Jameson Tavern Restaurant

After some retail therapy, my husband and I decided to make a stop at this historic Tabern/pub. This establishment has been in Freeport for over 100 years and this was our first time.
We arrived to a full dining area but two free seats at the bar. We requested a Maine staple, Allen's and milk. Sadly, they were all out! We were striking out today in this. Well when in Jameson's why not drink a Jameson and ginger. Hubby a beer lol! Atmosphere was antique but also playful with signage.
Bartender was fun and friendly recommended some food which declined but did take look. We will come back another time for lunch. Recommend for the atmosphere and by the looks of the dining room, the menu.

Did my initial Yelp search to find a place with lobster rolls, and this was one of the few open during the off season. Thought I would venture out and see what I could find. This place is right next to L.L. Bean. Parking was easy as they have a lot behind the restaurant. At first I was not sure what entrance to use as it looked more like a house than a restaurant. Found the right door and walked in. The bar was lined with locals enjoying the night and good company (they were laughing and talking kind of loud I could not not hear)

Nice lady came to take my order. They have a combo with chowder and a lobster roll. This seemed like a good way to go for the price as a regular roll was at market price (not sure what maker price was at the time but $30 seemed like a good price for both items). The chowder was nice and creamy. It had a good mixture of potatoes and clam chunks. It was seasoned well. That is sometimes hard to do in a restaurant because of feeding the masses and different preferences. I liked the lobster roll but realized I am partial to the Connecticut (hot butter lobster) style over the Maine (cold with mayo and lettuce) version. It was good but a bit too much mayo (and I love mayo).

The roll was so big that I had to take my chowder with me back to my hotel. It was even good the next morning warmed up for breakfast.

Stopped in here for lunch while doing some shopping. It was very crowded but they happen to be two seats at the bar so we were lucky to get them. I had an espresso martini and the lunch special. The lunch special was clam chowder and a lobster roll. The clam chowder was great filled with clams. The lobster roll could've had it, but it was delicioushad a bloody Mary and chili. The chili was mild, but very good.

Came back for drinks and apps on Saturday, not busy, ok service. Had the excellent clam chowder again and that itself is like a meal. And the mussels appetizer, OMG. Out of this world, lots of tomatoes and garlic in white wine sauce, I could drink the broth, finished it off with a warm bread, sent me to heaven. Market price was $19.99, pricey but worth it.

I wanted to see this historical restaurant for myself! It's a loud, small place with inside and outside seating.

Came in on a busy Sunday and ordered:

clam chowder: tasted homemade with wonderful seasoning but tasted as if the flour hadn't been completely cooked out yet, average amount of clams

baked stuffed haddock: classic flakey fish with a crumb filling of shrimp and other goodies in there served alongside steamed broccoli and fingerling potatoes, standard dish but the sides were a little underwhelming

crab roll with coleslaw: big chunks of crab on a toasted roll, didn't need the lettuce and the coleslaw was overly sour and overspiced

Overall, it was fun to look around at all the historical decor and enjoy some classic Maine fare in Freeport.

Freeport is the home of LL Bean. However it is also the home to the amazing Jameson Tavern. This is not my first meal here but is my first review. It was a Sunday afternoon and there was about a 30 minute wait for a table for two. it is a tiny restaurant of about 13 tables plus a long bar. We were seated in just about the length of time they said it would take to get a table.
We ordered the haddock sandwich, which came with fries and clam chowder. We substituted the haddock chowder. We also ordered the lobster roll and a cup of lobster stew. Everything was very good but the haddock chowder. Amazing. Absolutely amazing. It had nice chunks of haddock, a creamy base, and Was outstanding. Can I rave anymore about this chowder?
We loved it so much we tipped the chef! He came out to thank us. He was very gracious.

Delicious dinner! We split the baked scallops appetizer. & I had the baked haddock. Service was fast and efficient. Saturday evening, we were told a 25 minute wait so ordered drinks at the bar, & were seated before we had more than a few sips. The restaurant is small and was quite crowded but cheerful.

Ate here while traveling for work recently. The waitress was very friendly and accomodating. I was a bit disappointed to learn from her that they had discontinued their gluten free batter option for fried seafood dishes ( it still was indicated on the menu?)
So, I settled on seared scallop dinner with brocollis and roasted fingerling potatoes. The sea scallops were delicious and perfectly cooked. The brocolli was cooked through but cold and the potatoes were just ok.
The atmosphere of this place on the backside street of LL Bean complex was rather dated and dull without any real charm, and the seating itself wasn't very comfortable. For $30+ spent with tip and no drink I've done better than this place!

Really nice ambiance-went on a Sunday in April so it wasn't super busy-able to be seated as soon as we walked in. Food is good, I'm sure it's even tastier during summer. Waitstaff was attentive and helpful, table was clean when we sat down.

The Clam Chowder bowl was very good and fresh. We also liked the fried clams; my wife said the Lobster roll was good too. We shared the 3 seafood platter (I think it was called Tre-something) it's all market prices -we felt like it was worth the money and we definitely had tons of leftovers.

Overall would recommend checking this place out

Long wait (45-50 mins.) due to cozy dining area and short staffed kitchen I was told.

Popular place very close to the LL Bean flagship campus/stores/park and opposite the Freeport Outlets.

The wait was rewarded by good seating, service, and food. But because they close in the early afternoon (2 pm) on Sundays, the steamed lobster I ordered was not available. What was available was "picked" lobster - which is lobster picked by the staff from inside lobster shells (my guess is from smaller and "defective" (missing a claw, etc.) lobsters, but the price is the same as the steamed, shelled version you get to take the meat out of yourself. I saw the picked lobster another person got and it seemed about 1/3 less than the volume of meat I'm used to seeing that comes from a 1.25 lb. Lobster you get to pick apart yourself.

I had the mussels appetizer with tomato sauce instead of the saute with garlic, hers, etc. as I need to eat healthy. There was a little uncertainty from the server about the tomato versus saute sauce and an an attempt to tell me the saute was wine based. But I'm pretty sure a saute almost always includes at least some oil. I just asked we keep things simple but using the same tomato sauce they use for the kids pasta dishes as the sauce for my mussels, I wasn't asking for anything complicated. They agreed.

The alternative was I'd leave and my friend as well, and eat elsewhere. Customers should never pay a restaurant to force the customer to have it the restaurant's way or nothing when it comes to eating healthy since the restaurants aren't at the hospital bedside or paying medical bills when customers have medical issues brought on by years of being fed otherwise healthy food but made unhealthy by a restaurant preparation. If more people expressed their desire for healthier choices, restaurants would provide them. Most are reasonable and aim to please, just ask.

My friend had the fried whole belly clams, clam chowder and coleslaw and liked them. The coleslaw was better than the place across the street I reviewed and the clam chowder wasn't as good as another place we ate at on another day.

The server's willingness to work with my mussels and tomato sauce request took her for a loop initially and she needed to consult the kitchen but ultimately ended in a positive dning experience, with the exception of having the feeling of having to rush because they stopped seating people just after we sat down to eat, thus the cleaning up and them doing the work need to close went on as we ate, so we felt rushed but they didn't say anything to us about leaving.

Overall, I recommend this place. But not sure I'd wait so long (and almost never do beyond 20 minutes) to eat there (or anywhere), as other choices exist in the area.