Schooner Landing

We joined friends at Schooner Landing for the free oysters on the deck on the first Friday in August 2015. The weather was gorgeous and we enjoyed socializing with friends as we stood in line for two free oysters at a time. The guys at the oyster bar were friendly and funny, and it was great to watch them shuck the oysters.
While on the deck, I saw another table near the live music (like us, they were not in the table-​service section) have a plate of nachos delivered to them. As we were hungry, I went to the restaurant hostess to ask how we could also do this. The college-​age woman told me that we «could order food at the bar.» To the bar I went, and stood in a line of about six people. When it was almost my turn, two 20-​somethings who reeked of marijuana cut the line and went right up to the bartender, who was evidently a friend of theirs, joked around with him, and ordered two drinks each. When the bartender finally got back to helping people in the existing line, he told me that I couldn’t just order food at the bar, that I would «have to get a buzzer» (as if waiting for a table) «and wait.». I told him that the hostess had said that he could take our food order. He shrugged. Having now spent 20 minutes waiting, I gave up and went back to the deck.
Our group of six needed to eat and there was a 45-​minute wait for dinner everywhere else in town (it was a Friday in August), so we waited and waited for a table. I’ll spare you the meal details and just say that 1) the college age (read: summer job) waitstaff knew almost nothing about the food or beers, 2) the food was sub-​par, and 3) the food was really overpriced.
The moral of the story is: go to Schooner Landing exclusively for drinks on the deck, free oysters and live music on Friday afternoons, and the view from the deck. Skip the restaurant; as both the food and the service are absolutely terrible.

I love Damariscotta, and I love Schooner Landing. The deck, the view, and the service is always breath taking. Alas, I have to give my favorite 3 stars. The fried oysters in the Po’Boy were outstanding, but the rest was sub-​pedestrian. First, I love a good Bloody Mary. It was good but strangely sweet. It wasn’t a Clamato-​YUM sweet, but a ‘could have been’ whipped cream flavored vodka sweet. Second, the bread on the Po’Boy and the lobster roll was sad and stale. This would be an easy fix for my favorite lunch place. Finally, the fries were limp. Nothing makes me angry like a slice of potato with bad posture. Stand at attention or go home. Regardless, I will keep coming back just for the view and the people.

I’m giving you 5! Carol was our waitperson. Lovely lady, very nice. I had the fish tacos (haddock). It was really good. One person had the lobster stew which I tried and was quite tasty. I come here every year when I visit Boothbay and I always have and a great experience. Great setting on the outside screened porch.

The food and service were mediocre, but everything was WAY overpriced. Not getting what you pay for.

Depends on your goal. Food is a 1 ½. Views are a 5. If you sit next to the window. If you want a great outside bar, I’d give it a 5 as well. Just don’t count on a great meal. It depends on your expectations. Got the lobster roll and McDonalds or D’Angelos puts them to shame.

Stopped in for a couple of beers and a small app. Ordered the nachos and boy were they a meal !!! Piled high with all the fixings there wasn’t any room for a main course. Great Service — highly recommend!!!

We dropped in here on a Tuesday around 1:15 PM. Not too busy, we were quickly seated on the large screened in dock right along the water. This was exactly the kind of setting we had in mind, great view. I ordered a Caesar salad with fried Calamari which was a generous serving and excellent. My wife ordered the fresh fried Haddock sandwich which she proclaimed one of the best fish sandwiches she has had. Lunch for 3 including 2 beers was just a bit over $ 40, very reasonable. We would return.

Excellent location super friendly staff the chowder of the day we’ll represents the area and the «Jason’s Haddock «is excellant.

Yuck. This place was dingy, the food was not good, and they had a horrible band playing. We couldn’t wait to get out of the place! Service was extremely slow. Took about 15 minutes to get waters. The chowder was watered down. I just have nothing good to say about this place. Wait! I was happy with they closed the door to the «lounge» and it some-​what muted the band.

Looking for a place for a late lunch we found this and couldn’t have been happier. A nice sunny day, we ate outside on the deck with a beautiful view and our server was very quick and helpful. We started with oysters which were fabulous. I then had the $ 20 lobster roll which was theist expensive lobster roll I have ever had but it was excellent. I liked the fact that the mayo and butter was served separate to please every taste as I prefer very little. Everything was washed down with a nice local IPA that was on tap. One star off for the expense but otherwise it was just what we needed on a late afternoon

Very bad. Ordered steak and lobster pie. Steak was ok but place did not have any steak sauce. Lobster pie was a joke. Watery sauce covered in bread crumbs. Wife ordered mussels and chowder. Said chowder was excellent but mussels were cold and no flavor. There are lots of better places around. Avoid this one

We liked the place a lot, in fact went there 2 times during the week we were near by. I found the non-​positive ratings interesting, as this is a bar at the water, and not advertised or known for a fancy place. Each time we were there, including prior years the service is really good, the food is fresh and taste great, the drinks are good and cold, and the views are amazing.
As someone else said, the parking might appear tight, but there are multiple public parking lots less than a 2 minute walk from the place.
Lastly, we have spent a lot of time in beach towns up and down the east coast, and this is one of the better bars a long the water.
We reccomend trying the place with the expectation of having fun, great views and good bar seafood.

