Tag Archives: restaurants

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Welcome to Mount Desert Island!

Welcome to Mount Desert Island! You dreamed of the day when life would calm down just enough so that you could come to visit… And now, you’re here!

We would like to help make your visit to The Island as (pleasantly) unforgettable as possible.

No one has paid us anything to recommend the restaurants or shops we feature on our website. We chose them because each one is a high value, great experience establishment… Yet the crowd that floods our backyard like the time does not seem to notice them…

Welcome to Mount Desert Island!

Bar Harbor, as seen from Porcupine Island across the bay

Our recommendations are not for those who prefer to stand in line for long periods of time.  They are not for those who prefer to buy “authentic” China-made souvenirs instead of locally Maine-made goods.

And if you are in a rush to see the Island as fast as you can so that you can check it off of your bucket list and head home, then press the back button on your browser immediately.

Margaret Todd sets sail from Bar Harbor on Mount Desert Island

The Margaret Todd

Part of the experience of a vacation on the Island is to enjoy ocean breezes and lighthouses, the whales and wildlife, and moments with family and friends you’ll never forget.

To enjoy Mount Desert Island at its best, follow us, and other locals like us, as we lead you away from the beaten pathways, to places where there is still room to sit, and watch the tide come in and go out.

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When is the Best Time to Visit Bar Harbor and Mount Desert Island?

The “best time” to visit Mount Desert Island depends upon your personality. The seasons change dramatically on the Island throughout the year. This provides a best time for a wide range of personality types. After all, each season fits people differently.

What is the best time to visit Bar Harbor and Mount Desert Island?

Some would say that the summer season is not long enough here. But in a way, our summer is far more valuable than the ideal conditions one would find in places where the weather is warm and sunny year-round. For it is the long Winter nights which make Bar Harbor, Maine and New England Summers the best you’ll ever experience!

Here on Mount Desert Island, there is a season that is just right for your personality type as well.

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Dining on Mount Desert Island: What’s open (updated for 2021)

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

Not all the restaurants listed on the internet or in print are open. So I drive around the island, to make sure every restaurant I list is open... and find new treasures!
Finding a table at a restaurant at lunch time can be challenging, especially in Bar Harbor

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.

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