Portland Lobster Co

This was my favorite lunch spot in Portland! Came here at the recommendation of a friend. We ordered lobster rolls (duh) and a clam cake. Sitting outside overlooking the docks and into the harbor was beautiful, the sun was shining, and they had great music playing in the background. I felt the prices were reasonable for what you got. There’s a huge seating area out back with shaded tables and a bar. Highly recommend grabbing a quick bite to eat here!

Tourist spot but great place to sit outside and drink local decent beer and eat decent greasy seafood and fries. Nice people!

Portland, ME calls for a lobster roll. The hard part is every restaurant serves them and all state, «we have the best yada-​yada…» I’ve had ones previously and hadn’t tried PLC. It was served with drawn butter poured over it, which I enjoyed. The lobster was chunks of meat, not shredded up, which I enjoyed thoroughly and it was clearly fresh, never frozen. My only gripe was the roll. One, it was too small and two, it was not very fresh and knocked this sandwich down a notch. The coleslaw was Meh… had better. The fries were limp or Eek! Methinks not. I trashed the slaw & fries.
As for cleanliness & service? It’s on a dock so clean, no. I used the walk up self service and grabbed a bar table overlooking the marina. It was fine. I had no server interaction to rate.
I tried it. Checked the block. Next…

Food was just ok. The 3 stars are for the ambiance. Right on the water and with live band playing. We waited for like a good 20 minutes for our food, which I was not surprised it’s pretty much on most of the reviews. But it’s ok just get a beer and enjoy the vibe when u wait!

Stopped here for some apps, they were tasty i enjoyed the calamari, lobster roll, fried clams!

Another place that allows dogs! Another place with live music! My dog and I could get used to this!
They have a good beer selection with plenty of local beers/​ciders to choose from. You can definitely find something you’ll like.
They also have a pretty good menu. I tried the crab cake burger that comes with fries and coleslaw. Tasty and filling.
I’ll be back with the pup!

Stopped by for seafood lunch. Being tourists from Michigan and also seafood lovers we look forward to coming to either shore and filling ourselves with fresh seafood. This place has an East coast feel. Outdoors, right on the wharf and water. Live band playing on a Thursday at noon.
Order at the bar, get a buzzer and pick up food at the window. No biggie! Paper plates… my kind of place!!! My wife ordered the crab cake burger. Looked and tasted great. Comes with fries. I got the clam roll. Chock full of fresh fried clams over hot fries. Tasted great, but unfortunately was not real hot. Actually it was on the cold side.
We both were excited to order a New England clam chowder. Big disappointment. Chunky but tasteless. Lots of undercooked potatoes. Few clams. Needs some work. I added a bunch of salt and pepper to hopefully add some kind of taste.
Lots of beers to choose from mostly local drafts. Service personnel were friendly and pleasant. The place was not bad, but didn’t impress at all other than the location and ambience.

Getting off from the tour bus, super starving… Look to your right next to the love locks and there you will find PLC! Nice interior — you can order inside or at the bar. My first time ordering lobster in Maine, so we had to try the infamous lobster roll and clam chowder of course! It takes at least 20 minutes to get the food which you can pick-​up outside and bring it in or sit outside with a lovely view of the port. Took a bite of the lobster and to my surprise… It was COLD!!! The clam chowder was super watery and needed a kick of hot sauce, salt and pepper… But still not creamy like I envisioned it to be. The fried shrimp app was great, I would definitely order it again if I ever come back to visit. Just disappointed in the cold lobster (and watery soup), but I guess thats how its served.

This is a really cute place with an outdoor patio and live music. The fresh lobster was great, can’t beat that. The fishermans platter was okay, underwhelming. Would definitely go back for the ambiance and fresh lobster.

Loved the whole waterfront vibe but a $ 15.99 lobster roll in Maine should be more impressive, IMO. There’s better places in Portland, but this place is cool if you’re in the neighborhood or prefer a more… dry lobster roll.

