McKays Public House

Open 3 days a week in the winter! We were visiting Acadia for a winter vacation and wanted to go out for one if our meals. This was the only place we could find that was open. And they did not disappoint.
I had the lamb burger, which was cooked medium rare as requested and tasted the crab cakes, both were great! Everyone enjoyed their meals, we had 9 people in our party. There was also a good selection of beers on tap.

You will eventually see everyone at McKays if you are in Bar Harbor long enough, it’s one of those places that’s kind of a local hangout/​meeting spot. I give it points for being open all year, but lord, the place is crowded when it’s the only thing going on.
Love their list of Maine beers, and I usually get the lobster mac/​cheese. I would give it more stars if I felt their waitstaff gave a flying flip if you are there or not.

The outdoor dining space is great, and the drink options great. This place is probably a better happy hour option than dinner option. We had the fish & chips and lamb burger. The portion size of the fish & chips were good, but a bit too greasy and the batter a little too thick. The lamb burger was also disappointing, lacking in flavor and by far much too small for the bun.
I would, however, come back for drinks and light appetizers. The staff is friendly and helpful.

Driving on Maine Street in quaint Bar Harbor, it’s hard to miss noticing McKays Public House. The outside seating is right off the sidewalk and is decked out with all the trimmings — rock pathways, beautiful flowers (we were there before the snow), umbrellas, string lights and outdoor heating with sky high flames. The indoors was beautiful too –old house with dim lighting, warm colored paint, melodic music and an inviting bar.
The wine was good, the jalapeño cocktail was sharp, icy and delicious. Northern Oysters were so fresh with a completely different taste and style from Southern Oysters. Very surprising and good. The clam chowder was tasty, tons of meat, under salted but there was salt on the table.
The Lobster Mac and Cheese was so mouthwatering — exactly as expected. The fish, rice and green beans plate was mediocre — overcooked rice, beans that shouldn’t have been served. The fish was pretty cold, but sitting outside, it was expected. Our waiter was very cool and the general ambiance was so calming and enjoyable I would recommend it (though I assume that their beautiful restaurant gets enough passerby customers that they don’t need a recommendation).

This was well worth the wait. Their outside garden is really lovely and romantic. We went with the recommendations from the server (who was totally delightful and fun!) and had great meals — especially the luscious lobster mac and cheese. We ended up taking home leftovers as the portions were quite large.

We decided to come here after our long day of hiking. I was really excited to come here after seeing their menu.
When we arrived we of course did not have a reservation and the wait was well over an hour. We were given the option to wait in the bar or even dine there if we could get seats. There was one seat for me and some standing room for my husband so we started with some drinks.
The bar tender was really friendly and we noticed that several people at the bar were locals. Luckily another seat at the bar opened up so we decided to just hunker down and eat there. We started with the Pretzels & Welsh Rarebit. This was everything I wanted after a long day of hiking. The pretzels were delicious and I wanted to eat the Welsh Rarebit with a spoon.
I decided to get another appetizer for my meal which was a Korean beef nacho. My husband decided on the lobster mac and cheese. Originally my nachos came out with some topping I asked to be kept off and they whisked it away before it even got to me to fix it. Kudos to our bar tender for being so on top of things.
The nachos were a little salty, probably a minor result of some of the things I had left off, but it was really quite delicious. The beef had excellent flavor and the pickled veggies on top complimented it quite well. The lobster mac and cheese was amazing! I thought my version from another restaurant was great but this blew that out of the water. An excellent helping of lobster and the cheese sauce was well balanced.
We decided to finish our meal with a toffee sticky pudding cake. I was a bit skeptical of this but the bar tender recommended it and it was amazing! It was sweet but not overly so and the ice cream on top was delicious!
This was a excellent meal and I am very happy that we ended up in the bar. We had a great time, with great food, drinks, and service. We will definitely be back!

