The Looking Glass Restaurant

Excellent service and food. Tom is most accommodating and Joe an excellent chef. Seafood great and view from restaurant and patio spectacular. Ask Tom for wine recommendation! I had the vegan soup as well and lived the flavors.

Considering service, food, atmosphere, and price the following objectively resulted in a sub par experience.
Service: our waitress was not very well trained (lacked common conversational skills, was not pleasant, and had a robot demeanor).
Food: average, simple flavors, no aesthetic for presentation. Similar meals should easily be half the price.
Atmosphere: this was the only positive experience. Nice view of Bar Harbor, and surrounding islands. Nice to be more secluded from the downtown foot traffic.
Price: the price was not reflective of the food and service received; overpriced by 100% (i.e. should be half the price).
Everyone once in a while I run into these types of places where they want to be higher end, so they price accordingly, but they do not deliver to that standard on anything else other than price.
We would possibly only return for drinks and the view.
The ONLY way I would return to eat here would be if every other restaurant in Bar Harbor, blew up at the same time, and they didn’t have time to make a stand out front of their blown up restaurant to serve food.

Delicious breakfast with a beautiful view from the outdoor patio. Had the breakfast sandwich and blueberry pancakes. Got to bring our dog and the nice waitress brought her water. We ate here two days in a row for breakfast. Was great!

View nice of water but also overlooks a motel setting. Sat for awhile to get any service. Supposedly acclaimed wine list. Mediocre at best. Food ok, but fair at best. Falafel came out a bit cold after a long wait. Loin Of pork was decent. But overall disappointing for the price.

We should have listened to Britney. Her review was spot on. The view was great, the food average to below average. This is a very pricey place and not worth the money spent.

We enjoyed the view, which was spectacular. We sat on the deck with a group of friends. The atmosphere was very nice and relaxing. I do not think they were really prepared for the sheer number of people in our group though (there were at least 30 of us). Therefore the service was a bit slow and there were some mix ups which everyone sorted through in a pleasant way. Because we sat on the deck, we were only offered pub fare. The food was well presented, and it was okay, but not great, hence three stars. If you are looking for ambiance though, the deck is nice, and even offers a fire pit. I don’t drink alcohol, but my drinking friends said the spirits were excellent.

Beautiful views and decent service. The food was a big let down. Pricey entrees, which is fine, but everything was super bland. The median age was about 58, which should have tipped us off. Their cocktails tasted like straight booze with soda water. Bread was cold, butter was frozen solid, and portions were really small. We went out for pizza afterward…

Please overlook all the negative reviews. Its a whole new experience! I was invited to the first seating of 2015. and feel very lucky. It was a limited menu, opening night is May 1^st. But everything was fabulous. My first course was a GF mushroom tart with goat cheese, a perfect appetizer portion for one, or a tasting for two. The crust was flakey and I could not tell the difference from non-​gf. I let my mom have a bite and then greedily devoured the rest. For my dinner entrée, I had the Filet and it was cooked to a perfect medium! My moms lobster risotto on the side of her Halibut was so delicious I ate some of it, I am not a seafood fan. Yum. Where I found room to finish with a mini cheesecake with a raspberry sauce, Im not sure, but it was a lovely finish to a near perfect meal. All three course came out in a timely manner, and when we were seated, three other parties entered at the same time. As far as smiling faces at the door, you can count on many. The view is amazing, too!

We had breakfast here both mornings of our stay in Bar Harbor. Between it being off-​season and a major winter storm, there weren’t many options for breakfast, but it worked out great since The Looking Glass was so tasty.
Over the two days, we had the granola, Bar Harbor breakfast, blueberry pancakes, and Maine coast omelet. They were all fantastic. The blueberries tasted fresh, as did the lobster (of course), and the granola was huge! The prices are a little steep, but I don’t mind paying a little extra for the amazing view. The first day, the storm obscured some of our view, but day #2 was awesome — mountains, fishing boats, islands, rooftops of Bar Harbor… it was pretty great.

