Put down the cracker and bib鈥攊n the past few decades, the as Maine鈥檚 big prize for traveling gourmands. Half the appeal is the sweet simplicity of a griddled bun听all buttered up and filled with fresh lobster. The other half is the setting: the best rolls are usually consumed someplace where you can smell the sea and have to . Our south-to-north guide to the Maine coast鈥檚 best lobster rolls includes suggested outdoor-rec pairings, because you may want to preemptively burn some of those calories.
Kennebunk
The roll: Five and a half ounces of fresh, boiled-in-seawater Cape Porpoise lobster mixed with a little mayo, a little melted butter, or both. The Clam Shack鈥檚 roll is a delicious iconoclast,听eschewing the classic split-top bun for a round, locally baked yeast roll. It鈥檚 soft as a cloud and totally works.
The scene: A tiny white shanty on a bridge over the tidal Kennebunk River, the Clam Shack is听smack in the middle of the town鈥檚听trafficked tourism quarter. You can eat at听the adjacent fish market or outside at picnic tables听or lobster traps topped with plexiglass. The bad news: during the peak of summer,听expect to wait in line as long as an hour.
The side dish: Fried full-belly clams. Sweet and plump and cooked in a crunchy crumb coating, they rival the roll for regulars鈥 affections.
Explore: Surfers find consistent swells at a few minutes away: Fortunes Rocks,听in Kennebunkport,听and Gooch鈥檚,听in Kennebunk. , a quarter-mile west of the Clam Shack, can point visitors to the breaks and offers rentals and lessons. At the height of the season, water temperatures听can听even reach the low sixties!
Cape Elizabeth
The roll: You can go classic鈥擬aine style, with mayo and chives, or Connecticut style, with drizzled butter鈥攐r go avant-garde, choosing听to dress听your roll in wasabi, coleslaw, smoky chipotle, or yellow-curry mayo.
The scene: The Bite into Maine food truck is right next to , one of the world鈥檚 most photographed lighthouses. Lay a blanket on the grassy lawn, and watch the waves crash into the rocky shoreline.
The side dish: Nothing pairs with lobster like more lobster.听The creamy bisque has generous chunks of claw and tail and a sprinkling of chives.
Explore: The food truck is stationed听in the middle of 90-acre , where a mile-long loop trail skirts ocean-side cliffs and a few听abandoned military batteries. Six miles south, the trails at access 41 acres of听headlands, full of tide pools听ideal听for clambering.
Portland
The roll: Lobster meat dressed in brown butter, lemon, and chives, served in a split-top, Asian-style steamed bun. Purists may scoff, but Eventide鈥檚 fancy-pants听roll is to die for.
The scene: The heart of district, where cobblestone streets are lined with 19th-century brick buildings housing restaurants and boutiques. This听restaurant听is听a hip spin on a seafood shack, with indoor picnic tables and a 1,500-pound granite basin filled with ice and oysters.
The side dish: Any of a dozen varieties of fresh 听served on the half shell.
Explore: On East End Beach, a dozen blocks northeast, rents kayaks and leads trips to Fort Gorges, a听19th-century garrison on Hog Island in Casco Bay. The two-mile听paddle out crosses boat channels with heavy commercial and recreational traffic, so it鈥檚 best听to go with a guide.
Georgetown
The roll: The correct order is 鈥渢he Big Boy,鈥 a roughly ten-ounce roll with lobster that鈥檚听lightly dressed in mayo and overflowing from听its split-top听potato bun.
The scene: The setup looks straight out of a movie鈥攑icnic tables on a working wharf, menu on a chalkboard, traps stacked up nearby,听lobster boats bobbing in the bay, and听a cluster of spruce-studded islands behind them.
The side dish: Fried things, particularly the giant onion rings, which are battered in-house.听BYOB.
Explore: The tiny , immediately adjacent to the lobster shack, is a popular spot for an after-dinner stroll through mossy woods, while the , a quarter-mile south, has a trail to a little-visited, boulder-strewn beach.