There aren’t a ton of food options, but this is prime real estate on the water. I had lobster over a small salad with avocado and it hit the spot. Seating was limited and I can imagine it’s a little more difficult on a nice, sunny day. While my mom, sister, and I enjoyed our food, my other sister waited almost 25 minutes for her soup that ended up being lukewarm.

Atmosphere: 5 — they have a heated deck where you can see the water and painted tables.
Staff: 5 — very nice staff!
Procedure: 3 — you walk up to a bar to order, and then you take a lobster buzzer with you as you pick a seat. When it goes off your food is done. We weren’t sure if we should walk up to the pick up window, or if they brought it to us. I saw both situations happening so at first we were sure what to do.
In a addition it was a little confusing where the bathrooms were. I just needed to wash my hands, and it was a 10 min wait because the line was so long.
Food: 3.5 — I’m not a lobster connoisseur by any means and this is only the second time I’ve had lobster. My husband and I had a lobster dinner at our hotel for 19.99 the night before and I felt like it was a better value.
Also, they provide plastic forks and pickers in addition to metal crackers. I felt the plastic pickers were really difficult… they bent too much to be useful.

Today I enjoyed my birthday lunch at this place. Lena and I elected to share a 1 1/​8Lb lobster (which is quite small, by the way) because we were not super hungry.
This is like the 3^rd or so time I’ve had live lobster. It was very good and fresh, as you’d expect, but in hind sight, we should have gotten a larger lobster. There was barely any claw meat, and the tail was good for 4 small bites. It was only 20 bucks and it included corn, coleslaw, and fries. Next time, id pay the 10 extra bucks and get a 1.5lb one, but again, we were not that hungry.
Nice view of the water there, and the blueberry beer was refreshing.

This is a bar style restaurant. They have outside seats at the port and some tables inside.
The day I came was a clammy rainy day, so we didn’t get a chance to sit outside and enjoyed the port view.
We ordered lobster rolls and fried oysters. The lobsters in the rolls are marinated with butter, so they already have a nice and juicy taste. However, the sides are not good. The lettuce salad seems not to be fresh and the fries are soft, but fried oysters are crispy.

Glad to have gotten in in time for the season. I would never say I was a lobster aficionado, but Portland Lobster Co. seemed just fine to me. This could be because I didn’t order the lobster roll people seem to be hating on and I have never seen a place mess up boiling a lobster. For a 1lb’er with a baked potato and corn for about $ 30, I can’t complain.
Seating is a little strange. It’s faster to order at the bar outside than to go inside (or so my friend told me and I just followed her lead). Even in the rain, sitting outside wasn’t a big deal at one of the patio tables. It’s on the water, sometimes there’s live music, a nice setting to enjoy a quintessential New England meal.
In the absence of Nunan’s in Kennebunkport, I will take Portland Lobster Co.

It’s definitely not the best lobster roll or chowder that Portland has to offer, but for this out of towner who landed at nighttime with a grumbly stomach and a hankering for seafood, this place was a sight for sore eyes!
Right on the water with lots of outdoor seating, both covered and open, with a super casual vibe and the night I was there a live band playing. I could see it becoming a bit of a crazy bar scene on busy nights but otherwise it’s perfect for just hanging out and grabbing a lobster roll.
The prices are not great… but to be fair, you do get a ton of lobster in whatever lobster dish you order. They also offer other dishes like fish and chips and steamed clams, as well as wine and beer and other fun surprises like the amazing-​looking Maine blueberry pie that I was eyeing all night (but never bit the bullet unfortunately).
There are many more gourmet lobster rolls in town but if you’re in need of a quick fix, Portland Lobster Co definitely does the job!

