Red’s Eats: Lobster Rolls Worth the Line up

Red’s Eats, 41 Water St, Wiscasset, Maine

Red’s Eats

41 Water St, Wiscasset, Maine

We spotted the lobster shack, Red’s Eats with the red and white striped awning while we were driving to Rockland, Maine on the I-95. Red’s Eats is located in the small Maine town of Wiscasset. We noticed the small lobster shack because the line up for the place wrapped around the building and even went down the block. This definitely got us curious.

We stopped and lined up to see what the hype was all about. Across the street from Red’s Eats is another lobster shack called Sprague’s. Some of the people in line with us at Red’s have also tried Sprague’s but swore that the lobster rolls at Red’s were significantly better. However as we spent more and more time in line, more people in front and behind us gave up and either settled for Sprague’s or just left. To make matters worse, it started pouring rain about 30 minutes after we got in line. This did not stop us lobster-lovers from waiting. The staff at Red’s Eats passed out red and white umbrellas with their names on them, each umbrella touting the lobster shack as having the world’s best lobster roll. Now that’s good marketing.

As we stood in line, numerous people (including myself) took pictures of the line up and the lobster shack. In total, we stood in line for 1.5 hours but it was worth it. As soon as got our lobster rolls, we sprinted back to the car in the rain storm and dug in.

Red’s Eats, 41 Water St, Wiscasset, Maine

Our feet were soaked, our shoes totally wet but we were too distracted by the incredible lobster rolls to think of anything else. Each sandwich was crammed full of lobster meat, there wasn’t even mayo dressing the meat, it was straight bread and lobster. Just like how the peameal bacon sandwich from Toronto’s St. Lawrence Market is just bacon and bread. And that’s all we needed: succulent lobster meat and that buttery roll.

There’s something more tender and fresh about Maine lobsters as opposed to the lobsters we had in Boston. The Maine lobsters are juicer and more sweet in flavour than the Boston shellfish; perhaps Maine lobsters are a few days fresher and that makes a world of difference.

It took us hours to dry our shoes, jackets and clothes after our Red’s Eats line up adventure but it was well worth the wait!