Hmm, where do I start? I hate giving negative reviews but I have to say this place gave me no choice.
I researched some places and this seemed like a good place but huge CON, they are a hotel restaurant no matter how they try and twist it. I come from NY Metropolitan area.
Let me preface this by saying I loved our waiter. And we loved the guy who was making the homemade Ravioli. Both very pleasant and nice.
The Hostess should take some lessons from them on how to be nice to a person and not treat them like 2^nd Class citizens or that they don’t belong at the restaurant.
So here is the story–
It was my 20^th wedding anniversary so we wanted to go somewhere nice. I researched the area and figured we would try this place, it was new to us, close and it raved about its views.
Mistake number one– Can’t see anything that great at night.
We were walking in and we saw a couple and asked how it was. They had said it was okay but asked if we had made reservations and we didn’t
We walked in and the hostess asked the same question and we answered. Now mind you it was about 7:10 PM and we figured we would have to wait. She told us they were «BOOKED» and that we would have to wait at least until 8:15 –8:30 before we were seated or we could eat at the bar. I didn’t want to eat at the bar for such a special occasion. We didn’t care, it was our 20^th and we wanted to eat here so we figured we would sit at the bar. Quick note, this place is very tiny. Maybe it fits 50 people at the most. The bar area was small, only two tables and maybe 6 – 8 stools at the bar.
We ordered our drinks and my husband started to talk to a man who was making homemade Ravioli. He was originally from our area, so they were getting along. Wouldn’t you know a few minutes later, maybe about 15, the Hostess comes in and says there is a table that is available but not at the window. So, we said we would wait. She didn’t look to happy and I really didn’t appreciate her treating my husband and I like we didn’t belong at their «exclusive» restaurant.
Another 5 minutes later, she comes and tells us our table is ready. So we go and we sit down. Interestingly enough, there were 6 tables available and only two other groups walked in while we were there. So, they were so booked that we couldn’t eat earlier we had to wait and play chicken with the Hostess.
My husband had the Ravioli, Pulled pork and cheese (6 of each) and they were amazing. He was shocked at how good the marinara sauce was considering we were in Maine.
My Broiled Halibut with Tomato, Kale and onions was not good. Fishy and the flavors were just off.
The lobster bisque was good, different then the stuff you get in town, this was thick and not a lot of butter.
The artichoke appetizer was delicious.
The drinks were good too.
We were going to go back for breakfast but my husband was so turned off by how that Hostess treated us that he said he would rather give our money to Two Cats for their breakfast because it is the best in town.
Note to owner, you need to talk to your hostess. I have been to a 5 star place here in NYC and they don’t treat you like that. I am a ball buster and that is the reason I didn’t leave and I was really hoping for the best.
As our travels continued for the two weeks we were there, we had heard many negatives things about them and ironically we were not the only ones who felt we weren’t welcomed!

OMG words can’t describe how amazing this experience was.
We had just had a stressful day, so it was nice to come to a crown jewel restaurant of Bar Harbor, Maine. The view was so breathtaking I could not believe how amazing this restaurant was the view almost made me want to cry, because it was that beautiful.
This would be a great reception space for weddings, dates, and honeymoon couples.
The food was incredible I had the best mac and cheese I have ever tasted. The smokeyniss of all the cheeses was amazing.
Another cool thing about the restaurant was when you walk into the womans bathroom and there is a TV mirror which is amazing. No joke a TV mirror I have never seen that before, and I would love to have that in my house.
Also the staff was great they took really good care of us when we having a bad day.
I can’t wait to return to this restaurant one day such a wonderful experience.

Dog Friendly on the Patio. Amazing food. Incredible views. Had the crab cake appetizer & their specialty Blue Nose Martini, both were excellent. Crab cake was perfectly prepared & full of flavor. My husband & I decided on the spot that we’ll be returning for Happy Hour again tonight.

You know you will be getting a nice meal when you see the chef going out to the garden to snip some herbs for your dish. Well cooked food and a view that is utterly spectacular.

We ate at The Looking Glass Restaurant while we were staying at the Bluenose Inn.
We went for dinner at 8pm. I called in advance, and was surprised that they wanted me to make a reservation on a weeknight when the hotel was largely empty. We arrived to find the dining room empty except for 2 other tables.
My girlfriend and I both ordered Gorgonzola stuffed filet mignon. Wait time for the food was appropriate, not surprising given the empty restaurant. The beef was cooked «nearly» perfectly — we had ordered medium, and got it slightly more done than that — and was delicious.
Along with the beef came a side of vegetables that were both over and under cooked. There was a green stalk of something that we could not positively identify; it looked a little like a broccoli stem. Whatever it was, it was steamed to death. Limp, and mushy enough that it was hard to keep on a fork.
There was also a side of unidentified mash. The menu doesn’t give any indication what it is. Might have been a sweet potato. Or maybe some sort of squash. The mash was good, slightly sweet, and a decent compliment to the beef, but there entirely too much of it on the plate. There had to be a full cup of it.
Given that Looking Glass is billing itself as high-​end cuisine, and charging for it, I would like to have seen better plating. The filet by itself, maybe on a bed of the mash (in smaller quantity) would have been perfect. The sad vegetables could have been skipped entirely or delivered on a side plate. As it was, the plate was too full, overwhelmed by the mash, and the sad looking veggies did nothing for the plate (presentation or taste).
Service was good.

