LINCOLNVILLE — When Lincolnville’s iconic beach restaurant, the Lobster Pound, announced it was going to close after 80 years, along with the small town’s only brewpub Andrew’s Brewing Co., locals were fairly dismayed. By March, they had reason to be optimistic again, when after an expeditious auction, Danny and Carla Lafayette, owners of the Bangor-based Lafayette Hotels Group and longtime Mainers, acquired the restaurant, keeping its original name.

Open for the last three weeks, the Lobster Pound is just starting to find its customers again, with many curious to know how much or how little has changed.

On the cosmetic side, the restaurant and bar are now unified with muted egg shell blue walls and varnished floors. Locals and tourists will be happy to know the well endowed mermaid is now hanging back in her rightful place over the bar.

“We’ve had a lot of people ask, where she went,” laughed General Manager Peggy Brown.

There is also no longer a “restaurant menu” and a “brewpub menu.”

The downsized menu offers classic lobster and seafood dishes as well as traditional sandwiches, burgers, soups and salads.

Greg Goforth, Project Manager said: “We’re concentrating on one menu for both areas of the restaurant and keeping the ingredients as local and as fresh as possible. For example, our lobster will be caught in Lincolnville waters. We’re also trying to keep a lot of the classic dishes that people have come to associate with the Lobster Pound on the menu, like the baked stuffed lobster and the Seafood Newburg the same. What’s most important is the quality of food and quality of service. Whatever we put out from the kitchen, we want to do a great job with it.”

The Lafayettes have had 35 years in the business with 23 hotels in Maine and New Hampshire and 12 restaurants attached to most of them.

Brown added: “Many people coming in are just so happy to know that we’re open again and that this is a Maine-owned business. We’re working hard to keep the place much like they remembered with a high level of standard. We’re lucky that Dick and Patty McLaughlin [The Lobster Pound’s original owners] have been working with us throughout the entire transition. They’re helping us keep some of their traditions alive.”

The biggest surprise for the new managers is that the homemade turkey dinner, not lobster, is still a top-requested dish.

“We were going to take that off the menu but there was such a demand for it, we had to put that back on the menu,” said Goforth.

Theresa Mastricolo, the bar manager, has kept two taps for Andrew’s Brewing Company (Brown and Pale Ale), as a nod to the brewpub that was previously occupied the bar. (Andrew’s still operates as a brewing operation, but at a separate location).

With an eclectic and diverse set of craft brews on the menu, the pub offers 13 taps with several Maine beers and craft brew favorites as Lagunitas Lil Sumpin Sumpin and New Belgium’s Fat Tire. Every Tuesday night, Mastricolo will offer a “Pint Night” with a new release and paired with a specialty happy hour chef’s special.

The new gift shop expands from the small room off the entryway to shelves overlooking the lounge by the bar. Another change is that outdoor seating in the form of picnic tables and umbrella-covered tables allow food to be eaten outside, but no alcohol.

“We’re trying to limit the liability,” said Goforth.

Lastly, in a move that will most definitely make the locals happy, the Lobster Pound remains open all week except Wednesdays, offering a place to eat and drink on the days of the week when the Whale’s Tooth and Chez Michel’s are closed. 

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com