I don’t know about you, but one of the first things I do when planning a trip is research what the local dishes are. And then I dig into where the best places are to try the local fare. I’ve always been of the belief that good food knows no language barriers. I’ve also come to learn that the local food is as indicative of the culture as the actual history and architecture itself are. The traditions brought by immigrants, the adopting of locally sourced ingredients, and the fusing of those things has often played just as large a part of shaping a place as the events that took place there.
I think that reigns doubly true for a place like New England, where the Puritan colonists from England blended the traditions they brought with the already established food heritage from the region’s Indigenous populations. The cuisine of the six states that make up New England – Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island – is characterized by the use of fresh seafood, potatoes, corn, beans, and dairy.
Lobsters have always been abundant in New England. American Indians not only ate lobsters – their cooking method of covering them in seaweed and baking them over hot rocks is said to have inspired the modern day clam bake – but they also used them to fertilize their crops. So where exactly did New England’s most quintessential dish, the delicious lobster roll, come from? It’s somewhat contested origin is said to be Perry’s Restaurant in Milford, Connecticut in 1926.
As the story goes, a traveling salesman wandered in to Perry’s with a craving for lobster. Needing to get back on the road quickly, the salesman asked for a lobster sandwich. Owner Harry Perry obliged and served up cooked lobster on white bread just as the lobster fisherman were known to eat. But after the salesman left, Perry felt the sandwich was probably a bit of a let down.
Wanting to perfect his lobster sandwich, Harry Perry enlisted French’s Bakery in nearby Bridgeport to make a better bun that would hold up to his cooked buttery lobster and not be tasteless like white bread. French’s Bakery presented Perry with a type of submarine sandwich roll, which he cut a v-shaped slice out of the top of (I’m imagine the original way Subway would cut their buns), buttered it, filled it with lobster, replaced the buttered top, and grilled the entire thing. Perry put a sign, “Home of the Famous Lobster Roll”, and the rest is history.
So while Maine has become synonymous with the lobster roll, it’s actually Connecticut where I headed on my quest to stuff myself with all the best lobster rolls.
Perry’s in Milford did shut permanently in 1976. So I couldn’t eat the original, but I did stuff myself full of lobster rolls for both lunch and dinner all along the Connecticut coast. All in the name of research…sweet, buttery, finger-licking research to find the best lobster rolls in Connecticut.
Maine Lobster Rolls vs. Connecticut Lobster Rolls
Before we dig in to just where to find Connecticut’s best lobster rolls, did you know that there are essentially two styles of lobster rolls? Maine-style and Connecticut-style, each named for the state where the style was popularized. And both states will hotly debate that their style is the best.
So what’s the difference between a Maine lobster roll and a Connecticut lobster roll?
Both Maine-style and Connecticut-style lobster rolls are made with cooked, steamed Maine lobster meat from the tail, claws and knuckles and served on a toasted, buttered split top roll or bun. Both are usually served with a side of potato chips, and sometimes coleslaw.
Maine-style lobster rolls are served cold. The lobster is cooked, then chilled and mixed with mayonnaise, salt and pepper, and sometimes lemon juice and/or celery to make a kind of lobster salad to fill the roll with. The taste is a bit more brinier.
Connecticut-style lobster rolls are served warm. The cooked lobster is drizzled with clarified butter. Sometimes an additional cup of melted butter is served on the side for dunking. The taste is more sweet thanks to the butter drawing out the sweetness and the lobster and making the meat nice and tender.
For me, there’s nothing tastier than a cracking a steamed lobster and dunking the delicious meat in some butter. So it’s not too surprising that I fell in love with the Connecticut-style lobster roll. I’m with the Connecticuters, who profess that you need nothing more than lobster, butter and the bun.
Where to Find the Best Lobster Rolls in Connecticut
Harry Perry never patented his lobster roll, and the trend spread like wildfire. By the 1950s, no-frills lobster shacks where lobster fisherman pulled their lobsters right from the docks in front of their shacks and steamed lobsters to serve lobster rolls to hungry diners all too happy to eat it up from paper plates on picnic tables popped up all over the New England coast.
These days most of the very best lobster rolls are still found at these no-frills lobster shacks set up on docks and marinas. Most are open seasonally from summer through early fall, still operate as cash-only businesses (some do have onsite ATMs, but be prepared with cash ahead of arrival), and don’t offer much for side dishes. Typically the lobster shacks also don’t serve alcoholic beverages, but are often BYOB. They don’t take reservations, so you might also need to be prepared to wait.
As most are fairly rustic settings – think picnic tables on docks or at marinas – most lobster shacks are also dog-friendly.
