The Fiddlehead Restaurant

There is nothing not to love about The Fiddlehead restaurant in Bangor, Maine. I walk past this place several times a week in the evenings. It’s always full of folks who really look like they’re having a great time. It looks warm and unpretentious, cozy and fun. So, I called for a reservation (highly recommend you call ahead). Even before we arrived, the gracious staff inquired about any dietary restrictions or concerns in our party. I had ever experienced that level of attention before, at any level of dining experience. Laura (who also happens to run Fiddlehead Farm, which provides the restaurant’s produce in season) enthusiastically greeted us at the door. We were seated immediately, and welcomed again by our server, just after Laura broke down the menu, let us know from where key ingredients were sourced and answered our questions. Now, how would you expect a meal to go from there? Exactly. This was a perfect experience from beginning to farm-​to-​table end. Fiddlehead is everything you want in a restaurant: genuinely friendly, locally-​sourced, reasonably priced and, of course, DELICIOUS. Go see the fine folks at Fiddlehead. They know what they’re doing and have clearly thought through the entire dining experience from the diner’s perspective. I can’t wait to go back.

Great spot! Food is fresh and outstanding, very friendly staff and it’s hands down one of the best places I’ve found in Bangor. Stop in, you won’t regret it!

We passed through Bangor heading up to Katahdin.
Our expectations were low, as Bangor is a relatively small town. Fiddlehead served a very interesting menu, including the namesake fiddlehead ferns, and had a nice beer selection.
This is likely the best restaurant within 50 miles.

I wish I could move this restaurant and their staff back to NJ with us! The owner Laura has created a NYC quality restaurant in her cool vibe Fiddleheads.
The atmosphere is very cozy and inviting and all the staff are awesome. The owner actually takes the time to stop at each table to make sure the meal is being enjoyed, which is pretty rare nowadays.
The food was excellent and is an eclectic mix of dishes, including vegetarian. I had the Scallops which were accompanied by roasted cauliflower and sautéed cabbage. I had watercress soup which was amazing! My only caveat if you order it is…“you have to like watercress” as our server stated.
The bartender is very talented and puts out some crazy good drinks that are unique to them.
Finished up our meal with French press coffee and we were good to go! Definitely tip my hat to the ownership for creating a really special place.

Let’s start with the food. I had the scallops, they tasted fresh and I would say it was one of the best tasting scallop dishes that have had. The light handed use of salt was not a issue with me, I liked the natural and freshness of the dish. The cabbage accompaniment was very tasty as well.
I was greeted shortly after finding the entrance. I was given ample information about the local/​regional beers to make my selection. That was followed by a thorough explanation of the current dishes. The complimentary cornbread was great and set the tone for the rest of the meal.
The selection of local/​regional beers was nice and the food was great. I would defiantly eat there again, highly recommend if you like fine food and friendly and attentive staff

Blown away by Laura, our host. I’ve never seen a host be so involved in the customers’ well being and the servers’ success. She very naturally and enthusiastically explained the menu, while adding personal connection. The food and drinks were amazing, and I will forever be thoroughly impressed by the quality and service that I experienced.

I would have to say that this is one of my top two restaurants in all of Bangor. Their menu tends to change seasonally, which is great for trying new dishes! The staff here is incredibly nice, and are very knowledgeable about the food, even where it is sourced from! This restaurant gets most of their meat and produce locally — keeping it local — always cool in my book! The owner frequently comes out to mingle with patrons, and really knows how to make you feel at home. I will say that this restaurant is one of the pricier places in town, but I believe it’s worth every penny. Dessert alone will have you singing from the rooftops! (Crème brûlée cheesecake anyone?) I would recommend making a reservation when dining here, and make sure to get an app, entrée and dessert! The mixed drinks are great, but my favorite drink is actually non alcoholic — the cucumber mint lemonade is tart but flavorful — I usually have at least 3! The cornbread served with molasses to start is perfect! We usually get a few servings! As much as they will give us to be honest! I would recommend The Fiddlehead Restaurant anytime, any day, but I think it shines best for a special occasion!

Easily the best restaurant in greater Bangor. Mel is a genius in the kitchen and Laura is a lovely hostess. Their wait staff is beyond accommodating. North of Portland no one’s even close.

