Ocean Gardens Restaurant and Tavern

My boyfriend and I went here for dinner last night. The waitress Barb was very nice and energetic. She made sure that all of our meals were just as we ordered it.
We had the scallops wrapped bacon for and appetizer. The bacon was cooked perfectly but the scallop could be warmer on the inside.
My boyfriend got the surf and turf and I got the seafood alfredo. Both dishes were excellent. We had a lot of leftover.
Over all this is a great find for us and we’ll be back.

Came with my sister in law for breakfast and we were not disappointed. The mimosas are HUGE and portion sizes for the food are incredibly generous. The blueberry French toast was phenomenal — not too sweet — and we’ll be back for the crab cake Benedict! We got a side of sausage which is local and probably the best I’ve ever had. The restaurant and tavern sides both have fireplaces and are decorated for the holidays so we were warm, well fed, and feeling festive. Highly recommend!

Three whole lobsters…$ 25 .plus great soup and salad bar included… and absolutely lovely service. most tourists have no idea it’s here. a real locals place… ignore the horrible «new country» Muzak they have piped in. and its almost perfect… great classic décor… which I know offends some people. get over it… so cozy…

What a great restaurant! The food was phenomenal, my husband had seafood Alfredo chock full of shrimp, lobster and scallops. I had a grilled ribeye with garlic butter cooked perfectly medium-​rare. The salad bar was fresh and plentiful. And we had their onion rings for an appetizer. They were golden crispy delicious. Our server Becca was knowledgeable about menu items and had a great sense of humor. The prices were quite reasonable, I wish I could have tried dessert but I was too full. I recommend Ocean Gardens very highly!

I live nearby and finally stopped in to try the place. It’s okay — standard family menu and offerings. A little pricy for what you get. The wait staff is friendly

My husband and I ventured here after dropping our daughter off for her first semester at USM. Service was fabulous! Food was fantastic! Will definitely be back for Parents Weekend.

We were tired of Maine tourist traffic and the smart phone showed massive jams in downtown Portland. Unilocal showed a 5 star place just 10 minutes west of our hotel. Perfect! This is where the locals eat– no pretensions — two lobsters with butter, fried clams and fabulous salad bar. Thanks for a perfect meal without looking for parking!

Kind of hard to describe. It’s a world away from San Francisco. The deal can’t be beat — 3 large lobsters, a big salad bar and soup for $ 24.99. It’s a bit cray cray. The place is like Cracker Barrel, meets Ponderosa, and has a love child with Red Lobster, if Red Lobster were delicious. The place was cleaner than j expected and you get a total locals vibe. The lobsters were damn good. Overall, we were very pleased and got a slice of loca culture!

Steamers were fresh, beer was cold, staff was friendly and engaging. I would go here again.

An excellent seafood restaurant w/​huge portions and personalized service. Plenty of choices for people who don’t eat seafood. We’ve eaten here twice and both meals were outstanding and very reasonably priced.

I went here for dinner last night. From the reviews, I already knew the lobster was priced accordingly and it was a cozy environment. Well, I agree.
The waitress was lovely — she greeted everyone like they were family even though she may not have known them. The salad was more iceberg lettuce than I would have liked but I understand restaurants offer this to keep cost low. I did not have the soup but I did have the warmed rolls which were standard. The cost for one lobster was $ 19.99 which I thought reasonable along with the salad bar. I ordered the NY Strip and Lobster which was more food than I expected and really inexpensive. The steak was juicy and the lobster sweet — a perfect combination.
I would go here again if I’m back in the area.

For the money, this is a great family place, couples, singles and families are all here tonight.

My wife found this gem on a TripAdvisor. So we are n Maine and it’s lobster season and every restaurant in downtown Portland has at least 2 hour wait (Columbus Day weekend). So we drive for 20 minutes and get 3 lobsters and a salad bar for a VERY, VERY affordable price (not sure I can mention it here, as it changes daily). The only reason I’ve ordered a Triple dinner was because I thought that for that price lobsters would be tiny. I was wrong. 3 monsters were on my plate. Fellow Unilocalers, this is the place to go!

Thanks to the other reviewers. What a very pleasant discovery for us. This is the place to have fresh tasty good-​sized Maine lobsters. Warm friendly service. The soup and salad bar did not disappoint as well.

I can’t speak to other items on the menu. I have frequented this restaurant quite a bit over a 14 year span and eaten one thing: the triple lobster special. Can’t beat it. For $ 24.95 and salad and soup. Dear Lord! I really love this place and visit every time I come to Maine. Wonderful service and a comfortable environment to have lobster. Did I say three for $ 24.95? Yahoo.

Just ate here just a few hours ago. .please do yourself a favor and skip the tourists traps and go here… plug the address into your GPS or OnStar and travel about 7 miles outside the old port and you will get three HUGE lobster steaming hot… with soup and salad FOR $ 24…GO WHERE THE LOCALS GO. .Yep. .you read right 3 lobsters for what you pay for one in the city. .7 miles away

This can be a 5 star or 1 star restaurant depending on what your goal is.
If you’re interested in ordering whole lobsters at a restaurant and do not care at all about atmosphere, water views, or basically anything else besides lobster, this is the best lobster restaurant I have ever been to. The triple lobster special (yes…THREE) each had to be at least 1 ¼ pounds, if not larger. The $ 24.99 price is just ridiculous. This is cheaper than the price of one smaller lobster anywhere in the Old Port. After finishing his triple, my friend from Mississippi was craving a fourth and the kitchen allowed me to add one to my twin lobster special after the fact. 5 minutes later, out comes his fourth. An average soup and salad bar is included in the meal price.
How’s everything else? Well, at lunch today the local nursing home was quite literally bussing in the residents. It felt like eating lunch in Cocoon. The interior is dated. The service was a little slow but the waitress had a big smile. I don’t know who would order non-​lobster here, so I can’t comment on the rest of the menu.
For whole lobsters at a restaurant I have never seen cheaper. So if that is the goal, Ocean Garden is a 5 star experience for locals or tourists.

Not a bad place for in the middle of Maine somewhere! We came here for a rehearsal dinner. Do not expect anything fancy here! The waiter was not even sure about the wines that were on the menu. When we ordered she had to look at the menu to write it down.
I had the scallops and they were delicious! I only eat seafood when in Maine because why wouldn’t you!
They had a salad bar that was nothing fancy but not stomach upsetting either! The soup was good as well!
The dessert they served looked to be a biscuit short cake of sorts. It was okay but nothing special.
Not that I think I will ever be in that area again but I would come back maybe… but I would probably just truck it down to Portland!

Pros: Décor was average, but pleasant. Wait staff very friendly. Salad bar included with meals and the salad items were fresh. Generous portions
Cons: In two words, The Food. Mostly cooked from frozen product (From what I could tell, nothing was made in house). Wife’s chicken tenders were overcooked and completely dry. Son’s BBQ chicken sandwich was just so-​so. The description of my meal sounded great: pan seared scallops and fillet mignon tips made with a teriyaki marinade. Scallops had ZERO sear (read: microwave?). If the steak was fillet mignon, then it was from the grizzle end of the cow and cooked to oblivion. The «marinade» was a canned thick goop that drowned whatever life the protein had left in it. It’s sad because I had hopes of a decent meal from the reviews I read.
I cannot, in good conscience, recommend this restaurant’s food apart from the salad bar.

Good, but not great.