Dennett’s Wharf

Great Location. Good Bar & Food

Foul. Even if you’re the only game in town you should at least try and assemble an edible meal! A beautiful town besmirched by this nasty, cynical tourist trap.

Such a cute place right on the water. Love the dollar bills hanging from the ceiling, and all of the eclectic décor. Only stopped in for a quick drink, but when I saw they had blueberry pie I had to try it. And oh my lordy I’m so glad I did! It was heavenly. Not too sweet, the dough was light and flakey. Too bad I live 3,000 miles away otherwise I’d be there on a nightly stuffing my face full of this blueberry perfection.

First, at entrance we had to walk through mud puddles to get inside. We sat on deck which was very pleasant. The prices are a bit much due to the quality and amount of food served. It seems like staff is at a minimum and we had quite a wait even though if was past lunch time and only a few parties eating. The place needs a little redecorating and I would think with the menu prices it wouldn’t be hard to do. I would not bother to go there again.

Beautiful view of the Penobscot and all its sailing vessels as we sat on the deck in the warm sunshine. Great beer selection to relax with. A wonderful Coquille St Jacques special for dinner. A perfect spot for an afternoon at the waterfront!

Location and views — I agree. But, we asked to sit out on the deck on a slow night and told if only drinking to get our drinks ourselves at the bar and then go out — no server for us! I had my 74 year old mother with me and there we stood trying to get space at the bar … Each had a drink and left. Not worth another — what a shame. We wanted to relax and catch up. We actually got hungry, but realized no one to order food from!

Let me start by saying, I was skeptical to go here after reading reviews. We were greeted by a very grumpy hostess. She did not seem to enjoy her job. When we asked for a table outside at 5:30, she was rude about us not having a reservation. She semi lectured us despite there being plenty of tables. When we and were seated outside, we had an excellent server named Maureen. She was chipper and cheerful which was a nice change from what we we started with. We ordered steamers and mussels came instead. She swapped the order. The clam chowder is outstanding. There is no bacon and it is just the right consistency. We had lobster rolls for $ 24 each. They even had gluten free buns for those who need that. They were a tad pricey but tasty. We skipped desert. When we were leaving, I noticed all the dollar bills on the ceiling. My friend asked the same grumpy hostess who can out the money up. She said we all can. He tried to give her money to do it but she said she was too busy and had to collect the menus and close a tab. Whatever. Our kind waitress, Maureen tried to do it and then the bartender took over. The food is good. The view is fabulous. It was a great experience. I was reluctant to write about the hostess until she was rude again at the end of the meal. If I had anything to do with the restaurant, I wouldn’t want her greeting guests at my establishment. Maybe she was having a bad day but she put a sour taste in our otherwise good meal. Four stars for the food and atmosphere. Two stars for the hostess.

Passable food but somewhat interchangeable with every other wharf side seafood shack. This one has service with a side of apathy and sky high prices, albeit with a nice view.

Great location. Okay, but seriously overpriced food, and mediocre to choppy service. If you’re going here, go for the view, and don’t have high expectations of the meal, it’s value, or expect a level of service commensurate with what you pay.

Over priced food, horrible service. The only thing this place has going for it is the location. If you want fried seafood on the water, go to The Breeze and eat on the town dock. Or go to Markels. You will not walk out feeling like you have just been robbed…

First, the location and views. Hard to beat. I was there at a rather quiet time, around 1:30 the Monday after the July fourth holiday weekend. Service was fine, nothing special, but not in any way bad. The food was surprisingly good. I had «fish and chips» (what I practically always order at such places — so I’m quite an expert judge). Not haute cuisine but I wasn’t expecting that. Even the coleslaw was edible (that’s rare IMO).

I ordered the fried haddock sandwich, but the first bite tasted quite strongly of ammonia, so I stopped eating. When I told my waitress, she admitted the sandwich wasn’t haddock after all; it was ‘skate’(a bottom-​feeding fish). My friend who is in the restaurant business said the ammonia flavor is indicative of it being spoiled, and that it would probably make me sick (besides the horrible flavor!). I was given another choice of entrée, and the BBQ chicken plate was fine. Luckily, I didn’t get sick, but my appetite was not the same. No comp on the check, although I was ‘offered’ dessert.
On the plus side, they have a good selection of craft beers (~12). Live music was good, as were the views of Castine harbor… Just beware of the food!

Great location. Severely understaffed so the service was extremely slow. Food was overpriced and over cooked. Not recommended but there is not much else here.

This review is only for their happy hour. Some locals had recommended the happy hour at Dennett’s f’or their $ 0.95 cent locally farm raised oysters on the half shell. The sign outside said happy hour was from 4 to 6 so we killed time until 4 and then went inside where we were informed that happy hour prices were only honored at the bar. Happily we learned that the bar extended outside onto the deck and since it was a beautiful, sunny afternoon we chose to sit outside. We waited a little while for service and wondered at first if anyone knew (or cared) if we were there. Finally the bartender appeared and we asked him how the happy hour worked. He explained that only one of the available varieties of oysters (Little Island) was on special ($ 0,95) and that these were the smallest of those available. Also that all of the alcoholic drinks were $ 1.50 off. We also learned that the oyster happy hour runs from 3 to 5 while the drink happy hour runs from 4 to 6. WTF! Now that is really quirky, and honestly quite typical of «downeast» Maine, but part of the charm! We ordered a dozen Little Island Oysters and two draft ales from a wonderful selection of Maine brewed beers. Following another wait the bartender served our oysters in a beautiful large ice filled bowl decorated with seaweed, a nice presentation. The oysters were cleanly shucked, ice cold and slightly salty. Perfect! We did note that the price for a dozen on the half shell as a dinner appetizer was an outta sight $ 30!

The view here is lovely and we had a nice night sitting outside on the patio listening to some live music. The food was decent and I would come back to try some other things. Great beer selection!

Lobster roll is overpriced. Go to Bagaduce lunch for half the price. They don’t care for tourists so only go if you are a local

Descent food. You’re really going there for the ambiance. It’s definitely a combination of tourist attraction and local hangout.

This restaurant is obviously in an ideally scenic location, but that is about the only thing it has going on… the staff was slightly annoyed, they seemed oddly overwhelmed. The food prices are way too high for what you get. I had the lobster salad and my boyfriend had a lobster roll, both with processed lobster, both were $ 18! It is just such a shame to not serve lobster that came out of the water that you’re practically sitting above! I hope this restaurant turns it around because I’d love to come back next year to this gorgeous location and eat delicious, seasonal food at a reasonable price.

Great location right on the Penobscot Bay. Food was average. Service was poor. The waitress was not knowledgeable about the menu and the service was slow. Expensive for quality of food and service. The highlight was the blue berry pie.

Don’t go here for friendly service or a prompt waitstaff. We had to wait 15 minutes after being served for our absent minded waitress to go get some silverware. Also the boy working was rude and condescending. The fish I ordered was flaky and fresh, but oddly wet. We won’t be going back.