One of the most disappointing meals. Ever. And it wasn’t even just my dish, it was my whole party. I can’t remember the last time I left feeling that unsatisfied or sad about overpaying for food.
Here’s what we ordered:
1) NY strip steak — so dry to the point where the meat was uncuttable! Ah! And mind you, the steak knife was just fine. Not to mention there was ZERO flavor. Tasted like boiled meat. Unacceptable.
2) seafood risotto with lobster — slight sourness to the risotto. Strange. May have been the red tomato chunks in there? Also the risotto was grainier than the risotto I was expecting. I was hoping for that creamy cheesy melt-​in-​your-​mouth type texture, but it felt way undercooked and chunky. The tomatoes threw me off.
3) pork belly & scallop appetizer — 2 out of 4 scallops had a metallic (?!), stale, fishy taste to it. This first dish basically ruined my scallop-​loving friend’s palette for the rest of the night. And the pork belly?! That was NOT pork belly. It was a burnt overcooked tough dry piece of beef (!?). We were so flabbergasted and confused.
4) swordfish — just no. I get that it’s hard to cook swordfish well but wow it was so tough and dry that my friend was done after 2 small bites. It was like dry crumbly canned tuna.
But! +1 star for our wines, beers, and attentive service. Yeah, that’s about it.

Overall, the service and food were mediocre. My husband and I both had the seafood risotto– which did have a plentiful amount of shrimp and scallops, but it was bland. It took over 25 min for the appetizer. Everything seemed unorganized instead of a seamless dining experience. Not a place we’d recommend.

We had a great time here tonight to finish up our Acadia trip. The atmosphere outside was quaint and romantic with the twinkle lights. There were outdoor heaters to keep the October chill away. The staff and greeters were friendly and accommodating even though we didn’t have reservations. The seafood risotto was awesome and super filling. The filet mignon melted in your mouth. The clam chowder, while thinner than expected had big clam chunks and great flavor. We would definitely eat here again.

We didn’t come to Bar Harbor prepared and had no reservation. We were hungry though so rather than wait for an indoor table, we sat outside. It was chilly but the delicious food was worth it! We has the scallops & pork belly appetizer which was amazing, we could have eaten more. This should not be shared by more than 2 people. Hubby had the risotto with the ½ lobster added, I tried some and it was to die for. So good! I had the boiled lobster which was fantastic. The sides were o.k. but they’re not really the star. Wine/​beer selection is good, great atmosphere, somewhat slow service being outside. I’d come back, but would make sure to have a reservation!

Outside tables look pretty cool with all the lights. But the best place to sit is inside: nice small bar, dimmed lights, original atmosphere like from the old days.
Food is good and fresh. Wine list give you a choice of pretty affordable bottles.
Lamb is what you should try: lamb burger and Shepard’s pie were more than tasty.
This is a nice and not too pricey restaurant with interesting atmosphere.

Upstairs table, crab or lobster pieces still on table. Bad smell too, old seafood? Dirty rag to wipe the tabke? Very off putting. Had a pinot noir, undrinkable, old? don’t sell much wine maybe? House red tempranillo was ok, good price, $ 4 during happy hour. Had lobster Rangoon appetizer, don’t get it, $ 12 and just crusty wonton, barely any lobster. Dinner was actually quite good. I had the halibut, small piece but done properly. Wife had burger and salad said it was good. Beer selection looked good, many Maine local brews on tap.

My friends and I were in town for Labor Day weekend. We had a large party of 8, but were able to put our name down and return in half an hour. Very timely. The service was great!
I ended up sharing the seafood risotto, lobster «mac’n’cheese» and clam chowder. The seafood risotto was amazing! Highly recommend. The scallops were done very well and it was delicious. The lobster mac and cheese was good but less cheesy than I usually like my mac and cheeses to be. The clam chowder was also good, very creamy, but could have used a little more flavor.
Overall a great experience. Would definitely go back. This time we sat inside because we had such a large party, but it would be great to come back and sit outside. The patio is so nice with lights hung up everywhere.

