Jasper’s Restaurant

Came in at a rainy and cold night. We didn’t check the reviews and I later realized we should have done that. I ordered the hard broiled lobsters, which isn’t bad. However, my husband’s lobster scampi was terrible. The lobster meat was not fresh at all, so the chef must’ve used a lot of white wine to get rid of the smell. The whole scampi was tasteless and perhaps the worst scampi we’ve ever tried. For the service, our servicer was nice but the service was too slow.

Pleasantly surprised here as I stopped by without checking the reviews first. The food was generally good and the service very good. My stuffed haddock was very good and the lobster rolls were good. The clam chowder was just ok. The food didn’t take that long to arrive.

Went to Jaspers for lunch off Route 1 in Ellsworth. It obviously survives by its location on busy road leading to Acadia National Park-​not by the quality of its cuisine! Had bad vibes going in-​no locals-​only tourist trappers like us.
Corn chowder wasn’t bad-​everything else stunk. Had lobster roll that was completely tasteless. Kind of like they left the lobster meat in refrigerator in open zip lock bag for a week. Worst ever! Friend had Captains platter of broiled haddock and scallops.
Haddock was like wood-​scallops barely acceptable. Portions small but that was a blessing! Bill was $ 70 for one of worst meals ever. Waitresses were nice but overhead one apologizing to another patron – bet they do that allot!
Avoid this tourist trap like the plague!

Wait for food was awful. We spent 1.5 hours waiting for dinner. The staff tried to make up with an overly salty chowder. While waiting the manager apparently came in and out — served next to us– and we still wired for dinner. Look for an alternative.

Food is alright at restaurant. Motel is dirty and smells. No room service, you have ask for towels and remove your own trash. TV is on weid angle hard to see. Free breakfast has water-​down coffe. The muffins and donuts that are gas-​station grade. Poeple are nice and helpful. This motel could be great with a good cleaning and poeple that clean the everyday. Improve the breakfast, or get rid of it. There is hotel down street, go there.

My husband and I had dinner here after a very long drive. We’d expected the place to be crowded because of the number of cars out front but it was more spacious that it looked and we were seated right away. The waitstaff were very friendly and helpful. I had the lazy lobster and my husband had fried shrimp, both very good. The décor is a kind of old fashioned, but we found that charming.

We stopped by here to grab a beer and an appetizer as we were just staying down the road at another hotel on business.
Bar is very dated, and service was slow. Of the two appetizers, the chicken wings were cold, and totally inedible. They were returned and I wasn’t charged. The other was coconut shrimp. A very small portion, considering the price.
The beer was cold. Yeah!
Overall, I’m sure the seafood here is pretty good, the restaurant was fairly busy, but on first impressions, I’m not sure we’d return.

Rooms are nothing fancy, but reasonable priced. I paid $ 97 and some change for my room. Nice good coffee in the lobby in the morning. The muffins offered there were horrendous btw. The lobster was over-​priced in the restaurant: I paid $ 25.99 for a 1 ¼ pound. Went to Main-​ly Delights in Bass Harbor and Thurston’s Lobster Pound in Bernard for much better priced meals (think $ 11.99 for the same 1 ¼ lobster meal @ Main-​ly Delights) with outstanding views. See other reviews I’ve made about where to get lobster and lobster rolls on the quiet side of the Acadia National Park. Have been eating at Jasper’s for years (we call it the ho jos of lobsters) but was disappointed on how out of line they were regarding their lobster prices this visit. Sad face.

Décor needs updating but place is clean. Food is awful. Fried clams were ok. Fish du jour of baked haddock and shrimp was not good — fish was very overcooked. We ordered 2 kids meals to split between our four girls. Our waiter was confused and brought 2 plates with the grilled cheese and chicken fingers split between them. Cornbread was good. As another reviewer said, this place should be on Restaurant Impossible.

Ordered a cup of clam chowder and it was amazing! It had a rich delicious flavor w/​o the funky taste of frozen/​canned clams. Fresh clams used all the way. Also ordered a lobster roll… that was good too. Server was sweet. Highly recommend it.

We had prime rib that was fabulous. My husband had crab cakes and they were really good. It was quiet and the service was excellent. We had a very friendly waitress.

Our first time to Ellsworth & our first time to Jasper’s. We asked a fellow guest at our motel where to eat & they recommended Jasper’s. We had a great experience; the service was excellent and we all (3) loved what we had ordered. The restaurant was crowded but we like that friendly, home-​style atmosphere. We will definitely go back our next time in Ellsworth.

Lobster special was very reasonable. $ 14.99. Lots of choices on the menu. Side items were good, but nothing spectacular. Service was friendly but pretty slow.

Been around for awhile, food is good but atmosphere could use a little updating. Fresh ingredients and nice staff. Good for a nice bite! (P.S. this is for restaurant only)

Well… not so good. Our first trip to Jasper’s. We have been coming up to Ellsworth for 13 years. We came with 10 people, parents and teenage kids for dinner. Waitress was great. Not going to pick on every meal but our kids never leave food on the table. The menu selection was too large. Suggest they focus on less and be the best. In contrast we stopped at the Atlantic Brewery for lunch coming back from Bar Harbor and it was packed. About 10 – 15 items or so on the main menu.

