The Lobster Claw

I just heard that The Lobster Claw%26#39;s lease is up and was not renewed due to some new planned development. I love the place and was wondering if anybody knew if it was moving to another location? A trip to BH for me is just not complete without Barry%26#39;s chowder and lobster rolls. Thx

The Lobster Claw

Sorry, don%26#39;t know. I%26#39;ll ask around. The ';new development'; is a Mariott Hotel, complete with an underground garage. But there will be shops on the street level. The whale museum will be given space. The Lobster Claw was a pretty small operation. They might have trouble affording the rent any place right in the village.

The Lobster Claw

Wow...how do you guys who live up there feel about that? I%26#39;ve been coming up there since the mid-60s; every year since 1980 and the changes are remarkable. I hope it doesn%26#39;t get too cookie-cutter/touristy. Thx

Tom Walsh---who took what amounted to a third-rate motel and a nearby junkyard and turned it into the Harborside Hotel %26amp; Marina, and who took the neighboring derelict Bar Harbor Club and turned it into a convention center (with one of the fine restaurants in Bar Harbor)---will be developing the hotel, which then will be operated, as we hear, by Mariott.

Basically, he will take out everything from the corner of West and Main (including the Quarterdeck Restaurant) to Rodick St. The early discussions with the town indicate that Walsh is amenable to suggestions regarding the architecture of the hotel--shingle style has been mentioned. Whatever it eventually is, it won%26#39;t be more of the Harborside motif. The big parking lot behind that row of old storefronts that held the whaling museum, Lobster Claw, etc. will be re-done with improved access. That is were a parking garage %26lt;may%26gt; go in. That is what the town would like to develop; Walsh is amenable to working that direction. However, history has shown that if the town backs off or responds too slowly, Walsh will go his own way.

Walsh is not afraid to spend money on design and landscaping. Given that change pretty much is inevitable, I%26#39;d rather see him providing it than someone who would put in something like the Bar Harbor Grand.

This time Tom Walsh is being more forthcoming about his plans and seeking local input. He will attempt to make the exterior look like several buildings instead of one big massive thing. He%26#39;s done some nice things on West Street. I love the effort he puts into landscaping. I feel good about it. I%26#39;m sure not everyone in town does.

Earlier this summer Barry at the Lobster Claw mentioned that he was looking at some other locations along Cottage Street and Rodick, but that the rent was just too high for him. I%26#39;m not sure what he ended up deciding to do. We will miss him and his lobster rolls very much if he doesn%26#39;t come back.

If, over the course of the winter, any of you guys who are lucky enough to live up there find out if he%26#39;s opening someplace else and if so where can you please post it? There%26#39;s a large group of us down here who will be very disappointed if he doesn%26#39;t show up at another location. Thanks!

It is early days but we will try. One of the winter sports here is keeping track of which places are folding (two so far), which are moving, and which are starting up. Stay tuned.

Just to satisfy the trivial curiosity of an annual visitor, which two places have ceased operations?

The sports collectibles place on Main, right next to Sherman%26#39;s has closed (at least, the place is advertising as ';For Lease';). Also, the T-shirt, etc. shop on Cottage near Main---Moose Crossing, I think, had a going-out-of-business sale. The Quarterdeck Restaurant on the corner of Main and West streets may be done, depending on how rapidly Walsh begins his hotel venture there.

So far, it looks like the local watering holes and restaurants will be back next year.

From a local on the scene, it certainly doesn%26#39;t look like anything is going to be done this winter. The Quarterdeck Restaurant carefully put their boards on the second story windows and has a sign, for what%26#39;s it worth, that says ';see you next year.'; Inside word is that the Quarterdeck folk don%26#39;t actually know what is happening.

Dock pieces are being stored for the winter, as usual, in the parking lot next to the Quarterdeck. It does not seem like anything is going to happen in the next few months.

Perhaps the Lobster Claw man will be able to get a lease for one more season.

lip liner