Ployes
The Acadian staple
Buckwheat pancakes cooked on a hot griddle and served with butter and molasses. Look for them in St. John Valley kitchens.
Home / Eats
Where to Eat in the County
Family-run kitchens, brick-oven pies, Swedish meatballs, and river-view decks. Here are some good places to start.
Hours, menus, and seasonal closings change constantly in northern Maine. Call ahead or check a spot's page before you drive, and tip your server well.
County specialties
County specialties
Fiddleheads
Only in spring
The curled fern shoots pulled fresh from the riverbanks every May and sautéed in butter. A true County delicacy with a very short season.
Poutine
Close to the border
Crispy fries, cheese curds, hot gravy, served everywhere from the sports pubs to the breweries. The County does it as well as the province next door.
Swedish meatballs
The New Sweden connection
Lingonberry and allspice flavors that arrived with the Swedish colony in 1870. Get them at Midsommar or at any Scandinavian-flavored table.
Whoopie pies
Potato-soft cake
Two soft chocolate cakes with a generous layer of filling. You will find plenty of opinions about who makes the best one.
Anything potato
Naturally
Home fries, potato doughnuts, and potato fudge at local festivals. Potatoes show up in more ways than you might expect.
Best of Aroostook
The favorites, town by town
A county-wide roundup — starting from the 2026 Best of Aroostook reader poll and padded out with as many kitchens as we could find between the St. John River and Island Falls. Hours change and places close; call ahead or check the links below.
Presque Isle
The County's dining hub
Rodney's at 436 Main
Presque Isle
Farm-to-table cooking inside the historic Northeastland Hotel. Local sourcing, big plates, and a proper bar. The County's fine-dining anchor.
Ferris BBQ
Presque Isle
Family-run, slow-smoked barbecue from the Sullivans of Governor's fame. Brisket, ribs, bourbon, and heart.
The Maple Pig
Presque Isle
House-smoked meats and authentic brick-oven pizzas with a mean scratch kitchen. One of the County's most talked-about tables.
Governor's Restaurant & Bakery
Presque Isle
The friendly, always-full family restaurant with the bakery case up front. Breakfast until you say stop.
Theresa's Corner Cafe & Bakery
Presque Isle
Corner cafe energy and the kind of bakery that makes lunch decisions difficult.
Big Cheese Pizza & Pat's Pizza
Presque Isle
A County pizza showdown: 18-inch pies and the classic Maine chain. Order whichever side of your family you're on.
Houlton Farms Dairy Bar
Presque Isle · seasonal
The seasonal drive-up for soft-serve and the biggest smiles per square foot in the County.
Parkhurst Siding Pub
Presque Isle
Deck dining beside the Presque Isle Country Club with sunsets straight down the fairway and views across the farms. (Currently paused, call ahead before you make the trip.)
Mapleton
The County's newest tables
Maple-Den
Mapleton · 1716 Main St
Reopened in 2026 by Collin & Kirsten Darrell in the building that has fed Mapleton for 72 years. Frites made from Mapleton potatoes, trout dip from MicMac Farms, County pork, and a motto to live by: “Friends gather here.”
Open Thu–Sat 3–9pm, Sun 3–7pm · Directions
Taste of Home
Mapleton · 1701 Main St
Homemade comfort food and pizza on the north end of town, featured on the America’s Best Restaurants roadshow. Call ahead for the day’s hours.
Caribou
The potato city's table
Northern Maine Brewing Company
Caribou
A brewery view of the tanks and a menu full of County-grown ingredients. The loaded poutine and the Blueberry Wheat are the moves.
Ruska Coffee
Caribou
The coffee shop the County lost sleep over, now a Caribou institution for baked goods and caffeine.
Frederick's Southside
Caribou
A friendly, generous kitchen and one of Caribou's most dependable dinners out.
The Par & Grill Restaurant
Caribou
Pub fare, a pint, and even an indoor golf machine to keep your swing warm in February.
Sports Inn, Bucks Bar & the Greenhouse
Caribou
The town's dependable trio, sports pub, hole-in-the-wall bar, and the long-running family restaurant on Main Street.
Jade Palace, Rendezvous & Richie's Pizza
Caribou
For the other cravings: Chinese favorites, a diverse local menu, and Caribou's answer to the great County pizza debate.
St. John Valley
The Acadian border kitchens
Chez Helen
Madawaska
Authentic Acadian–American cooking on the river since 2014 — ployes, seafood, homemade pies, and a dining room that shelters half the boundaries of the valley. Watch their Facebook for the daily specials.
