Susan Sarandon and Valerian Lobster among Charlotte’s “Legendary” Appeal

Charlotte’s Legendary Lobster Pound, 465 Seawall Rd, Southwest Harbor, ME 04679, 207.244.8021

Lobster Roll Grade: A to A+

Additional Standouts: Second best lobster roll on the island; Valerian lobster with a side of sweet corn; Chili cheese red dogs

The Restaurant

Charlotte’s calls itself “legendary” and, frankly … this is no exaggeration!

I first hit up Charlotte’s on Friday afternoon before my husband Eric had made it to the island. The kids and I had an extremely active day that started with breakfast on the beach in Seawall shortly after sunrise and continued with hiking both the Wonderland and Ship Harbor trails on the west side of Acadia National Park.

By the time we made it to Charlotte’s in the afternoon, we were exhausted and soaked with sweat as the hot afternoon sun had really beat down on us during the last mile of the hike. Charlotte’s sits just outside the Park’s boundary in Seawall, so it was the perfect choice for a lunch stop after the busy morning.

We parked next to Charlotte’s play yard – a large field with baseball equipment, a giant connect four game, goats, and other outdoor activities to entertain the kids (or, if like me you love goats, the bigger kids too). The kids immediately took off running towards the play yard, as I, in all my sweaty tired mom glory, sheepishly walked up to the service window and looked over the menu.

The owner, Charlotte, was working the counter that day. I could see a very small staff of young helpers, possibly her own kids or nieces and nephews, working in the kitchen. On the other side of the kitchen from the play yard is a cute and quirky outdoor canopy with an eclectic mix of mismatched chairs and tables decorated with various island style antiques, the words “Zombie Lobster Lounge” painted on one of the walls. An older gentleman that Charlotte called “Dad” sat relaxing, chatting with the guests, and wiping down the tables. 

Everything about this place – the service, the food, the ambiance – is so fantastic that all three of us agreed we simply must come back again once Eric joined us on MDI. In fact, we ended up eating at Charlotte’s a total of three times during our two week trip before finally heading home.

Seriously, it is my favorite place on the whole island!

But don’t just take my word for it. When we returned for our second visit two days later, we learned that apparently Susan Sarandon, (whose family grew up here and who owns a house herself on the island in nearby Long Pond) had come for lunch the previous day!

We had just missed her! Darn, because she is certainly one of my favorite actresses! But Dad told me that she sat in the same chairs at the very same picnic table as I did, so at least now I feel like Susan and I sort of shared a lunch experience here at Charlotte’s.

The Roll:

As mentioned, this was one of my favorite rolls on the island. Though Drydock Café is my number one, Charlotte’s and Abel’s Lobster tied for a very close second.

The thing I love about Charlotte’s roll, beside the valerian lobster (which I’ll explain shortly), is that the “sauce” lightly coated each and every piece just perfectly.

And I don’t really know how to describe the flavor of that sauce except to say it tasted like the flavor of “wet and juicy”. So uh, imagine the flavor of “wet” in your mouth and you’ve got it.

Since we were so tired after our hikes, and we were at Charlotte’s during the hottest, sunniest part of the day, a light mayo sauce that has the “flavor” of wet, juicy lobster with every bite was simply heaven.

The only thing that I would critique would be the roll. This was the only lobster roll we had of all 12 locations in which the “roll” was very identifiably a traditional hot dog roll – you know, the “enriched wheat” hot dog buns you buy for your summer cookouts.

Well, you buy those. In Maryland, we like to use soft, sweet, moist potato rolls for hot dogs.

Now I’ve been told by the MDI locals that a “true” lobster roll is always served on a traditional hot dog bun. But all of the other restaurants served their lobster roll on what seemed to be a thick slice of toasted and some times buttered bread. Usually that bread had the same slight sweetness of the potato bread I love so much. This was just a regular, slightly dry hot dog bun.

I mean, if you like the traditional enriched wheat hot dog bun, then I guess this isn’t much of a criticism. But I’m not a fan.

The Rest of the Menu

The kids had me order them another “red” hot dog, but this one came with chili and cheese on it. Man oh man, was that chili tasty! I took a little bite as I was waiting for the kids to pull themselves away from the play yard games, and I almost ate it all myself before they got to me. It was perfectly seasoned but not spicy … almost a sweet chili.

Charlotte’s carries the Maine Root brand of blueberry soda here, along with sasparilla and root beer. Old Soaker, which we had earlier at C-Ray, only comes in blueberry and root beer. Eventually during the trip we sampled both brands side by side. We decided that Old Soaker is sweeter in flavor while Root’s blueberry is more tart and Root’s root beer is more “rooty” or “bark” like (yes, kids, real old fashion root beer is made with actual tree root, not just artificial flavorings).