It was my first time there. I asked the waitress if they made frozen drinks she said she would check with the bar came back with the answer of yes. So I said I have a piña colada. She came back several minutes later with the drink I had no idea what it was. But I can tell you was definitely not a piña colada. When in Maine i’ve learned don’t order tropical drinks order beer or soda. I ordered my meal consisting of lobster pie and a steak combination. The lobster pie I have to say was very tasty small portion but very tasty. The steak that came with it wasn’t worth my time very low quality cut of meat. And the waitress never asked me how I would like the steak cooked. My wife ordered lobster stew and she said it was very good I tasted it and I agree with her. She also ordered the bacon wrapped scallops also very good. Her main course was a lobster salad we have to say it was just mediocre. The amount of money they charge for their meals they should not skimp on the condiments I wanted ketchup with my meal they gave me a inferior ketchup it was not Heinz ketchup it was a watered-​down substitute. Come on now and inferior cheap ketchup give us a break. Well enough said. Some of the things we were satisfied with and some very unhappy with. Work on the prices use quality condiments and work on better service by the waitresses.

I’m going to knock off a star for lackluster service and less than mediocre food. We came here (again) for the view, and realized that the food is less than stellar. And that’s being kind. Lettuce in the salad was like the dark green (brown?) ends that are normally used in airplane dishes; a burger my son refused to eat (freezer burned); and uninspiring chicken wraps that were left half eaten. Fried shrimp and clams were decent, but the side dish — a day old (or longer) sour cream mashed potatoes was incredibly disappointing. It was like a solid, hard ball of potato. Ouch. God willing, this place will be out of business soon and a competent management team will buy it, upgrade the menu, refurbish it, and make it a terrific place for view AND food.

Mother’s Day was the first real day of summer. We decided it was time to have a drink down at the water’s edge. On the way it said that Schooner Landing would have music from four till 7 PM. We arrived a few minutes before 4 and found a nice table for two. The waitress said to see the hostess. We had looked for the hostess but she wasn’t there, so we looked again. This time she was on the phone. When she got off she told us that they would not be serving after 4 PM (it was 4.07 she said). wtf.
False advertising on the web? What kind of business model is that? The waitress and the hostess gave us the impression that they were doing us a favor. The problem is that Schooner Landing has the only waterside venue in town. If that’s what you’re seeking you better try another town. As locals we cannot recommend Schooner Landing. But it’s an opportunity for someone else to develop a waterside restaurant/​tavern that welcomes a customer.

Went twice to make sure the first time wasn’t a fluke. Excellent food, and friendly service. The Lobster Quesadilla was especially tasty.
Sometimes (weekends?) they have live music outside with free oysters. Fun!

Absolutely horrible. Terrible service and food. This may be a great place to have drinks by the water, but have your meals elsewhere.
I was seated with a party of about six. Three of us ordered the shrimp tacos which were advertised as «from local waters». In fact these were the smallest, blandest shrimp I have ever tasted, as if from a can. The tacos themselves were served with a sprinkling of processed cheese and a bag of chips, not at all worth eating. Another plate– prime rib ordered medium rare was served completely well done and rubbery. After complaining to our server about the prime rib, she assured us that we would be compensated, however upon receiving the bill we discovered that a mere $ 2 was comped from a pricey meal. Horrible experience all around, we will not be returning.

Won’t be back again.
My boyfriend and I were seated by the hostess on the outdoor patio where 3 – 4 other tables were seated. Not busy at all.
We were sitting for 10 – 15 minutes before we were even acknowledged, not even by our own waiter, by another waitress that happened to walk by. She took our drink order then brought over our waiter. Not a good start.
For an appetizer, we ordered the lobster quesadillas. Decent amount of lobster, overloaded with olives. Not a problem for me, I love olives but it was overkill for my boyfriend who could barely pick them out there were so many.
I got the seafood sliders as a meal which came with a crab cake slider, a lobster salad slider, and a fried haddock slider. All were pretty forgettable, lacking in any real flavor. Just kind of bland.
The sweet potato fries were okay, but the dipping sauce was just honey mustard out of the big jug from college cafeteria days…
The wait for the appetizer and our meals was equally as long as for our drinks. No idea what was going on because the place was EMPTY.
Our bill finally came after being there for well over an hour and half, and yes the lobster quesadillas were «market price» but they were $ 18.00! With the price of lobster as low as it is now, no way those quesadillas were worth $ 18.00, especially because it had more olives on it than actual lobster meat!
Very expensive meal for quality and service that was definitely lacking.

This place has terrible service. We went here on an afternoon when they seemed moderately busy. Some of the waiters and the manager were just standing around talking to people. It was a slightly windy day, and the umbrellas they had outside were blowing with the wind to the point that some were breaking while people sat there.
First, when we got there, we overheard that a person found a fly in their drink, and it took the waiter nearly 10 minutes to get the person another drink. It took another 15 minutes before we got to order. It wasn’t until 10 minutes after that when we finally got our drinks. It literally took over 30 minutes to just get our drinks (2 waters, an iced tea, and a diet coke, which came as a regular coke).
The food took equally long to come. At one point they brought us the wrong food. The portion sizes were on the small side for how pricey the place was (I’m familiar with the price of seafood in Maine).
In the end they charged us incorrectly for the bill and we had to wait another 15 minutes to get that changed.
Overall, there was terrible service with with okay food but overpriced food.

Problem with rating places like this is there are so many in coastal Maine, 10% are below par, 10% are superlative, and the vast majority are in the middle. The fried seafood, which is obviously the standard fare here is decent. If they have fried oysters (not always), get them — easily the best of the fried stuff. Raw oysters are probably great here too (the area is known for them) but at $ 12 (probably more now) for 6, they’re out of my price range.
The setting is fabulous. The service is adequate. There are more locals in here than you would think — a good thing.