Mainers Paid Around $36 for a Lobster Roll in Summer 2026, and Prices Ran Up to $46.99
This past summer, you could pay $21.95 for a lobster roll in Bangor or $46.99 in Brunswick, according to a July 2026 survey by the Bangor Daily News.
That’s a gap of about $25 for two rolls with the same name.
The place you choose sets the price.
These are the prices Mainers paid for a lobster roll this past summer, and how far apart they ran.
Who Ran the Survey and How
The Bangor Daily News checked lobster roll prices at 11 lobster shacks and restaurants from Brunswick to Lubec for its July 11, 2026 story.
McLaughlin Seafood in Bangor charged $21.95 for a lobster roll, the lowest price the paper recorded.
Fishermen’s Net in Brunswick charged $46.99, the highest.
That’s more than double.
The paper calls its survey unscientific.
It’s keeping a lobster roll price index through the summer, rechecking prices from time to time.
The story lists the price at each place, so you can check the spread yourself.
Prices at those places may look different by now, so check a menu before you drive anywhere.
Where the Average Lands
A lobster roll at those places averaged $36 each, the paper reported.
That’s the same as the paper’s check just before Memorial Day, and 60 cents more than the average last summer.
The paper described prices as holding steady compared with spring.
That’s an average of the places the paper checked, not a statewide price you can count on at your stop.
Tugboat Inn & Restaurant in Boothbay Harbor sat right on the average at $36.
Four places charged less than $36, and six charged more.
Two rolls at the average come to $72 before sides, tax or tip.
How the Lobster Roll Average Adds Up
The lobster roll prices in the Bangor Daily News survey add up to $396.84, which divides out to about $36.08 apiece.
The middle price is $36.95 at Young’s Lobster Pound in Belfast, with five places charging less and five charging more.
Five of the places charged $38 or more, and four charged $32 or less.
The average and the middle price land within a dollar of each other.
Prices at the Other Stops
Red’s Eats in Wiscasset and McLaughlin’s Lobster Shack in Lincolnville both charged $38 for a lobster roll.
Young’s Lobster Pound in Belfast charged $36.95, a little over the average, while DiMillo’s on the Water in Portland charged $41, the third-highest price in the survey.
McLoon’s Lobster Shack in South Thomaston charged $29.95, the only price besides Bangor’s that came in under $30.
The paper added McLoon’s and LDI Lobster Dock and Dine in Little Deer Isle to its index as new entries this summer.
Psst! How much do you know about Maine lobster prices? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
Quiz
Lobster Price Pop Quiz
Answer eight questions on Maine lobster and lobster roll prices. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
Young’s Lobster Pound in Belfast listed a 2-ounce lobster roll in the Bangor Daily News’s May 2025 survey. What did it cost?
Bar Harbor Versus Lubec
The Thirsty Whale Tavern in Bar Harbor charged $44 for a lobster roll, the second-highest price in the survey.
At the Inn on the Wharf in Lubec, the survey found a lobster roll for $32.
That's a $12 gap.
The Bar Harbor roll costs nearly 40% more.
How Prices Moved Since Last Spring
The paper's check just before Memorial Day 2026 covered 10 places and found an average of about $36, roughly a dollar more than a year earlier.
The paper's May 2025 index listed DiMillo's on the Water in Portland at $34, so its $41 price this summer is $7 higher.
Red's Eats in Wiscasset went from $36 to $38 between the two surveys.
The Inn on the Wharf in Lubec stayed at $32.
McLaughlin Seafood in Bangor went the other way, from $24.95 to $21.95.
That's $3 less.
What Last Summer's Survey Found
A 2025 survey of 10 lobster businesses from Portland to Lubec, reported by the TV station WGME, compared late May with mid-August and put the average roll at $34.79 on Memorial Day and $35.41 in mid-August.
Prices in the August round ranged from $24.95 to $43.19.
Tugboat Inn & Restaurant in Boothbay Harbor raised its price $1 that season.
Karen's Hideaway in Boothbay lowered its price $5 that season, from $35 to $30, owner Gary Blackman reported.
The restaurant also dropped its larger lobster roll.
Young's Lobster Pound in Belfast raised its price $1, and owner Amanda Young said the shop cooks and picks all of its lobster meat.
She said she expected prices to go back down after Labor Day.
Sizes and Sides in the Price
When a restaurant offers more than one size, the paper lists the price for the largest one.
It also noted that a few restaurants include sides like fries and coleslaw in the price, while others don't.
So a pricier roll that includes sides can cost less than a cheaper one that doesn't.
Before you compare two menus, check whether the sides are in the price.
At LDI Lobster Dock and Dine in Little Deer Isle, a $32 roll comes with 4 ounces of meat, chips, slaw and a pickle.
What an Owner Says About the Price
Anneliese Riggall, who owns LDI Lobster Dock and Dine, told the paper that figuring out what to charge for a lobster roll isn't straightforward.
She said she wants to keep lobster rolls accessible, even if they're a luxury item.
Little Deer Isle is off the beaten path, she said, so repeat customers matter to her.
On a good day, she told the paper, she sells more than 200.
Riggall also said her restaurant isn't in Bar Harbor, so she can't charge $50 a roll.
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