Now, the first time I was there, Charlotte’s was out of lobster bisque, for which Charlotte apologized when I tried to order it. Because of this, and a few other reasons (probably because I looked so pathetically soaked to bone with exhaustion and sweat on this third full day of handling two active kids by myself on vacation during the pandemic), she gave me a “friends and family” discount off my meal if I promised to come back a second time to try the bisque.

And I most definitely honored that promise – not once, but twice! 

Our first return trip was on Sunday night after witnessing a most beautiful sunset at Bass Harbor Head Light. Then on our final full afternoon on the island, we decided we just couldn’t get enough of Charlotte’s and headed back again.

I never did get a chance to try the bisque, though. By the time I returned on Sunday, I had sampled several not so great bisques from other restaurants on the island. It was enough for me to decide to cease filling my limited stomach space with bisque in my search for everything lobster. After all, I’d already the bisque of my dreams at Thurston’s, but I had yet to have an another essential and much worthy Maine dish — the full lobster bake!

The Lobster

By the time Eric arrived on the island and the opportunity to return to Charlotte’s rolled around again, I had yet to have a full cooked lobster. And if you like lobster, you haven’t lived until you’ve had a lobster fresh caught from the waters in Maine that very morning. 

Sorry to the rest of New England, but nothing compares to the massive, delicious lobsters that live in the waters that far north.

It was time!

Not only did I now have an adult partner in lobster cracking crime, but the kids were actually begging me for another chance to play on the baseball field.

What’s that kids? You want to entertain yourselves together while allowing Mommy and Daddy to have an entire decadent meal to ourselves? I mean, if you say so!

So we returned, not for the soup, but for full on lobster awesomeness.

Charlotte’s feeds their lobsters valerian, a wonderfully relaxing medicinal herb that I sometimes recommend to patients in my own clinic. It chills you out, helps you to sleep, and carries away any cares or stressors you have for a bit.  As a trained medical herbalist, I find valerian to be way more effective than the current “CBD everything” craze with less longer term side effects.

Feeding this to the lobsters not only makes their “final swim” a more humane way to go, but it also makes them taste absolutely delicious. And you leave with a happy and fully satiated grin on your face at the end of your meal.

We placed an order for our lobster bakes using Charlotte’s online ordering system just as we were leaving Bass Harbor after evening’s amazing sunset. Depending on the night, Charlotte’s is open for at least an hour or two past sunset. Many strings of decorative lights surround the canopy and grounds, and Dad lights up the fisherman’s lanterns on the tables. It’s a delightful sight.

And did I mention Charlotte’s is BYOB? Charlotte made a point of telling me that little fact when she invited me to come back a second time. Again, clearly she understood that I was in need of some Mommy chill time while the kids played. And by our evening return visit, I had come across a local wild blueberry wine from Bartlett Maine Estate Winery. This wine is so excellently crafted that it tasted like drinking the best full body cabernet sauvignon.

We had been searching for a bottle of locally made red wine. But the clerk at the liquor store in Southwest Harbor shook his head, “No”.

“Uh uh,” he said. “We don’t grow grapes this far North. You don’t want to be drinking any wine that says it’s local to Maine. But we do grow blueberries, and this blueberry wine will knock your socks off.”

And he was right! We loved it so much we even brought home a few bottles.

So at Charlotte’s that night we savored every bite of those delicious little valerian soaked lobsters and washed it down with velvety blueberry wine in the candlelight of the table lanterns. Since the kids were mostly entertained on the play yard, it would have been the perfect romantic date night, except for the mistake I made of letting my five year old try the lobster.

“Oh man. Oh man. OH MAN!!! … That’s delicious!,” he cooed. Then he started begging me for more, and more, and more … which I begrudgingly agreed to because who can say no to an adorable five year old who is being such an adventurous food connoisseur.

After we finished up my lobster, we completed the meal with the sweetest, tastiest corn I’ve ever had. And that comment is coming from a Jersey girl who lived in a house surrounded by sweet Jersey corn fields (it is called the Garden State for a reason).

Who knows, maybe everything tasted so delicious because of the valerian. But you know what, I don’t care. I just want more!

On our third visit, I got the full lobster bake one more time. This time, I made Eric share his lobster with the kiddo since I had already done my due diligence in sharing half of mine. I told my son he would have to look into getting a job at Charlotte’s if he was going to have expensive tastes.

So, to sum up this long, delicious dining adventure: If you go out to eat at only one restaurant on all of Mount Desert Island, go to Charlotte’s. You won’t be sorry.

And make sure to ask “Dad” the story about the Zombie Lobster Lounge and Theater. It’s a great story, and he is a delightful story teller with whom to spend the afternoon or evening.