A Taste of Maine in Florida
If you'd like to taste seafood the way it was meant to be, just visit Maine Seafood Co. They specialize in a regional cooking that is unique to southeastern Maine. The folksy atmosphere of a typical Maine lobster shack is authentically replicated in not only the food but in the decor and staff as well. And the self-service dining style only adds to the relaxed mood. Order at one window, pay at the other then pick up your food, drinks & utensils and sit back and enjoy! The food is prepared in the simple "Down East Maine" style. Not weighed down in seasonings, rather allowing the natural flavor of the seafood to be the star. They offer a wide variety of menu items from clams, scallops & lobster for the avid seafood fan to huge 1/2 lb. burgers for the land-lubbers. Dinner prices from $7.75 to $17.95 with lobsters at current market price. Rather cook at home? They have a great selection of fresh seafood from Maine to take home & cook yourself! Allow yourself some time for dine-in or take-out. This isn't fast food & you'll taste the difference! But it is well worth the wait!    [24 Aug 2001 06:30:51]

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Recommended Dishes: The Shore dinner: 1 lb. lobster, 1 lb. steamers, 1 lb. mussels with corn on the cob & red potatoes. $17.95

     ­Ruth Diaz   ceil1341 at hotmail dot com

Maine Seafood Co. is a wonderful place! My husband & I are native Mainer's & part-time residents of Punta Gorda. Whenever we get homesick for Maine, we drive up to Sarasota to Maine Seafood Co. The food is great & the service is wonderful. The chef from Maine is a real delight to talk to & the gal from Connecticut is so friendly & helpful! And when we had our summertime clam bake for our friends, they were all great about ordering everything we needed & we were able to even able to buy all of the condiments & utensils that we needed right at the restaurant! Everyone & everything about it makes eating there a real pleasant night out. We've also taken home some of their live lobsters & fresh Maine seafood & it's terrific! We're so glad that we found Maine Seafood Co. & we recommend it highly to everyone!    [20 Sep 2001 07:50:03]

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Recommended Dishes: The fried Maine clams with bellies. Maine Lobster Roll.

     ­Marguerite Sirois, Oxford, ME & Punta Gorda, FL   

Hospitality lost on the trip from Maine to Florida
Not very friendly. Food used to be okay but they changed the way they cook it most every week. Staff dirty looking and non-smoking establishment, but the workers smoke like chimneys! A real turn off for most.    [03 Jan 2002 12:45:46]

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Recommended Dishes: none here

     ­Anonymous   

Loss of chef = loss of customer service
Sad to say, but with the loss of their Chef Craig, Maine Seafood Company has lost a good deal more than just a great cook. They've lost the charm & personalization that gave the once good seafood shack it's authenticity.
The food has suffered, it's true. The once-award winning Lobster Roll that won fans with it's simplicity has been turned into a pseudo-gourmet flop with the addition of garlic, lemon zest, dill etc. The seafood star of the dish no longer shines through but rather is lost in the sea of fillers. Much to the great disappointment of the many diners who loved Maine Seafood for it's authentic simple down-east flavor is the fact that the owner/current cook is a native of Florida who has never even been to Maine. His poor attempts to please the crowd with an affected New England accent serves only to offend rather than entertain. His vain attempts to replicate the simple charm of the former chef only disappoints. Part of what everyone loved about the dining experience was the way that Chef Craig would come into the dining room and regail diners with tales of the sea & of working the lobster boats off the coast of his native Maine. Diners would be taken on a journey of the senses with the scent of the ocean coming from the kitchen, the tastes of the sea on their plates and the dulcet tones of the charming accent leaving the listener with the impression that Ishmael himself was narrating just for them.
Gone are those days. Now all that remains is a poor imitation of it all. Where ever Chef Craig is...we wish him well.    [25 Jun 2002 09:58:26]

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Recommended Dishes: none

     ­Sylvia Chapman   

Quality & Service at all time low
Shortly after the opening of Maine Seafood Co., our family has enjoyed our weekly visits to the quaint, authentic Maine Lobster shack. Those days are gone! When they lost the only true Mainer that worked there, the only one who could cook the dishes in the true down-east style, they lost the only authenticity they ever had. The owner/manager/new cook is a joke with the phony accent & stories of Maine (he's never even been there and is a native of FL) only insult the New Englanders that used to enjoy dining there. The dishes are now prepared with fillers and so loaded down with junk that you can't taste the seafood. In addition to the lousy food the staff and restaurant have gone to pot too. The place is no longer as clean as it used to be and it's no wonder with the staff they have who look as though they haven't seen a bath in sometime. Dirty fingernails are a real stomach turner....so...we no longer eat there. Try Barnacle Bill's or any of the other fine seafood restaurants in town.    [13 Aug 2002 06:34:03]

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Recommended Dishes: The Crab cakes at Barnacle Bills!

     ­Ginger Nichols   

Where'd the "Maine" in Maine Seafood Co. go?
We've been loyal customers since this placed opened, but no more. We just returned to Florida from up Maine for the fall and winter and found that our favorite restaurant wasn't the same. The nice cook from Maine isn't there anymore and the one's who are there aren't worth a bit of him. He used to be so friendly and chat it up with us and knew just how to cook things the Down East Maine way. But now them two they got there are rude, dirty, ignorant and don't know a bit about cooking. Can't even answer questions about the fresh (?) fish. We won't be going back.    [05 Sep 2002 09:50:07]

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Recommended Dishes: Not a thing

     ­Anonymous