Lobster Roll at L.L.Bean

Food is alright, have had much better lobster. Ordered junior roll, so tiny; basically just a bite or two of lobster. Comes w/​cole slaw & some vinegar chips (which were fine by me but not everyone is into that, just should be served with regular potato chips) Kinda pricy for the size $ 8.50. Lobster was a bit bland. Management is as friendly as a brick. Won’t be back.

Very rude & arrogant counter help at the Freeport location. On a hot hot day, I asked for a bowl of water for the dog & one of the rude employees rolled her eyes & the other employee acted extremely put out. I would never buy one of those over priced lobster rolls anyways — and now seeing how ridiculously rude the help was… they will NOT will get my business nor the business from anyone else I know.

I had horrible service here with my family. The woman at the counter was extremely rude. When our order came out we were missing a hot dog. She told us that we were wrong and we never ordered that as part of our order. We did order it and and we did pay for it. She was extremely rude about the whole situation and wouldn’t even listen to us about it. She said, «it’s just a hot dog. Pay for another one.» That should not be the response of a cashier at all. She should have pulled up our receipt which clearly showed that we did pay for one. In addition to the service, the food was also not very good.

On my way back to Maine from Florida couldn’tt wait for some good clam chowder and a Maine lobster roll after many miles on the road. What a disappointment! Clam chowder was thick, pasty, salty and cold, spoon stood straight up in the middle of the cup and never did come down. I sent it back to the kitchen and told my wait person to tell the chef he should be ashamed to serve this. No one responded to any of that. I should have left then but was hungry and hoped the lobster roll would be better. Not. It was served on a hard dry roll with a strong tasting sauce. Lobster meat was ice cold sprinkled with some mystery stuff on the top. What a shame. Price for two beers, lobster rolls one cup lobster bisque and the cup of clam chowder I didn’t pay for around $ 55. High price for lousy food.
Still craving Maine clam chowder and lobster roll I had to drive to Camden the next day to eat at Cappys wher the have the best (5 star) chowder in Maine or anywhere else. Linda Bean – stick to the family snow shoe business an leave the clam chowder and lobster rolls to Cappys.

To start Linda bean is a disgusting human being! She would steal candy from a baby if she could make a buck off it. It will be a better world when she is gone. Perfect Maine lobster my ass tasted like mold and two week old lobster.
Linda bean controls the price that lobsterman get per pound. She loves to pay $ 2.50 a pound and charge you $ 10 to $ 15 per pound. I really hope you burn in hell

Don’t mean to call out another reviewer, but someone else wrote that they «needed a reward for saving money» after all that shopping at L.L.Bean.
Oh – hell to the no. You will spend whatever you didn’t being thrifty in the store after a long line at this shack. The wait is NO BUENO and even then – not your traditional lobster roll. I get it, Miz Bean has her special spices, etc. I’m not even saying the Lobster roll was bad – I’d eat it again – the price is just outrageous. Freeport is a cute little town, but this is one of the most tourist-​trappy crappy things about it.

Please note that there are TWO Linda Bean’s restaurants in downtown Freeport! The reviews that mention «going in,» or «sitting down,» or «upstairs» are NOT talking about this one, which is a small stand attached to the L.L.Bean ski and kayak store. This one has good food (though somewhat overpriced, which is typical for the brand) and a small but friendly staff. Try the lobster stew — it’s to die for. Even the hot dogs have a style all their own. I don’t like the herbed dressing on the lobster rolls, but just ask for it plain and they will be happy to oblige. Nice place for good food fast.

The most disappointing lobster roll and clam chowder I’ve ever had. My entire meal was so underwhelming, and I wish I read all the reviews for this place before I went!
Lobster roll was a decent size, but didn’t have much taste to it. It was such a waste of money. The chowder had a watery and gritty look to it, and didn’t look the least bit appetizing at all. It actually tasted like water. I love creamy and flavorful clam chowder, but this was anything but that.
I’ll give this place one star for their chips because they probably get them packaged already, so it would be a shame if they messed those up somehow.

