Spinney’s Restaurant

Ate there last night. Had the 1 ½ pound lobster special for $ 24.95 with 2 sides. It was more than enough and very good. Had a reasonably priced bottle of Chardonnay and blueberry pie ala-​mode to top it off. One of the best meals we have had while vacationing in Maine and the service was excellent (Savannah).
We will be here long enough to return and enjoy another meal as well as watch the sights as strollers walk by on the beach.
Give it a try — you won’t be disappointed.

I’ve read the bad reviews and did not have anywhere near their experiences.
The owner even came out to greet us in the parking lot, as they’re parking is limited and some people had to park at the fort down the road. He seemed to be a nice guy.
We had a family birthday party and there were about 17 of us. Everyone in the restaurant was kind and warm. The ambiance was casual and inviting, great seats overlooking the ocean; which on this particular day was foggy so it was even better.
The food was decent, I had the 1.25 pound rib order and that it was okay for a seafood place. My beautiful wife ordered lobster soup and it had generous portions of lobster and she stated it tasted great. Everyone else seemed to enjoy their food.
Now they are not gluten aware and I have no right to expect them to be and so I’m already paying for this trip.
I had a great experience and so did my family which is a 4 star experience for me.

We pulled in today 5÷28÷16 at 1:20pm and were told that we couldn’t park in our parking spot unless we were going in to the restaurant.
We were planning on going in to get food & ice cream but with the greeting of «you can’t park here» by a woman standing in the doorway it wasn’t professional or welcoming one bit. Good way to scare away locals. Thanks.

Before I get down to it. This restaurant is a seasonal spot, I had been spending money at Spinney’s since my first trip to Popham 1988.
This place has no reason to chase out customers, other than not willing to feed a family of Five. But hey who am I to judge!
Because that is what happened this afternoon!
As I parked in the parking lot and exited the vehicle a lady stuck her head out of the front door and told me that I would have to leave. She thought I was trying to use her parking lot to utilize the beach. She never gave my kids a chance to exit the vehicle!
Well sorry this former loyal customer would never do that to a business. I work for a living too, I know what it is like when the money is not glowing as usual!
Well I can honestly say that I will never go back to the restaurant again nor will I ever recommend Spinney’s.
They are RUDE and unprofessional, they do not wash their hands before serving food. And the bathrooms are small and stinky!
In fact, if you want food in the Popham Beach area I would bring you own, or stop at Bisson’s store on the way in.

We arrived to a very friendly and helpful hostess and waitstaff. Ordered lobster rolls and a wood island wreck. Lobster rolls were very good and dinner was well prepared and very good. The location is beachfront with good views.

Debated between giving 3 stars, but finally landed on two. We were a party of 4 and ordered the following: cup of lobster stew, fried clams, reuben sandwich, hamburger and lobster tail (nothing too time consuming, but it took almost 40 min to get our food). It was very disappointing that 2 other parties who came after us were served before we were. I have to blame the waitress because she was pretty much non-​existent throughout our visit. We saw 2 other servers several times taking care of their parties, but our waitress just couldn’t seem to be found. Our food arrived and for the most of us, it was pretty good. The reuben was very good and the lobster was great. The other items were just so-​so. This is a convenient place if you’ve been to the fort or beach and that’s why we stopped. If in the area again, we’d find someplace else to eat.

Came here with my 4 sisters and boyfriend after celebrating a birthday on the beach. I ordered the «blackened» haddock on a side salad. The salad consisted of generic iceberg lettuce, pale tomatoes & thick, gluey dressing. The fish was so salty that I couldn’t eat it. Even with the enormous appetite I had worked up being out on the beach, i ended up sending it back. It was not edible. No mention of any replacement food, just said «ohh kay…» And removed the plate. After the waitress refused to give us our money back, I asked to speak with the manager (who ended up being the owner) He came out about 7 – 10 minutes later conspicuously irritated before even reaching our table. He was carrying the «blackening» seasoning in his hand as a prop to prove his point. I thought he was joking when he opened his mouth because of how unnecessarily abrasive he was acting! My boyfriend politely asked him if he would take the haddock off our bill. He interrupted, acting personally insulted, to loudly and emphatically insist, «you need to understand something! We do not over season our food!» I was embarrassed for all of us. The food was awful, the customer service even worse.