The Swamp Buck Restaurant & Lounge
Fort Kent
Casual plates and a full bar in a relaxed St. John Valley setting — and famously open when everything else in the county isn’t. Texas Smokehouse burger, popcorn shrimp, deep-fried apple pie.
First Mile Brewing Company
Fort Kent
Route 1’s first mile gets its own brewery — a converted grain warehouse pouring small-batch beer, now with a taproom pizza joint to go with it.
Red Devil Roast Coffee Company
Fort Kent
Small-batch roastery and coffee bar roasting beans from Central America, Africa, and Indonesia — owner Alan Susee even delivers in a coffee-themed former sheriff’s cruiser.
Rock's Family Diner
Fort Kent
The dependable University-side diner for big breakfasts and comfort lunches near the UMFK campus.
Al's Dairy Freeze
Fort Kent · seasonal
The riverside soft-serve and burger stand that makes Fort Kent summers official. Window service; summer hours only.
96 Market featuring The Doghouse Kitchen
Fort Kent
New in 2026: a “fetch-and-go” drive-thru with smash burgers, breakfast sandwiches, pizza, and eight flavors of ice cream.
Northern Maine Kolache Co.
Van Buren
The only kolache shop in Maine — sweet and savory pastries hand-rolled and baked fresh every morning, Texas roots and Maine hands. Order ahead to use the drive-thru pickup window.
Tasty Food
Van Buren
Main Street Van Buren’s long-running lunch stop — and one of the County’s few independent drive-thrus.
Lakes & north
Dinner on the water
Lakeview Restaurant & Camping Resort
St. Agatha
Family-style steaks and seafood on a patio over Long Lake, with a full lounge and a campground attached for the full day-trip lineup.
The Roosevelt Dining Room
Eagle Lake · seasonal
A historic 1889 log dining room at Eagle Lake Sporting Camps — Teddy dined here. Summer Friday and Saturday dinners and lakeside lunches; advance reservations required, and a 20-mile gravel drive well rewarded.
MJ's Pub & Grub
Eagle Lake
Friendly service and a full pub menu on Aroostook Road — the village’s easy-later-in-the-night option.
Central & eastern towns
Route 1 and Route 11 stops
Mary's Diner
Washburn
The old-fashioned home-cooked spot on Washburn’s Main Street — kind staff, wholesome plates, and bottomless diner coffee.
Washburn Trailside
Washburn
Diner, store, and gas station right on the ITS-83 snowmobile trail — breakfast, pizza-by-the-slice, daily specials like pot roast and salmon, and an ice-cream window in the summer.
Canterbury Royale
Fort Fairfield
Haute French cooking in an unlikely farmhouse — four courses, desserts served under glass cloches, and a wine list that travels. The dining room has closed; the cottages still welcome guests. Call ahead before you reserve dinner.
The Rolling Pin Bakery
Fort Fairfield
The town’s only bakery — Oreo Dream Cookies, cream horns, whoopie pies, and scratch cinnamon rolls — now expanding into a breakfast-and-lunch cafe.
B-52 Pizza & Subs
Limestone
A love letter to Loring Air Force Base on the walls and the menu — including “The Maine Attraction,” a pizza topped with red-snapper hot dogs and Humpty Dumpty All-Dressed chips. Year-round, rare south of Caribou.
Northwoods Diner
Ashland
Ashland’s Main Street diner famous for the Big Mac pizza, with poutine specials and breakfasts worth the drive up Route 11.
Ashland's Diner
Ashland · 11 Exchange St
The other Exchange Street kitchen — home-style cooking and big servings, a favorite stop heading out toward the woods.
Al's Diner
Mars Hill · since 1937
Serving meals and smiles since 1937 — fresh-baked bread, pies that travel well, and coffee that keeps coming.
The Cooperage
Bridgewater · Route 1
New takeout filling the long dining gap between Houlton and Mars Hill: Rattlesnake Burgers, Thai Chili Chicken Poutine, hand-breaded tenders, and a blueberry cheesecake shake. Open Sundays and Mondays when the road is quiet.
A Place to Eat
Oakfield · 260 Oakfield Smyrna Rd
The little diner on the Oakfield–Smyrna road — cheeseburgers, grilled haddock, and breakfast. Exactly what the name promises.