My girlfriend and I ended a busy August Thursday in Bar Harbor at McKays after walking past many other restaurants and finding ourselves unimpressed by the menus (and/​or mobs of customers) on offer. But McKays’ menu looked intriguing, and the wait was relatively short, so we rolled the dice.
(A note re the short wait: I put this down to the fact that MDI and Bar Harbor seem to draw predominantly families on vacation with children. This means the majority of restaurants in Bar Harbor cater to family clientele and receive heavy traffic of that sort, whereas high-​end fine dining places like McKays are not suitable for families with children, and are accordingly easier to get into– perfect for couples and small groups without children.)
We were not disappointed. The elegant outdoor garden area is the perfect setting for a relaxing, romantic meal. (McKays is at the far end of Main Street from downtown, so the noise from the street is minimal to none.) The drinks menu was vast, with numerous beer, wine, and cocktail options, including specials– these folks clearly take their alcohol seriously.
The food was the only aspect that was not perfect– the brie and poached pears appetizer we had skewed a bit more towards quantity than quality (though it was by no means bad), and my GF’s halibut was, in her words, «a bit too healthy-​tasting.» But the bone-​in pork loin I had was AMAZING– so perfectly cooked and rich that I almost wept when there was no more– and the sides (mashed gingered sweet potatoes and roasted asparagus) and the blueberry pie we had for dessert were delicious as well. (Alas, the pork loin was a special of the day, or I’d probably make it a point to come here every summer…)
Although the food quality was less consistently excellent than other aspects of the experience, overall this was one of the finest dining excursions we’ve had in a long time. Admittedly ambiance is a huge part of it– would you prefer McKays’ charming garden, or the mobbed lobster + fried fish shacks on the main drag that make up the rest of the Bar Harbor dining scene?– so if you are interested solely in food and don’t care about drinks or ambiance, I wouldn’t recommend it so readily, but for those who seek «the big picture» when they dine out, this is a great destination.
PS– One thing I almost forgot: the night we were there, there was a live instrumental guitarist as well. I can’t recall whether we found him to be a net asset or liability to the experience– only that he played a number of vaguely familiar tunes that did distract us a bit while we tried to figure out what precisely they were (e.g. Simon and Garfunkel, «Anji»). But I have no idea whether the live entertainment is a regular feature or not.

I went to this place twice on my recent trip to Bar Harbor. The first time was excellent: Delicious shephard’s pie, decadent duck spring rolls, and a friendly waitress. What more could you ask for? The interior of the restaurant is charming and truly has an old pub feel.
The second visit left a lot of things to be desired. The service was pretty bad. The waiter brought our appetizer out right with the meal. His excuse was «he thought we wanted it that way,» which I thought was silly. Everything went downhill from there. I found a giant bone in the duck spring rolls that had been so delicious the first time. My meal was a horrorshow. I couldn’t even eat it. Never order the mixed-​BBQ thing. I can’t even remember what it was called, but it was an amalgam of bizarre meats that clashed with each other. It was like someone blindly picked a bunch of sauces from the back of the refrigerator and slathered it over badly cooked meat. It was the strangest meal I attempted to eat in a long time.
The waiter didn’t pay much attention to us. He was too busy trying to suck up to the wealthy couple behind us to get a big tip.
This place seems pretty inconsistent. I’m giving it 3 stars because I loved it the first time, but the second time it was awful. Try it, maybe you’ll get lucky.

My hotel and Unilocal recommended a bunch of pricier restaurants for Bar Harbor, but I’m glad I went with McKays! I definitely got the bang for my buck.
There’s some street parking out in front, and McKays is basically a decently-​sized house with outdoor seating in the «front yard» so of course there’s a homey ambience to the place. They have a bar when you walk in, but also tables that are amply distanced from each other for a more private feel, which I love! Too bad our candle was out, haha.
My boyfriend and I were definitely eager to try some of that Maine lobster, but also didn’t want to eat lobster on lobster on lobster the entire meal. So we ended up getting the lobster of the day, a bistro steak, and sweet potato fries with this awesome horseradish suace. The food came out extremely slowly — the slow service is definitely my main issue with McKays, but we did come on a summer Saturday, so what can you expect? We had to flag our waitress down a few times, but she was super sweet each time, especially when we realized we didn’t know how to eat a lobster! If only my steak (albeit only $ 19) had been as delicious as the lobster… Learned our lesson: just get seafood in Maine!

You have to get their lobster mac n cheese. It is amazing! The truffle oil adds a really nice touch, and it doesn’t feel overly heavy at all. We came here two nights in a row, and I really should’ve just gone with my gut and order the mac n cheese again because the halibut was too tough.
Service is decent, and the restaurant itself isn’t super great or anything, but the seafood is really good. Their seafood risotto was great too!

I got a blackberry mojito. My friend got a fancy mule cocktail. The atmosphere was beautiful. The prices seemed a little high, but if I get a chance to go back with the parents I would definitely do so :)