Wiscasset
The roll: Arguably Maine鈥檚 most famous lobster roll, Red鈥檚听has an ultra-generous portion of meat鈥攚hole claws and tails鈥攄ropped naked on a grilled split-top bun. That鈥檚 it. Extra-heavy mayonnaise or drawn butter on the side听are optional.
The scene: In the pretty, historic village of , this听eatery, which听looks like a little red caboose, is听parked on the bank of the Sheepscot River. Seating is on a shady deck behind the stand or along the grassy riverfront. The line to order can get听long鈥攚aits of over an hour aren鈥檛 uncommon.
The side dish: Fried zucchini crisped in a golden, puffy batter.
Explore: Mountain bikers head across the river and down a couple miles of back roads to the , in the town of Edgecomb, where more than ten听miles of crisscross a 270-foot hill called (appropriately, for our purposes) Mount Hunger.
South Thomaston
The roll: The standard听roll, brushed with mayo or听butter and filled with super-fresh meat. Lobsters are held in floating crates right next to the dining patio, then plucked from the seawater and tossed straight into a pot.
The scene: Far from the Route 1 tourist traffic鈥攐n bridge-accessed Spruce Head Island, off the St. George Peninsula鈥攖his little shack overlooks Seal Harbor, which is听dotted with islands and lobster boats coming and going from the McLoons wharf.
The side dish: The grill-roasted littleneck clams served with homemade garlic-herb butter are听smoky, briny, and delicious.
Explore: At the tip of the peninsula, 14 miles south down ME-73 and ME-131, offers rentals and tours, including a morning paddleboard excursion around , an iconic beacon and .
Corea
The roll: Lobster for it is purchased each morning from the fisherman鈥檚 co-op across the harbor, cooked in salt water, and mixed with Hellman鈥檚 mayonnaise and a little pepper.
The scene: The deck overlooks lobster boats and wharves piled听high with traps. Former lobsterman Joe Young runs both the restaurant and an art gallery, an old fish house full of photos of mid-20th-century Corea.
The side dish: The听blueberry pie鈥攖hree-inch-deep wedges filled with听wild Maine blueberries and set in a perfectly flaky crust.
Explore: Corea is just down the road from the , which sees听far fewer visitors than neighboring Mount Desert Island. Some听eight听miles of hard gravel perfect听for bikers听wind听through woods and along the rocky shore, and hiking trails reach the summits of Buck Cove Mountain and Schoodic Head, offering knockout views of the Atlantic and the rounded peaks of Mount Desert Island.
Beals
The roll: Shredded lobster dressed generously with mayo and topped with a whole claw.
The scene: Connected by a bridge to the mainland town of Jonesport, Beals Island is well off the tourist track. Diners sit at picnic tables overlooking a harbor filled with fishing boats.
The side dish: Locals eschew the roll in favor of the ginormous听fried-haddock burger, which comes stacked with multiple fillets. But you can eat both, right?
Explore: A mile south, the Nature Conservancy鈥檚 is a peaceful place to spot seals, dolphins, eagles, and ospreys. A 4.5-mile听loop trail cuts听through a jack pine forest and over the island鈥檚 vast, exposed granite headlands.
Eastport
The roll: Mix your lobster with mayo, Miracle Whip, drawn butter, or any combination of the three. Feeling snackish? The junior roll has just two听ounces of meat. (The regular has four, and the jumbo piles eight听into an eight-inch bun.)
The scene: Quoddy Bay鈥檚 picnic tables offer front-row seats to Friar Roads, the watery passage between Eastport and Canada鈥檚 , where minke, finback, and humpback whales regularly surface in July and August.
The side dish: The yummy, comforting fish chowder鈥攁 creation of听of听haddock, potatoes, and onions in a creamy stock.
Explore:听 organizes听whale-watching and deep-sea fishing excursions into Passamaquoddy and Cobscook Bays. If you want to work for your supper, offers daily trips on a lobster boat that听passes听by听the Old Sow whirlpool and East Quoddy Lighthouse, while the crew stops听to pull traps along the way.
This story was produced in partnership with 听magazine.