Portland: Old Port Seafood Lovers Tour
Savor a Maine seafood luncheon and learn about Portland’s iconic working waterfront with a knowledgeable local guide.
Cold Maine lobster meat (claws, knuckles and tails picked the morning of) tossed with mayo, salt and lemon, piled onto a buttered and griddled top-split New England roll. Soft-shell season runs late May to September.
The lobster roll is widely credited to Perry's Restaurant in Milford, Connecticut, in the 1920s, when chef Harry Perry put hot buttered lobster meat onto a long bun for a travelling salesman. The Maine-style cold-mayo version evolved separately along the Maine coast through the 1930s and 1940s at shore-side lobster shacks. The top-split bun, baked by J J Nissen Baking Company starting in the 1940s, became the structural canon: flat sides griddle in butter like a panini. Eventide Oyster Co's brown-butter lobster roll on a steamed Bao bun (2012, from Mike Wiley and Andrew Taylor) reset the modern interpretation. Today both styles run at Portland lobster pounds and tasting menus alike.
4 editor picks for Maine lobster roll in Portland, ranked by editorial score. All Portland signature dishes · Maine lobster roll across every city.
Eventide Oyster Co ★ 4.9
india-street · 86 Middle Street, Portland, ME 04101
Eventide Oyster Co on Middle Street opened 2012 from Big Tree Hospitality, rebuilding the Maine oyster bar around a brown-butter lobster roll on a bao.
Scales ★ 4.5
old-port · 68 Commercial Street, Portland, ME 04101
Scales on Maine Wharf opened March 2016 from Sam Hayward, Dana Street and Victor Leon (the Fore Street team) with whole local fish, oysters and a raw bar.
Bite Into Maine at Allagash ★ 4.5
north-deering · 50 Industrial Way, Portland, ME 04103
Bite Into Maine runs its lobster-roll truck and counter at the Allagash Brewing taproom on Industrial Way, Connecticut-style warm butter on a top-split bun.
Boone's Fish House + Oyster Room ★ 4.3
old-port · 6 Custom House Wharf, Portland, ME 04101
Boone's Fish House on Custom House Wharf reopened 2014 on the site of the 1898 original, with Maine lobster rolls, halibut and fish chowder on the deck.
Learn to cook it, or eat it with a guide
Maine lobster roll makes more sense with someone from Portland explaining it. These are the classes and tours we have checked, with booking links.
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