Dining in Bar Harbor in the spring and summer can feel like a game of musical chairs. The music stops. The stomach growls. And everyone rushes to find a place to eat.

To skip the introduction and find your next Mount Desert Island restaurant immediately, click on one of the categories below:

Breakfast ~ Lunch ~ Dinner

Sometimes too many people try to “sit” at a particular restaurant at the same time. When this happens, you have to wait in line. “Hangry” tempers flare. Children scream… and you may not get to sit down until the mealtime is over.

And it is SO frustrating to make your way to a restaurant listed on the internet or in a travel guide… only to find out it closed.

Truly, the “game” of finding a place to eat on the Island is certainly a challenge.

With my own eyes, verified

As we slowly emerge from the COVID-19 age, not all the restaurants listed on the internet, or in the travel guides, are open. So to provide you a list of all the dining options on Mount Desert Island, I regularly drive around the island, to personally make sure “with my own eyes” that every restaurant listed on this website is open.

In addition, some websites and brochures list closed restaurants. Others list only the restaurants who pay advertising fees. As a result, hungry travelers fill certain restaurants and neglect others just a few hundred yards behind them.

Our website allows you to know every restaurant in Bar Harbor and on Mount Desert Island available to you: the newcomers as well as the old standbys.

To list them here at MaineStreams.com, we only ask two things of them:

• they must be open for the season, and
• they must have at least seven tables available for seating

This way, you can make the best choice possible when your family is ready to eat.

Dining is better on “The Quiet Side”

The best suggestion we can give you for finding a great place to eat on Mount Desert Island is to head to the “quiet side” of the Island. As of this year, we now list all the restaurants on the Quiet side on our website.

This website offers you the only complete, up-to-date list of restaurants open in Bar Harbor and Mount Desert Island. We list them by meal times and categories.

As a result, you’ll be able to enjoy the most popular restaurants, as well as some of the lesser known ones off the beaten path.

The restaurants on this website begin with a list of the restaurants in and around Bar Harbor. The ones closest to the Bar Harbor Pier listed first. This benefits both the cruise ship and the road trip traveler.

Breakfast ~ Lunch ~ Dinner

Cruise Ship Passengers and Road Travelers: How to find the right dining place for your family

You may be on one of the boats or ships docked in the Harbor this morning. If so, you will be able to discover what’s closest to the dock. If the options next to the dock are overrun, you can try the restaurants further out.

And road trip travelers can stay away from the pier until 5 PM. That’s when all the passengers have to be back on the cruise ships, and the town is still open for business.

We then list dining restaurants beyond Bar Harbor, on the Quiet Side of the Island.

In these times, some would rather not eat indoors. Others catch cold easily, and have to. Whether you would like to eat indoors, or a quieter meal in your hotel room or tent, we’ve got you covered.

If you are in Bar Harbor, stop by the Bar Harbor Inn. At the Front Desk, you’ll find the friendliest people around! My friends Josh and Laura have all sorts of helpful advice to make your stay on Mount Desert Island, amazing! If you tell them that David sent you, they may also be able to give you a copy of the Inn’s exclusive, free Hiking Guides.

No matter where you are staying while visiting the island, you’re always welcome at the Bar Harbor Inn!