The Fiddlehead Restaurant is one of our favorite restaurants of all time! We just had another amazing meal on February 13^th at this trendy little restaurant in Bangor. Not sure why there isn’t a two month wait to get a reservation! It is our go to place to celebrate anything worth celebrating, and once again, owners Laura & Melissa outdid themselves! We only offer two «minor» suggestions: 1^st, some candlelight on the table would help us middle-​age folk who have poor eyesight in dim lighting, and 2^nd– the size/​price of the starters, which is the 1^st course on their menu. They are rather light on the portion size for the price. They range from $ 8-​$ 10 with the cheese plate at $ 13, and we always order a couple on every visit, but consistently they are more in line with a tapas plate as opposed to a starter size. We would prefer to either have a portion size where we could both have a couple of bites, or see them priced more accordingly in the $ 6-​$ 8 range with the cheese plate at $ 10. These are really our only suggestions, but we think it’s worth mentioning. Entrees are fairly priced at $ 17-​$ 36, with nightly special offerings, and portions are plentiful.
We have tried various entrees over the years, but the beef tenderloin is the best we’ve ever had, and we have dined in many large cities throughout the U.S. I wish I could remember the farm that raises the beef they use because I’d mention them, but take it from a Filet Mignon lover– it is THAT GOOD! This time out, we ordered the beef tenderloin ($ 36) and the lamb chops ($ 27) along with a bottle of Michael Sullberg Merlot ($ 24) from Sonoma County, which made for a perfect pairing. We started with a couple of cocktails– the «Petal Pusher» which is a grapefruit infused vodka martini, and the best gin-​based Bloody Mary I have ever tasted. It was full of horseradish and stone-​ground mustard, and left the most amazing taste in my mouth. It really got my taste buds ready for the great meal ahead! Chef Melissa’s cornbread is out of this world. I am an LCB trained chef and I’ve tried to duplicate it, but no dice. She OWNS that recipe! We didn’t have dessert on this trip as we were literally too full, but the offerings were very tempting. We ordered a take-​out meal for our DD– the bacon-​ground beef burger ($ 17) and it looked amazing when he opened it, and he said it was fantastic! One of the best parts of our visit (as always) are the staff. Chef Melissa works the back-​of-​house, while Laura works the front-​of-​house. We have never met Melissa, but Laura is a delight and always greets us by name, comes to our able, and makes us feel very special. Carly was our server on this visit, and she was engaging and informative, making for a great dining experience. The ambiance of exposed brick and small intimate table-​seating are some of the many things we love about Fiddlehead’s. On our previous visit in October, we sat at the bar (a great experience too) and we were served, delighted, and entertained for almost 2 hours by David, who we were told is leaving. DAVID DON’T LEAVE!!!
The Fiddlehead Restaurant is fine dining and a real shining star of a gem in a sea of rather mediocre offerings in Bangor, but they will be a standout no matter what comes to the community! We have tried some of the other restaurants in the area just to see, and we are always disappointed we didn’t choose Fiddlehead’s instead. We won’t make that mistake again. Fiddlehead Restaurant is on my speed-​dial!

This is in my top 3 restaurants in Bangor. The staff are amazing, the atmosphere intimate, and the food is fresh and made to order every time. I’m always made to feel at home here. The cocktail menu is one of a kind with lots of creative concoctions. Fantastic wine list as well.

The side entrance to Fiddlehead sets the tone immediately. You’ll see what I mean.
Then the service, granted it’s a slow Wednesday mid-​November night. Going solo on a biz trip brings me to the usual bar seat. There I’m greeted by a wonderfully friendly and knowledgeable lady tender. The drink choice of specialty cocktails, bottled beers and liquor is classy, creative and extensive.
The included cornbread with molasses is a phenomenal flavor combo. Amazing, in fact.
My crab kale balerene was outrageously flavorful. Although I was looking to stay low carb I was glad I went a little wild tonight. Very glad I did. Spectacular meal.
Now it’s not cheap but it’s certainly worth the $ 27 tab.
…on to Portland.

Have been here several times since moving to Bangor and it is excellent every time. Local vendors, great combinations on plates — super tasty.
Great wine and drink selection — strict on IDs, forgot mine and was not served. Understandable, but don’t forget your id!
Menu changes regularly. Will come back with specifics next time I dine there!

The food and the waitstaff were amazing! Everything was local and delicious! I’d drive 7 hours to come back here!

This place was amazing. Great service great wine and even better food.

Can’t say enough good things about the Fiddlehead. The service is amazing, the food is phenomenal, and the cocktails are ridiculously good. Rotating seasonal menu of food and cocktails keeps it interesting. They use as much local meat and vegetables as possible. It’s my absolute favorite place to eat in Bangor.