This is a seafood restaurant. In Maine. How can they not know how to steam clams?
We wanted to treat our hosts to a meal to end our vacation. There were 15 of us, and we were probably a handful, so we did not expect great service. Our waitress, while not overly friendly, handled the task well, but the food was inedible. The only people that enjoyed it were the kids who ordered chicken fingers and grilled cheese. The fried seafood might have been passable at some inland chain restaurant, but this is Maine folks, I expect better. Two kids ordered the sauteed calamari and it might as well have been the rubberbands from their braces. I ordered a combo of steamers, mussels and a lobster claw. The claw was the only edible part of the meal. The steamers were so overcooked, that they were hard little nubs. I love seafood and can usually even enjoy something that’s slightly overdone, but there was literally nothing left of these things after the kitchen got through with them. I think it’s the first time I“ve ever left ⁴⁄₅ of a seafood dinner untouched.
So disappointing dropping over $ 400 on a dinner that no one enjoyed and some didn’t even eat. We ended up having to get ice cream after to hold everyone over on the ride home.
(I did notice a flyer with this place for sale. Could it be that they’ve just given up on the kitchen? Really, ANY cook could have done a better job than what we had that night.)

The restaurant was at a good location with a view of the beach and had a friendly staff. However, the food itself was different. The onion rings were the only good food I had. Those were only alright. The meat was awful, the other food was mediocre. Also, the service was extremely slow. Only four other tables were being served, and the food was still slow.

Fresh seafood, made to order with a beautiful view at the mouth of the kennebec! I’m a big fan of the clam chowder and the wood island wreak. The Popham Platter is a remarkable fried seafood platter my husband and I like to split each year. If you have a lighter appetite, many options are available at half price for half the portion, which is still a great size! They also make an excellent steak and cheese if seafood isn’t your thing, make sure to get the onion rings!

This place has gone way downhill over the years. Most recently, the chef was feuding with our waitress and refused to give her all of her orders. We waited over an hour for the two cups of chowder we ordered. Not a way to run a business. Do yourself a favor and go to Percy’s around the corner! They keep getting better and better while Spinney’s gets worse and worse every year.

Used to be great but no longer. They need a cook who knows how to cook. The service was friendly but lacked the ability to make up for bad cooking. We had to rely on a positive attitude to overcome this experience.

Clean, fast service, great setting, nice view a little expensive for what you get.
My wife’s Crab Roll was very good.
My steamed clams were so over cooked that they were inedible.
I only ate 2 (in case the 1 was an aberration)
The waitress never asked why just took my $ 50 for a crab roll and steamed clams.

Had a yummy breakfast (the hash) at a really decent price. My only complaint was that the Bloody Mary was priced on the menu for $ 5.95 and when we were charged $ 7.50 each, the waitress said the menu price was for «a small Bloody Mary» which I never heard of… I just thought that it was weird that we weren’t offered the menu price even after we brought it up, but what’s a few dollars I guess.

Great little spot, I was there on memorial day. We were greeted at the door with a friendly smile by Savannah who was also our waitress. I was having a tough day but Savannah kept her positive attitude and friendly smile. I had a baked salmon which was perfectly crusted. The onion rings melted in my mouth. I hope to be back.

Service was terrible and the food was mediocre at best. That’s really all you need to know.

I don’t know why I continue to come to Spinney’s year in and year out for ice cream. It is never a pleasurable experience, but I’ve been doing it for decades upon decades because that’s where my family went when we were growing up. Why I am not smart enough to walk next door to Percy’s continues to puzzle me. But it is what it is… until this year. I’m officially done with you, Spinney’s.
We came for our annual pilgrimage to Fort Popham, and after taking some photos we decided to get ice cream and sit on the beach like we always have. When we walked into Spinney’s there was a young girl behind the counter. She was staring intently at a guest check pad of paper in front of her. For about five or six minutes she continued to stare at it — not writing anything on it, despite gripping a pencil — refusing to look up at us. We were the only ones in the general store portion of the restaurant. «Excuse me?» I asked. She slowly and incredibly dramatically/​venomously looked up at me, «Yes?» She curtly asked. «Can we get some ice cream?» I asked nicely. She rolled her eyes, sighed, and said, «When I’m done this.» And then she returned to staring at her guest check. Over the course of the next ten or twelve minutes (not an exaggeration) she began writing an order on it. Another young girl who worked there came behind the counter, looked at us, poured herself a soda and began gabbing with the girl we were waiting for. «Can you believe how big this order is?» «Like, I know. Like it’s soooooo huge. Like I can’t even remember everything.» «I don’t even wanna be here anymore today.» «Ugh, like I know.» I wish I was making this up. As my blood began to boil (and my significant other began laughing behind the hand he had pressed against his face) I pulled out money, put it on the counter. «Can we please get some ice cream?» The soda girl left without looking at us, and the other girl remarked cooly, «Yes, I need to finish this first, okay?» Another five or six minutes passed before she finally took our order. In the end…
+ The maple walnut was delicious.
— The cookie dough was freezer burned (sorry, Shain’s of Maine, I know your stuff is better than that).
— And the sugar cones were COMPLETELY STALE. Have you ever bitten into an ice cream cone expecting that crunch and getting something gummy instead? Ack! Eeks! Blah! No!
I can’t speak to their actual food or restaurant side of things, but I do know that the ice cream here and the attitudinal young women that work this side aren’t worth it (it being your time, your money, your sanity, etc.). Unfortunately, you will not end your lovely day at Popham Beach on a high note here!