I gave in and tried it… got a half lobster roll because the day before had a lobster roll from a street cart that was drowning in a mayonnaise/​celery sauce (disgusting), I wanted a different memory of what a lobster roll should be. I was not disappointed. I was in heaven, a perfect toasted buttery bun with a ton of sweet lobster meat. It was served with delicious salt & vinegar chips, and pickles and coleslaw (which I don’t ever eat). Well, I had to go back and get a full serving because it was that good!

Lobster roll was served up on a toasted, buttery, crunchy, chewy piece of greatness. Lobster was in huge chunks and lightly dressed — not drowning. Served with salt and vinegar chips, a side of cole slaw and some pickles. Pickles were too sweet for me, and hubs said the cole slaw was very bland (but he liked the pickles).

Nothing super special. Seems like the place in town for tourists. Its basically a Red Lobster. The lobster grilled cheese was awesome however.

It’s on Main Street across from LL Bean so it’s centrally located. Most of the items on the menu were overpriced, but I have to say that my cheeseburger was delicious! And they allowed me to eat out front in their outside seating area with my dog. The waitress that served us was a bit cold at first but she warmed up and our experience overall was pretty good.

Easy to get to as its right on Main St. We had a large party and were seated quite quickly. I would say the food was OK, in a great atmosphere

Loved the Lobster Roll. It was a good amount and wasn’t filled with straight mayo, instead it was lobster salad that has a bit of dill and mayo mixed in which added to the sweet lobster flavor. It was a recommendation from one of the sales associates in the Ralph Lauren store. She made sure to let us know that this was the only thing that we should eat from Linda Beans as the other menu items weren’t good. I liked this roll almost as well as the ones at Net Result in Martha’s Vineyard

This review applies to the Linda Bean’s outpost attached to the bike and boat building of LL Bean:
It was the most expensive and moldiest lobster roll I have ever eaten! Enough said.

If I could give this negative stars I would…
Where to begin? We went here after an afternoon of shopping expecting a good lobster roll… Who knew that we could’ve saved $ 15 and got a better lobster roll at McDonalds (do they even still have them there?)
First off, be aware that the lobster roll is made with Miracle Whip (luckily we asked in advance and requested it without this «miracle» ingredient). Despite our very difficult to fulfill request the waitress «picked up the wrong order» and we ended up with lobster covered in fake mayo. Secondly, was it even Maine lobster? Our guess is that it was langoustine… For $ 23, we were definitely expecting better. We also ordered a wild shrimp roll… Not sure why they call it a wild shrimp roll… It was shrimp but the only thing wild about it was how they could charge $ 13 for mini shrimp that were probably caught months ago off another continent!
Now we didn’t get desert but be aware, the waitress informed us that the whip cream on the pies is only fresh when the owner is there to make it… Otherwise it’s coming from a can! Call me crazy, but fresh whip cream does not take a degree from the French Culinary Institute to make.
The worst part of our whole experience was what we witnessed as we were ready to pay our bill. We were sitting near the bar and saw a waitress heat up a customer’s soup in the microwave and proceed to dip her finger in it to see if it was hot before serving it. I’m no health inspector but I think that would definitely qualify as a violation.
Linda really needs to rethink this whole restaurant. If you are going to charge premium prices, use premium ingredients. Too bad this part of the LL Bean empire doesn’t come with a money back guarantee!

In the land of LL Bean I found it fitting to eat at the little café that could, Linda Bean. I am unsure what people are talking about with a hostess, wrong link, but this place is a tiny little shack on the side of yet another LL Bean building, looking on to another LL Bean building and surrounded by yet more LL Bean buildings. It’s called a campus and the place is exhaustingly LARGE!
I wasn’t wearing earth tones so I stood out but anyway, now, on to the main event. The lobster roll is over priced for the size of the roll but when you taste it, you’d pay double just for another bite. The over sized lobster claw meat was seasoned perfectly and so cold and crisp you could tell it was fresh. The little basket came with salt and vinegar chips and butter pickle pieces. I’d close my eyes with each bite, only to open them again making sure no one was looking.
I spent my afternoon in Freeport and found excuses to get another one. «Oh, I just saved 10% on my auto insurance, I need a reward-​Linda Beans it is!» Within 2 hours we managed to get 2 and a half sandwiches down each and even were tempted to get another for the road.
I don’t care what anyone says, sweet lady. Linda, we are lobster soul mates. My stomach and taste buds have tasted your sweet nectar and I will never be the same. Ignore these hateful posts, they’re jealous and besides, they’re not even talking about your tasty little shack. They’re idiots and sad they bought something over priced from one of the fifty LL Bean buildings, no offense…