Houlton & south
The gateway towns eat well too
Downunder Sports Pub
Houlton
Houlton's sporting pub with the menu to match, the reliable stop right off I-95.
The County Co-Op & Farm Store
Houlton
Market-to-table and farm supplies under one roof, grab lunch and the chicken feed in the same trip.
Market Pizza & Tang's Chinese Cuisine
Houlton
Two long-running favorites keeping downtown Houlton fed at lunch and dinner.
Hidden Spring Winery
East Hodgdon
Small-batch farm winery in the country, a lovely after-dinner detour south of the city.
Blue Moose
Monticello · Route 1
Homemade comfort classics on the highway south of Houlton — pot roast, meatloaf, and a lively deck with music in the summer.
Anderson's Mill Pond Dairy Bar
Hodgdon · seasonal
Dairy bar and takeout on Hodgdon Mills Road by the old mill dam — cheeseburger platters, fresh-cut fries, onion rings, and maple walnut ice cream.
The far south
Katahdin country kitchens
Salted Butter Farm
Sherman
Classically trained chefs, mismatched vintage china, and a purple Victorian — named Best Restaurant in Aroostook County by Maine Office of Tourism in 2025. Nothing fried, everything from scratch, right on the ATV and snowmobile trails.
The Slice
Island Falls · Va Jo Wa Golf Course
Soups, salads, pizza, burgers, and seafood beside the fairways of the Va Jo Wa golf course.
Birch Point Restaurant
Island Falls · Birch Point Campground
Lakeside dining with the campground view and a deck — BBQ, crispy fried haddock, steaks, burgers, and daily specials at the water’s edge.
Porter's Family Restaurant
Island Falls · Route 159
Hearty breakfast and lunch from a diner that’s also a snowmobile park-and-ride on ITS-83, a mile off exit 276 — ethanol-free gas out front, Trail Rider’s Breakfast inside.
The Opera House Lounge
Island Falls
Tap beer, canned local favorites, and 100-plus bottles of spirits in a restored 1900s opera house — the first business back in the building after 30 years. Thursday through Saturday, with special-event hours.
islandfallsoperahouse.com · Phone: (207) 463-5024 · Directions
More kitchens
More tables around the County
Bakeries, diners, and takeout stands from the Allagash to Katahdin country, pulled from current County restaurant listings. Details change, call ahead.
Rosella's, Oriental Pearl & Mai Tai
Presque Isle
Three long-running downtown favorites for Chinese takeout, steak-and-seafood dinners, and steady family meals.
Freshies
Presque Isle
Doughnuts and breakfast sandwiches on Main Street with the coffee going all day.
Sizzle & Slice
Caribou
Wings, burgers, and pizza in the Skyway Plaza, from the Bechard's Grille team.
The Vault, Taste of China & O'Kelly's
Houlton
Downtown Houlton keeps feeding: the bank-vault restaurant, the long-running Chinese standby, and the Irish pub.
China Garden & 47 North Bistro
Fort Kent
Fort Kent's Chinese favorite and the newer bistro on the north side.
DuBois' Restaurant & Big Rick's
Madawaska
Acadian home cooking on Fraser Avenue and burgers and wings on the river.
Dolly's Restaurant
Frenchville
Acadian plates on Route 1 in Frenchville — closed Tuesdays.
Forget Me Not Diner
St. Francis
The diner on the St. John River at the end of the highway.
Two Rivers Lunch
Allagash
Lunch at the confluence of the St. John and Allagash rivers — worth the road.
Eureka Hall Restaurant
Stockholm
Thursday dinner through Sunday supper in the old Scandinavian hall.
Dean's Motor Lodge Restaurant & Bar
Portage Lake
Lakeside dining and a bar overlooking Portage Lake, fed by ITS-85 snowmobile traffic.
Homestead Lodge
Oxbow
The Buffalo Ride-In Restaurant on the trails — open days, year-round.
Roy's Variety
St. Agatha
The village variety store with a deli and takeout counter on Long Lake's shore.
Worth the drive
Dinner with a view
Long Lake Sporting Club
Long Lake · Sinclair
The lakeside classic reborn. Its public dining room has closed — the lodge now hosts events and weddings on the shore of the County's biggest lake.
Lime Rock Golf Club
Limestone
The former Loring Air Force Base course revived as a nine-hole club with a bar and grill and long flat views.
Fish River Falls Campsite
Portage Lake country
Not a restaurant, better. A rough road to a thundering falls where the picnic bench is the whole menu.