Side Street Cafe
| Address: | 49 Rodick St, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, USA |
| Phone: | +1 207-801-2591 |
| Site: | sidestreetbarharbor.com |
| Rating: | 4.4 |
| Working: | 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 9
M
M C Farrell
First the good. We were a party of five. We had done call-ahead seating, and only had to wait about five minutes after we arrived to be seated. My server Riley (sp?) was one of the best Ive ever had. She was very nice without being cloyingly perky, and just very efficient, unobtrusively checking on us frequently, refilling water without having to be asked, etc., even though it was obvious she was extremely busy. The menu is extensive. Food was served very promptly. The margarita I ordered was huge, reasonably priced, and also came out quickly. Now the (somewhat) bad: I ordered a caprese salad, which was mostly lettuce, accompanied by a few grape tomatoes and five slices of lukewarm fresh mozzarella. A fairly uninspired thing overall. I also ordered the loaded pub fries for one. If that was "for one", Id like to see what the "for the table" size looked like! The portion was enormous. I could tell they would have been delicious except for one thing.....they were DOUSED in salt. It wasnt just that they were salty because of the bacon, they had just been salted to death. I tend to like salt more than is good for me, so I guarantee, yes, way too much salt. They were all eaten amongst us, because there was a large dollop of sour cream on them which cut the salty taste. Bottom line: do the call-ahead seating, ask for Riley, dont get the Caprese Salad, get the loaded pub fries, but ask for no salt on them. If I was a local, Id definitely go back.
BL
Black Truffle
This is another one of a few places that is either year round or at least open very early/late in the season. This is also another place just making food instead of trying to sell you a lobster dinner (not sure they even serve that). Food is pretty good, as are the drinks. Been here many times across visits. Service can definitely use some work. On more than one occasion was seated and then did not see a waitress for at least 5 minutes, last time waitress seemed annoyed that we were ready to place our whole order by the time she got to us. Another time we were coming from across the island, was a car in front of us driving like an all out jerk, speeding, tailgating, was behind them all the way into town to see them pull into Side Street Cafe- it was one of their employees bringing some food over- not a good look. They had a good BBQ chicken sandwich last year that they took off the menu, needs to come back. Not outstanding, but definitely satisfying after draining all your energy in the park.
JO
John Cortes
Great restaurant with delicious food. My wife and I were on a camping trip with our two huskies and a another couple who also had a dog. They allowed us to sit outside and even brought our dogs water! The seating outside is seat yourself but if you want to sit indoors, I would recommend calling ahead because they get very busy. I ordered the full (dinner sized) Lobster Mac n Cheese, my wife had the half (lunch sized) create your own Mac n Cheese with black bean salsa and onions, and our friends had lobster rolls with fries and create your own Mac n Cheese with bacon and spinach. We all wolfed down our food! It was absolutely delicious. We all shared the guacamole and chips which was good but nothing special. However, they give you a lot of guacamole (great guac-to-chip ratio!). All in all we were very happy with our choice of going to Side Street Cafe. Great friendly staff, great food, great everything!
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N Fosnight
After reading all of the positive reviews, I so wanted to love it but couldnt.We went through a series of "uh-ohs" that began with the most apathetic waiter I have ever had. He never checked on us, never offered refills and when my clams were so sandy I couldnt eat them I had to flag down another server to help us. Then came the main entree issue. My lobster, once I finally got it was so watery you could have filled a small juice glass with the water. OK, maybe that is a tiny bit exaggerated but very close to the truth. It was mealy and gritty also.I was going to say something but couldnt find the server. When we needed the check, we couldnt get him to the table for another 15 minutes but when we did, he made sure we were ready to leave. It wasnt busy, early in the evening and we were never rude, so I cant figure out what the issue was with the server. I for those reasons will never go back...
PA
Pablo DePaulis
I thought the place was very nice, great atmosphere. Even though it was very busy, we only waited a few minutes, being only two, we ate at the small high tables they have in an area across the bar. We both got a very nice salad and an shared a full Maine lobster which was delicious. A bit pricey for the type of restaurant it is, so I wont give it 5 stars. Anyway service was fast and the size of the meals, in this case the salads were large so we were satisfied and had no desert. Well neither of us eat much sweets anyway. Btw the Cafe is in a busy street in Bar Harbor so there was plenty of foot traffic. Well this time of the year on weekends Im sure it always is. The town is also fantastic, lots of shops and stuff to do and see!
CH
Christopher Nicholls
Ive never written a review for a restaurant before, but after visiting Bar Harbor and going to Side Street Cafe EACH day I was there, I decided to give it a review. Lets just say that I will be dreaming of the Highliner Quesadilla until the day I visit bar Harbor again (their lobster quesadilla). Additionally, their lobster mac n cheese was out of this world. I was floored when I went for the second time during my trip when my significant other and I had order 8 glasses of wine and 3 lobster dishes, with a bill UNDER 100 dollars! Couldnt recommend this place more and cant wait to go back.
MI
Mike Seaton
Really not great...the staff was nice but the food disppointing. The signature dish...side street lobstet was nothing more than a little lobster with some sauce absent any sign of sherry dumped on it. Lots of rice and vegetables, if you want to pay $29 for it. Wine was quite good...had a bordeaux. Lobster roll wax also weak..small and with an after taste. Hope they return to their roots....they must have cared about the food once, otherwise they wouldnt have all the good reviews because if you had what we had you would never go back.
MI
michael b
We had the lobster quesodilla, the Mac n cheese with lobster, and a half rack of ribs. The quesodilla had a little too much cheese, which meant after the cheese cooled it was like eating cold pizza. While the Mac n cheese with lobster lacked any flavor and was very bland. The lobster was not exactly up to par either; tough and chewy. The ribs were okay. I do not believe they removed the membrane from the backside of the ribs, but the sauce was decent and helped with the Mac n cheese. Sorry, but not exactly work the money spent.
ST
Stephan Goetz
Die hohe Anzahl der Sterne kann ich nicht nachvollziehen. Das Gute vorneweg. Die Bedienung war sehr freundlich und zu vorkommend. Das Essen war frisch und ok, geht jedoch eher Richtung Fast Food... Für diese Preise kann man in Bar Harber besser essen.