Ford’s Lobster, Noank, Connecticut
Ford’s Lobster started as a small gas dock and bait and tackle shop in the mid 1950s. They added their retail lobster shack in 1970.
The original colorful lobster shack sat right on the water in Noank, just a stone’s throw from Mystic. And the white shack adorned with its’ assortment of buoys was featured in the movie Mystic Pizza. It was named Ferriera Lobsters in the movie, but it’s actually the iconic Ford’s Lobsters when Kat rides up to lobster shack on her scooter to deliver a pizza to her mom. I got to visit the picturesque location just before they closed for the season, and then sadly announced they would be moving to a new location when they re-open in Spring 2024.
The menu here goes beyond the lobster roll and cup of clam chowder. There’s salads, a variety of sandwiches and mains, and even a fresh live Maine lobster boiled on offer. The specialty at Ford’s Lobster is the “lobster bomb”, a 1/2 pound of hot buttered lobster served in a bread bowl with or without a lobster bisque topping.
But I was here for their lobster roll. It’s worth noting Ford’s offers both Connecticut-style and Maine-style lobster rolls stuffed with 1/4 pound lobster meat. It came served with chips and coleslaw, and was a top-level lobster roll. The toasted bun had a nice crispiness on the exterior, but that quality that melts in your mouth as you bite in to it. The lobster meat was plentiful with nice big chunks of claw and knuckle, sweet and drizzled in just the perfect amount of rich butter.
I also couldn’t pass up a cup of their Noank Clam Chowder, which is the clear broth clam chowder I immediately fell in love with on this lobster roll eating trip. The locals will all tell you they prefer the clear broth to the creamy clam chowder, and they convinced me they aren’t wrong.
I’ll long be dreaming of a return to Ford’s Lobster, sitting dockside while the boats come in and slurping down a cup of clear broth clam chowder and savoring that oh-so-sweet-and-buttery lobster roll.
Ford’s Lobster, 15 Riverview Avenue, Noank, CT
Guilford Lobster Pound, Guilford, Connecticut
Guilford Lobster Pound was established by Captain Bart Mansi in 1991, and promises the freshest catch around. That’s because Captain Bart gets up at 4am daily to go lobstering in Long Island Sound, just as he has done for decades.
The little lobster shack and it’s picnic table covered dock overlooks Faulkner Island, Grass Island and acres of protected salt marsh. The soundtrack of the lobster shack is the waves lapping at the dock and the squawk of seabirds. It’s especially charming at sunset, which I enjoyed while devouring my favorite lobster roll of my Connecticut trip.
Lobster is the star at Guilford Lobster Pound. You can choose between the Connecticut-style lobster roll or the lobster grilled cheese, both which has 1/4 pound of lobster meat. For starters, there’s the clear broth clam chowder and a shrimp cocktail. There’s cold drinks like sodas, ice tea and bottled water you can grab from a cooler and you can BYOB your own alcoholic drinks.
Perhaps because Guilford Lobster Pound was my first lobster shack, but it was my favorite lobster roll. The bun was nicely toasted and crisp on the outside. The meat is entire claws and huge pieces of knuckles with a nice drizzle of butter. I’m practically drooling just thinking of that lobster roll.
The clear broth clam chowder is also the tastiest clam chowder I had on my trip.
Guilford Lobster Pound is cash only, but they do have an ATM inside the shack.
Guilford Lobster Pound, 505A Whitfield St., Guilford, CT
Abbott’s Lobster in the Rough, Noank, Connecticut
Abbott’s Lobster in the Rough has been a Connecticut staple since 1947 and has claimed the title of Connecticut’s best lobster roll on more than one occasion. Obviously, Abbott’s simply must be a stop on any Connecticut lobster roll eating trip, if only to see if it lives up to the hype.
When it comes to lobster shacks, Abbott’s is by the largest and can hardly be considered a shack. There’s actually quite a bit of seating, so even though Abbott’s is a popular spot you typically don’t have to wait too long to find a table. There’s under tent seating, tables on their lawn, more tables on their dock right on the water, and even indoor seating.
The menu is equally as large as the lobster shack itself, with a variety of options from starters like stuffed clams and several kinds of chowders, other seafood options like crab rolls, and even options for the non seafood eaters.
When it comes to their famed Connecticut-style lobster rolls, you have three sizes to choose from: the classic with 1/4 pound of lobster meat drizzled in hot butter, the OMG with twice as much as the classic, and the LOL with a full pound of lobster meat. And if you prefer Maine-style lobster rolls, Abbott’s also serves their own lobster salad roll with celery and their homemade dressing.