As part of our typical trek back home, the wife and I always stop in Bangor and we finally made it to Fiddlehead this go around. She called and made a reservation as we were driving to Bangor and we lucked out as it is a smallish restaurant. Bangor’s finest firefighters were responding to an alarm in the courtyard where the usual entrance is, so they let us in a different door, straight off the street. Either way, we made our reservation time. We quickly got some waters and the owner of the place came over and talked to us about the menu and the restaurant before our server came to take our drink orders. The beer menu had several local options which was nice, but their claim to fame is their cocktail menu. The wife had a couple of those, the petal pusher and the c’est rah. She really enjoyed the petal pusher, which had a grapefruit flavor to it.
On to the food options, the wife really wanted the papusas and our server recommended them, so that was easy. She also took the chèvre appetizer which was her highlight of the night. As appetizer, I went light with the smoke scallop salad, but then I was torn on the main. Our server’s other recommendation was the lobster grilled cheese, but the pork belly was calling my name. Ultimately, I told her to decide between the 2 and surprise me. I was pretty confident that I was getting a good dish either way based on the descriptions. In the end, the pork belly, or should I say a huge piece of pork belly came out. The pork belly was awesome and cooked to perfection. I did see the lobster grilled cheese at another table and I can assure you that it looked great too. For dessert, we chose the homemade ice cream (vanilla and cherry) and sorbet (passion fruit/​kiwi). Both choices were just the right amount. The sorbet was awesomely tart, I guess from the kiwi, good stuff. The wife almost got the chèvre appetizer again for dessert, so as I said earlier it was definitely her highlight. From start to finish, drinks, service and food were on point this evening. We would definitely return, especially since the menu changes seasonally and frequently.

I lived in Bangor for 10 years, and during that time I was a regular at The Fiddlehead.
It’s hard to say anything negative about the place. The staff are engaged/​interested/​invested/​informed, and it shows in their work. Everyone takes pride in everything.
Drinks are fantastic, and the food is seasonal, and executed perfectly.

If your in bangor you need to experience this place. The fiddlehead would easily be one of the best restaurants in Brooklyn or boston so I was more than willing to go there twice on my last work trip to bangor. The staff was really amazing they went out of there way to accommodate one of our party members with a food allergy and the meals were hands down incredible.
I had the lamb and the burger (which was probably the best burger I’ve ever had, I’ve been contemplating this for a few weeks now and I really can’t put anything above it… I’ll compare it to the brindle room in Lower east side as the 2 best in the north east). One person at out table said the salmon was the best he ever had. Well in his own words «all other salmon I’ve ever had has been a lie»

This is, hands down, the best restaurant in Bangor. The chef is a goddess — she comes up with fun, creative seasonal dishes with a local emphasis, and creates burgers– yes, burgers! — that are enough to tempt you away from the incredible entrees.
Craft cocktails are my jam, and Fiddleheads’ menu had me in tears of relief after moving here from Providence (a foodie Mecca). The desserts never fail to tempt (if there’s a crème brûlée, get the crème brûlée!). The cheese plates are artful and always creative. I’d tell you what to get, but the seasonal menu changes often enough (such a great feature) that my favorite thing changes with it.
Despite all this, it may be the service that has me coming back again and again. They greet us like family, they accommodate us last-​minute, sans reservation, and when they can’t, act disappointed (they’ve never looked down their nose at us when we walk in on a whim; reservations are strongly recommended, though– it’s a small place!). It’s our go-​to place for celebrations, for a break from culinary boredom, and for when we want to impress. They’ve never let us down.

Went here with my wife and her family while vacationing in Dedham and had an extraordinary experience. As soon as we stepped in the door we were greeted by the hostess who remembered speaking to my mother-​in-​law on the phone and was very pleasant. We were shown our table very quickly and met our server David who did a great job. Very polite and always asked permission to clear plates and glasses even if they were clean or empty. Would highly recommend asking for him if you stop in. He was always checking in on us to see if we needed anything and someone was always there to refill water when our glassed were getting low.
Food was exceptional as well. I had the fiddlehead burger with the chicken dumplings as an appetizer and ice cream sandwich of the day for dessert. Dumplings were delicious and the burger was tasty as well. The burger comes with ground bacon, tomato, chiptole mayo sour cream, sweet corn aioli, sautéed greens, and sautéed rainbow swiss chard. All the flavors mixed together gave the burger a great taste!
I would highly recommend The Fiddlehead for dinner. It is street parking but we arrived shortly before 430 on a weekday and had no problem finding a place to park. Will definitely go back again next year!