This review is for the restaurant only. A so-​so local eatery featuring most seafood and lobster. Lobster restaurants in this downeast tourist area are a dime a dozen. This one does lobster okay, but nothing is really outstanding from other tourist eateries. You can get the same type of fried and semi-​fast food all over the place here. One of the best for this type of food is The Weathervane chain. This time I had a medium hamburger that was well done. The place obviously fries most things in the same oil. You can taste the fish that is fried in the same oil as the french fries. This is really a cheap cop out for cost reasons. Want really good lobster in a casual setting?, drive about eight more miles down RT3 to the Trenton Bridge Lobster pound. Very, very causal, very good, very fresh, very very reasonably priced.

This review is only for the restaurant as we didn’t stay here; we only came to eat.
Everything on our Admiral Sampler (scallops, Maine shrimp, Atlantic haddock, and Maine clams) was supposed to be fried, but I’d been having a lot of fried foods lately, so I wanted to have them steamed or broiled instead. When we asked the waitress about it, she said only the haddock and scallops could be broiled; the shrimp and clams, for some reason, had to be fried. When the food came, we understood why.
The shrimp were bay shrimp (the small ones that are usually fried into «popcorn shrimp»), and steaming or broiling them would shrink them and turn them smaller than they already are. The fried clams were strips, which would have looked strange or unappealing, I supposed, if they were steamed all by themselves (as opposed to with some vegetables or something like that).
All of the food needed a little more salt and seasoning, and the scallops were all gritty (all 7 or so of them). Friendly service. Restaurant looks kind of dingy. The bathroom was in decent shape.

PHILLY CHEESESTEAK — THE SANDWICH OF BROTHERLY LOVE.
Oh, I got a kick out of the menu — so eclectic and full of gems.
No, the restaurant itself isn’t all that fancy — but come on, folks, it’s right off the highway and attached to a Motel. Expectations should be adjusted accordingly.
Despite the plethora of sandwich options, all B. Family members went with seafood (when you live in the Midwest, you need to make the most of all occasions with an ocean in close proximity). I had the crabcake sandwich and it was SALTY. It reminded me (story time!) of when I was little and we lived in Upstate New York and my friend had a salt lick in her backyard for the deer. We licked it to see if it was salty. It was. So was this crabcake.
My mom and sister ordered the All-​You-​Can-​Eat Maine Shrimp Platter. The «All-​You-​Can-​Eat» factor was a bit hampered by the fact that in order to secure yourself more shrimp, you have to (A) flag down the waitress, and (B) wait patiently while someone in the kitchen hops in a van, drives to the shore, jumps on a shrimp boat, and hauls in a net full of the little babies. OK, perhaps (B) isn’t completely true-​to-​life, but there is a point at which waiting for a shrimp refill sucks all the joy out of shrimp-​eating.

During a recent trip to Deer Isle, this restaurant was recommended by one of the Ellsworth townies for local foods. This review does not include lodging since I only ate lunch here and stayed elsewhere.
Jasper’s has been in business for 50 years and the décor looks about that dated. Although the place is very clean and in good repair, the furnishings are of very low quality and extremely outdated. This dimly lit establishment sports fake wood grain vinyl covered tables and a low, plain white drop-​ceiling. Mirrored dividers between all the booths to create the illusion of a larger room.
As far as the menu goes, it is large and offers many different options. We ordered fried clams which were meaty and good.
The crabcake sandwich was very large indeed, but mostly filler and missing overall flavor. Fries and slaw were extra, instead it was served with potato chips and a pickle.
We had heard lots about the infamous Lobster Roll, typical to New England, so we got one of those as well. It was served on a hot-​dog style bun and was essentially just mayo and lobster meat. Again, very plain and rather small for a $ 14 sandwich. A larger sandwich could have been had for $ 19.
Coconut-​Macadamia nut fried shrimp was another meal. It was ok. Nothing fancy. The shrimp was of the pre-​breaded frozen variety and served with orange marmalade. The sauces were served in plastic, disposable soufflé cups and coleslaw was also prepackaged.
Even though the service was friendly and pretty fast it did not make up for the food quality. I would have expected better seafood, considering it’s Maine, and just simply better food overall.

Wow. I had been craving lobster for weeks. What better place to satisfy that urge than in Maine. Jasper’s has apparently been around for over 50 years, so they must be doing something right. In my opinion, lobster is one of those things. My plate of sauteed lobster meat was enhanced buttery goodness and a delicate squirt of lemon. That’s all that was necessary. I chose Brussels sprouts and au gratin potato as my sides. Both fine, especially the potatoes with chunks of ham as a bonus prize. The corn bread served pre-​meal was exceptionally moist and flavorful. The dinner rolls were good as well. The Casco Bay RipTide Red Ale my dinner companion selected from what was on tap was only marginally better than my IPA from the same Brewing Company.
Our waiter had only been back in town for a few months, having returned from Vegas to care for his parents. He was very attentive to us as well, and quite pleasant. Lots of people dining here were older and seemed to be local, as would be expected on a Thursday evening in January.
I can’t say how Jasper’s might compare with other choices available in high season, but it turned out to be a great choice for us arriving in town kind of late and very hungry. I would surely return.