Wish I could give this place zero stars as they don’t even deserve one! My son and I tried to eat here yesterday but ended up leaving before our food even arrived. We waited 30+ minutes for a table (it was a rainy, crowded day in Freeport) and finally got seated upstairs in a dingy corner. The floor was filthy under our table (kids had definitely been there before us and no one thought to sweep before seating us). We waited another 15+ minutes just to order. I ordered a salad with steak tips and my son ordered pasta with butter. We were seated next to a large table with many kids and could tell that they weren’t happy with the food. That should have been our first clue.
After watching this large table get their appetizers, their entrees, and then watch a table, who was seated after we ordered, get their appetizers, I finally complained and asked for the manager. She promptly came over and started to explain that there were different stations for appetizers and entrees, thus the reason they got their food before us. She also kept putting her hands on my shoulders and back, trying to calm me down. Never did I hear, «I’m sorry for the wait». So, my son and I picked ourselves up and walked out. Of course our food was being delivered just as we were leaving.
Should have read these reviews before trying to eat there. But NEVER AGAIN will we be back to Linda Bean’s.

What a bad experience! Overpriced food (I grew up here, I KNOW it doesn’t need to be that expensive for such poor quality seafood) and totally unorganized unprofessional waitstaff that don’t communicate. We had to switch to another table because the sun was so bright and we ad no umbrella, and our server failed to tell the server who’s table we were at that she let us do that so the whole time they were both trying to take our orders and such. It was strange. And not once did the server tell us her name, or even say hi! She simply came over and said «are you ready to order?» did you have no specials, did we not want drinks and you magically knew that? Nope.
We shared ½ dzn oysters, fried clam app, and lobster bisque w claw meat (they were out of stew). the oysters were so poorly shucker, full of dirt and shell fragments they were nowhere near worth the 15 $ price. What a shame someone ruined such good oysters. The bisque was too thick, and not creamy enough. It was good once I added lemon but the lobster chunks had a funny treated flavor to them, and it was just weird. The clams. Really? I can’t believe I had such bad fried clams in Maine. I’ve had MUCH better in landlocked Woodstock, vt!!! They were chewy with huge and tough necks that should’ve been trimmed, and they were way overcooked. Between the awful service and even worse food, I won’t be recommending or returning to Linda Beans. What a shame to be where there is such amazing seafood and ruin so much of it.

«Linda Bean’s Perfect Maine Lobster Roll» is not a restaurant nor a lobster pound/​shack. It is basically a little sandwich stand that is situated next to the LL Bean Bike, Boat, & Ski Store (the Freeport location, there are multiple Linda Beans throughout Maine, we saw one in Rockport as well). It was actually a tad difficult to find as it is not right out in the open. We had to ask numerous people before we actually found this place (oh, don’t trust the LL Bean Freeport maps, the location is not accurate at all at least this was the case back in October 2009).
Onto the food. As you can see in the picture of the lobster roll, it comes with a side of chips (only choice is the salt-​vinegar chips). The buns are lightly buttered and toasted and the roll has «a quarter pounder» of lobster meat (or so they claimed). Looks good? Yeah, but it wasn’t up to par. Unfortunately, this was not our favorite lobster roll of the trip. Linda Bean has taken the liberty of adulterating the lobster meat with various herbs and spices that worked to almost masked the savoriness of the lobster meat. Tasted tangy. Before handing the lobster roll over to my grubby hungry hands, a weird concoction of spiced melted butter is also drizzled onto of the roll. All this is clearly visible in the picture of the roll. The end product is edible and not entirely bad, but for $ 16 per roll, I would pass next time around.
They only make them one way and one way only, so if you like your lobster roll traditional and naked, this is not the place for you at all. Move along.. .