I came here for my sisters reception and it was a great experience. I love how the view overlooks the water and its really laid back. Not too conservative and it feels very inviting and warm.
My brother and I tried the Lobster Ale and it was actually really good! So good that we got drunk off of it :)
We also had real lobsters from the famous state of Maine and boy was it deliciously fresh!
BTW, you need cash to purchase the duty free items there… that’s the bummer part… they lost me as a purchasing customer because of that. I wanted their stuff animal that said «Maine» on it, but I didn’t have cash… sucks for them.
Would I come back: If I visit my sister in Maine again, YES!

I used to love this place. Now, however, whoever is running it has no business operating a restaurant.
My wife and I showed up last Saturday for dinner sometime before eight. When we got to the door, we were told that there was a 30-​minute wait, and that if we were okay with that, we could have a couple beers on the patio and wait for a table to open up. We were more than willing to wait on the patio because this isn’t the kind of place you go to for the food, anyway – you go because it’s near the beach and has amazing views of the mouth of the Kennebec river. The food really only has to be fairly decent and the service routine to make a visit there worthwhile.
The scenery didn’t disappoint, however, half an hour came and went and we still hadn’t been seated. At this point, there were numerous open tables. After about an hour, my wife went into the host area and asked the owner if there was any update on our being seated. The owner told her that we were «next on the list,» and that since the kitchen had gotten extremely backed-​up, they weren’t seating anybody until things calmed-​down.
After a few more minutes, the owner shows us to our table. Meanwhile, they seat the other 20-​or-​so people who were waiting on the patio (note: if your kitchen has trouble with being backed-​up, seating 20 people all at once is not a brilliant way to remediate the problem). For 20 minutes, we sat there without a single visit from a waitress, not even dinner rolls. Finally, an older couple, their daughter and their grandchild were seated right next to us. Grandpa must have known somebody because a waitress came over immediately and took their drink orders.
At that point, 80 minutes in, my wife and I decided to vote with our feet and leave. We left money for our beers and headed for the door. As my wife told the owner we were leaving (she’s a lot less profane than I am under such circumstances), the waitress behind her apologetically said «ohhhhh, I was just about to get over to your table.» The owner herself looked at my wife, half shrugged, and didn’t say a word. No «sorry, those beers are on us,» not even a simple apology – NOTHING.
THAT is crappy management. I used to live a couple towns over, but now that I’m eligible for the «tourist» label, I guess their attitude toward me and my ilk is: «Who cares if you’re rude to some tourist? There’ll always be plenty who come by the beach, get hungry, and wind up here, so screw ‘em.» Hey, Lady – there’s this thing called the internet, and some of us out there give a damn about where we spend our money and how we’re treated.

Came here after laying on the beach for a few hours for dinner. The restaurant is nice, with friendly staff and great views of the ocean.
The lobster however was not good. We ordered 2 lobsters but they seemed old and they were soft shell. The meat was not too sweet and there was very little of it. It seemed like most of the shell was just empty.
Once we started digging in, we saw a small sign that said we had to ask specifically for hard shell lobster which had more meat and is much sweeter, in order to not get the soft shell. Too bad most people never think to do that.
The side dishes were also unimpressive. The onion rings were thin and coated with a thick, hard batter which was really oily. The rice was pretty flavorless even after I put butter and salt on it. The fries were decent as was the corn on the cob. The clam chowder was pretty good. And the clam steamers were okay at best.
Unfortunately this place is the only food choice if you go to this beach, so the food probably won’t get much better. But honestly I didn’t need to go all the way to Maine to have lobster of this quality. I could’ve gotten this at a Shoprite in New Jersey.