I want to like you, I honestly do, but I just can’t do it for some reason. You have the primo spot, trust me, all these tourist that are getting dropped off at your front door is a gold mine. There is never a lack of foot traffic coming through your doors my friend.
As far as sales are concerned, yea, this spot will outsell any other establishment in Portland just because the tour bus stops right in front of its doors. I’m betting 3:4 people who come here an eat has no respectable taste buds on their toungue. You know who they are, the chicken finger and potato sticks eater. The ones who thinks calamari is the best sea food dish on earth. This is most likely the reason why the boast the number 1 spot.
I order the lobster roll. Seems like the normal tourist thing to do here, it’s Portland, do the tourist thing once and maybe next time do the local stuff. After a bit of a wait, which I don’t mind at all, I get my sandwich. It’s nice and pretty, and since I’m hangry, i just dig right in. I, was at a loss for words. I just didn’t know how to explain it… I was waiting to the wow and the umph to smash me in the mouth, but it just never arrived. It was very buttery and the lemon helped out a bit, but I for some reason wasn’t going, «MMMMMMM!!» I’m sorry, but I could honestly say that the lobster roll at the airport in Boston Logan, which was my very first, was WAY better than this.
Hopefully this issue will be resolved. You have a great spot, please sell better sandwiches.
2 stars because the staff is extremely nice.

I enjoyed my experience here. Great location right on the water in downtown Portland. Prices are fair, food tastes good. No real complaints at all, just nothing stood out to me. Lobster roll was good. I loved my view on the patio. Service was great. The girls that helped me were super friendly. The people working the kitchen are amazing under pressure. Price seemed fair for what I got. Lobster Roll, fries, and coleslaw for $ 18.
My preference for a great lobster roll still stays with Fisherman’s Grill on 849 Forest Ave.
It’s a little more expensive there, but totally worth it.

Would give this place 3.5 stars.
Recommend the twin lobster meal, which comes with two 1 lb lobster, fries and a corn on the cob. If you’re really hungry, this can definitely be a meal for one person or you can share it like my friend and I did (we wanted to save room for dessert haha).
Food: The lobster was fresh — dip it into the hot butter for flavor. Fries were standard and the corn was sweet as it should be. There was really nothing «special» about the food — nothing that stood out compared to the other restaurants we ate at in Maine.
Service: Not a very service-​oriented place. You order inside, wait for the buzzer to go off, pick up your food at the window and also throw your own trays. Of course being the «tourist trap» that it is, this place was extremely packed. We waited about 20 min to get outside seating (inside seating was available right away) and waited 45+ minutes for our food.
Ambiance: Very lively as there was a band playing and lots of people sitting around the shack bar. The outside seating in the waterfront was a nice touch.
It was a good experience, but I don’t think it was worth the wait. If I came back, I would just try another place in Old Portland.

Hey, hey, hey; it may be a «tourist trap» but then again it’s near a number of hotels full of tourists, within walking distance, on the water, has everything food wise that you came to Maine for, the food is good and it’s kinda fun.
Order at a counter inside that includes just a few tables, get the famous flashing lobster pager to await your feast. The weather was cold (the reason Floridians come to Maine in June) and we sat outside at picnic style tables on a pier over the water, which had the see through sides in place and was heated.
Took the «beer chit» to the bar and tried our first pitcher of Allagash White Ale. Did I sense a sneer from the barmaid that drew the pitcher? I did, but I don’t really think I need to tip for 25 seconds of someone doing their job.
This was our first meal in town and we started with steamed clams. Large and plump soft shells served with a seasoned flavorful clam broth for rinsing and of course later drinking, followed by steamed lobster dinners. I was taught as a little kid how to «COMPLETELY» eat lobster, and it’s a long time ordeal of pleasure. Served with french fries, excellent cole slaw and corn on the cob. All the sides were good, but it’s hard to compete with the greatest prize in food; the two pound lobster.
BTW, this was our go to place after our delicious but scant meal at Eventide (where the portions would be considered small even by starving Ethiopians) and we had fried belly clams (is it the unique texture or the wonderful flavor that’s so good?) and shared a lobster roll. It was all good!
They have music starting in the early evening and gotta say; sometimes it’s good to be a tourist.
NOTE TO ALL FUTURE TOURISTS: As I remember the layout here, although it’s a short walk to the outdoor/​covered dining area and the bar, much of it is outside and uncovered and it would seem like a place to avoid in rainy weather.