While I can easily and happily put away a full pound of the oh-so-delicious lobster meat, I ordered the classic lobster roll with 1/4 pound of meat to keep my judging fair. The lobster roll actually comes on a sesame hamburg bun, and not the traditional roll. But the meat is all claw meat and it is served with chips and coleslaw. I observed that the other sized and the lobster salad do come on the traditional rolls, so if the bread is important to you then I’d suggest sizing up.
If you can’t make it to Abbott’s in Noank, they also operate Abbott’s Outpost in downtown Mystic. And they own Costello’s Clam Shack in Noank, which serves up both clam and lobster rolls.
Abbott’s Lobster in the Rough, 117 Pearl St, Noank, CT
Captain Scott’s Lobster Dock, New London, Connecticut
Captain Scott’s has been a family-owned restaurant specializing in the New England seafood specialties since 1996. It’s located on Shaw’s Cove, and at first glance when arriving with the Amtrak line running through New London just alongside the marina, you might wonder if you’re in the right place. But as you round the corner from the parking area, you’re quickly reassured. Captain Scott’s Lobster Dock is jam packed with locals chowing down on delicious looking lobster rolls and clam strip baskets all season long.
At Captain Scott’s you order at the window, then grab a seat at any of the picnic tables and wait for your name to be called. They’re known in New London for their hot Connecticut-style lobster rolls, but the menu offers much more from fried oyster po’boys to full steamed lobster dinners. There’s two sizes of the hot lobster roll offered, and you can also get the cold Maine-style lobster roll.
When I caught sight of someone else’s fried clam strips basket, I had to break by rule of ordering the classic 1/4 pound lobster roll. I needed those clam strips, so I went with the small lobster roll. After all, I was here to find all of Connecticut’s best lobster rolls and had to do my research.
I did not choose wrong. I still dream about those clam strips. Definitely among the top three clam strips baskets I’ve had in my life (along with the clam strips at Gordi’s in Lincoln, New Hampshire and Mac’s Sea Food in Provincetown on Cape Cod), I would go back to Captain Scott’s for those clam strips alone.
As for the lobster roll, the small size honestly isn’t a fair comparison to everywhere else I tried the lobster roll. The small size comes in an appropriately sized and probably special made bun, so there’s definitely still a good lobster to bread ratio. The meat is in the small was roughly chopped up knuckle and some claw. I was disappointed, though, that the butter was not melted and instead little pads of butter in individual containers like you’d get in just about any restaurant. If you’re going to go for the hot lobster roll at Captain Scott’s, definitely go for the large.
That said, I still enjoyed every last bite and took my time watching the sun dip into the marina as boats sailed in.
Captain Scott’s Lobster Dock, 80 Hamilton St., New London, CT
Red 36, Mystic, Connecticut
The only traditional restaurant on my quest to find the best lobster rolls in Connecticut, Red 36 deserves a mention. The restaurant is set right on the Mystic River with yachts docked up surrounding it, giving glamorous lobster shack vibes. You can even arrive to the restaurant by your boat, and Red 36 has reserved tie up slips for customers.
The name, Red 36, refers to the number of channel markers in the harbor which I learned about later that evening on a private sunset cruise with Captain Erick. Best of all? Red 36 is open year round, so you can get your lobster roll fix even outside of the lobster shack season.
With Indian summer temperatures on our early October visit, I was more than happy to sit on the outside deck with Coco and soak up the sun as boats came in and out of the marina. An easy walk to the quaint hotels in downtown Mystic, I also enjoyed a cocktail – another benefit of dining at a full service restaurant (even though all the lobster shacks I’ve recommended are BYOB).
Since I was at a restaurant, I also broke my rule to only eat lobster rolls on this Connecticut lobster roll research trip. Lobster grilled cheese had appeared on the menu’s at several other lobster shacks I’d already visited, and Red 36’s lobster grilled cheese was just too tempting – though they do offer both Connecticut-style and Maine-style lobster rolls on the menu too. Like my choice to go with the clam strip basket at Captain Scott’s, the lobster grilled cheese was a delicious twist on the hot lobster roll. It’s served on toasted buttery sunflower bread with Colby cheese and guacamole. And it is to die for. The sweetness of the Colby marries perfectly with succulent lobster meat and there was just enough guac to give the grilled cheese some flavor without overpowering the lobster.
It happened to very extremely busy, and as a solo dinner I shared my table with a local. She happened to order the hot lobster roll, so I got a look. The bun had a nice toast to it, and the lobster meat was plentiful with whole pieces of claw meat drizzled with butter. Like I’d heard from other locals while staying in Mystic, she told me Red 36 serves the best lobster roll in Mystic.
Red 36, 2 Washington Street, Mystic, CT
