Café
Address: 49 Rodick St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, United States
Side Street Café boasts you can live like a local after eating here. They’re not lying. Side Street Café has been in existence since 2008. This project offered Bar Harbor residents and their families a safe place to gather to drink and enjoy comfort foods. Sidestreet Cafe has everything local. The restaurant specializes in comforting foods like hamburgers, sandwiches, soups, and mac and cheese dishes. When you return, you can’t go without trying the famous seafood mac and cheese, the roast crab dip, and the meatballs sub.
The café provides a welcoming, relaxed atmosphere perfect for families, casual lunches, and professional dinners. It’s a relaxed environment welcoming anyone trying to find a decent bite of fresh seafood and other delectable meals. Their menu could be a seasonal one. You’ll expect it to rotate depending on the time of year. They do this to confirm that they only provide the freshest ingredients at that time of year.
They are the proper place for creative nutrients. From seafood to steaks to hamburgers to Tex-Mex foods, Street Café provides it. Customers love the various menus and quality of service they’re known to supply.
The menus are rotating and seasonal, and so is the drink menu. Cocktails, beers, and wine all change as the season does. This helps keep the restaurant’s menu fresh and new so you can have a unique dining experience with each visit.
It’s no wonder Street Café is marked as one of the best restaurants in Bar Habor.
1.10. Atlantic Brewing Company
Address: 15 Knox Rd, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, United States
If you’re a beer lover, Atlantic Brewing has you covered. The local brewery is open throughout the year and is popular for its craft beers. They use varying amounts of their core ingredients to create unique beers that are a joy to taste consistently. By only tampering with some ingredients, you’ll also find that their beers are similar yet different. Once you’ve been hooked, you’ll want to do all of them.
Originally, the Atlantic Brewing Company was Acadia Brewing after they began their journey in 1990. This was done to honor the Acadia Park that resides nearby. They started with only one barrel to pump out all of their products. Their popularity boomed soon after, and they began maneuvering to their new location, where they’ve cemented themselves as a Bar Harbor staple.
The success wasn’t short-lived, as they moved again in 1999. They’re known in their final spot on Knox Road, where they craft dozens of beers for the masses.
Beyond beer, Atlantic Brewing Company dishes up standard pub grub that features burgers, fried foods, and a range of seafood. Expect to depart a small amount tipsy and with a full stomach.
2. Other Honorary Mentions
2.1 The Reading Room Restaurant:
The Reading Room Restaurant has been operating since 1998 under the direction of executive chef Louis Kiefer. The restaurant offers a beautiful ambiance with views of Frenchmans Bay and serves daily dishes primarily sourced from Downeast Maine for breakfast.
Address: 1 Newport Dr, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, United States
2.2 The Terrace Grille:
Terrace Grille is one of Bar Harbors’ best outdoor dining locations at the beautiful Bar Harbor Inn. The seasonal restaurant features stunning front garden seating for meals and dinners every day, and seating is provided in a first-come, first-served manner.
Address: 1 Newport Dr, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, United States
2.3 Burning Tree Restaurant:
In 1987, Burning Tree Restaurant was founded by owner and chefs Allison Martin and Elmer Beal Jr. It offers a wide range of dishes crafted with locally sourced ingredients from producers in Mount Desert Island and nearby islands. Menus are regularly revised based on the local bounty, with an approximate dozen seafood entrees accompanied by two chicken and three vegetarian options.
Address: 69 Otter Creek Dr, Otter Creek, ME 04660, United States
2.4 Mama Dimatteos:
Mama Dimatteos has served classic and sophisticated pasta dishes and entrees since 1985. The hotel opens at 4:30 p.m. to enjoy the Happy Hour and dinner service and features an impressive array of rustic and traditional Italian cuisine. The meat options in the country vary from tender duck confit to luscious Gorgonzola steak, and sea options include crab-filled shellfish, shrimp, coral vodka, and scalloped mussels fra dialog.
Address: 34 Kennebec Pl, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, United States
Conclusion
Bar Harbor restaurants are available in many shapes and sizes and offer different delicacies and flavors. Bar Harbor provides the best and most exotic flavors worldwide, which one should not miss out and if you are a foodie, then definitely try these restaurants. Bar Harbor is heaven for those whose first love is only about food.
Last Updated on by Sathi Chakraborty, MSc Biology