Ok so we decided to eat breakfast there and really enjoyed the morning view. 180 degrees of awesome water. On the other hand the food was not as good and the service was even worse. The food could have been from any bed and breakfast hotel nothing amazing but the service was slow and our server was rude and authoritative not very welcoming or friendly (also had a hair in our eggs and lipstick on a coffee cup and a messed up order). *we were also staying at the bluenose in.

Yikes. Food was ok but service was terrible. I just ordered my after dinner drink when I was unceremoniously informed by the hostess that another couple needed the table and we had to move and sit at the bar?!. We had been sitting there a little over an hour. The couple sitting next to us had been seated there for over an hour and a half and had just ordered drinks too. Why us? When we looked a little taken aback, she said «how about the drink is on me?». Ugh… thanks but no thanks. We paid the bill and mentioned it to the general manager on our way out (drink unfinished). He was apologetic but seemingly unsurprised. My advice? Go to the Bar Harbor Inn Reading Room for dinner. The food is better and the service is impeccable.

Waited over one hour for our dinner and there were only a few people there. Although manager apologized, if he meant it, he should have shown it by giving us a discount or something. Very disappointing.

I did not eat at the restaurant per se, but I attended a private event hosted on the patio. My cousin had his rehearsal dinner here and it was pretty incredible.
It’s all the way at the top of the Bluenose Inn property. Keep driving up the hill until you can’t go any further. We started with cocktails and appetizers on the deck. The bartender whipped up whatever you requested. The view was incredible being that you were high up on the hill. You literally overlooked the trees onto the water for a grand view of the harbor. Heaters and fireplaces were scattered so as the sun set, we all stayed warmed. Dinner was served in a heated tent adjacent to the deck. Courses started with clam chowder and salad. We had the option of beef, lobster or vegetarian for our entrée. Since I was attempting to OD on lobster while in Maine, I got crackin’! A 1 ½ lb. steamed beauty atop potatoes and corn with drawn butter for dipping. Heaven! It was super fresh. Best lobster I’ve ever had. (I seriously keep reliving that dinner in my head since it was so scrumptious!) Apple pie was delivered for dessert, but I was too stuffed to even consider diving in for more.
If you need an event catered in Bar Harbor, do it here! Beautiful and yummy!

Good breakfast, fantastic view.
I might not have known about this place if we had not been staying at the adjacent Wonder View Inn. It has not received as much Unilocal love as most places downtown, but it deserves to. The interior is all warm wood, and the 270-​degree views through the floor-​to-​ceiling windows really invigorate the start of one’s day. I had to wear my sunglasses for part of the meal, and I felt like the king of the world.
The staff were all nice, adding to the charm of the place. One of the waitresses came out of the kitchen with a Post-​It reading «Please don’t tip me!!!» stuck to her back. My wife and I got a hoot out of that, and a few minutes later we heard the staff in the back having their well-​earned laugh as well.
They know how to cook a proper breakfast too: eggs done hard, home fries nice and crisp, and english muffin toasted to medium brown. I hate it when my food comes out undercooked because the kitchen is in a rush to churn through a crowd. I had the Maine coast omelette, with lobster, red bell peppers, onions, and smoked gouda; it was outstanding, if perhaps a bit greasy from being fried in butter.
But a small complaint like that is a tiny tradeoff for an overall delicious breakfast and a stunning bay view to kick off a wonderful day on Mt Desert Island.

3 of 5 stars (average, fine dining).
(see explanation of ratings below)
With the average dinner entrée priced at more than $ 31 dollars, this qualifies for fine dining, but it’s obvious: you’re merely paying a premium for the view.
And, it is a great view. Iffy service.
Recommended: go there for breakfast. Salmon benedict is good.
About $ 10-​$ 15 per person for breakfast.
Allow 30 – 40 minutes.
About my ratings:
Only high-​priced dining establishments can garner five stars. Until Unilocal realizes that a fast food joint cannot possibly be ranked equally with a $ 100 per person place, I need to draw the line somewhere. If we were only talking about the quality and presentation of the food, it would be a different story. But, as we know, Unilocal’s rankings take into account the entire dining experience.
Therefore, I divide restaurants into three categories (and I wish Unilocal would do the same):
1) fast food and «fast-​casual», low-​priced (no table service).
2) casual, mid-​priced dining (table service, average entrée price: $ 10-​$ 20).
3) fine, high-​priced dining (linen napkins, no plastic cups, no TV’s in dining room, average entrée priced at more than $ 20, can vary depending on the city).
High-​priced dining can earn a max of five stars. Mid-​priced dining can earn a max of four stars. Fast food can earn a max of three stars.