The Public House is the best restaurant in Machias, hands down. Good food, good service. Six of us…read moredined and had an excellent experience. My 'steak Oscar' at 30 bucks was outstanding! The fish and chips others had was met with compliments. And our diner who had the Ribeye thought it one of the best she has had (though the most expensive dish on the menu!). Drinks were good,though, like most establishments now, expensive...12+..... for dining in this area of Maine, only Helen's comes close.

So several years ago, this place brought a new restaurant and event venue to Downeast Maine…read more Sit-down restaurants for dinner are scarce in these parts so if you don't want to make dinner at your rental or eat at a picnic bench, it's nice to have another option. We heard some good things so we made a reservation for an early supper. Decor is modern farmhouse. We arrived on time for our reservation and were seated promptly with menus. We were one of two tables in the room, the other seated a couple of minutes before us on the opposite side of the space. For the next 10 minutes a waitress went back and forth to this other table bringing drinks and taking orders. Another staffer was clearing tables near us and resetting them. Puzzled, one us went to the hosting station and a minute or so later a waitress appeared at the table explaining that someone did not check us in and that's why she did not come to our table. An apology (for the restaurant and/or herself) would have been appropriate but was not forthcoming. The food here runs from good to ok, but occasionally bad due to execution. We arrived hungry and ordered several appetizers. The winner of this course was the lobster bisque which flavorful and full of lobster pieces. The hot crab dip was cheesy and tasty but was served with bland commercial and perhaps stale tortilla chips;some nice toasts points might have been a better option. Our third diner ordered the shrimp cocktail hoping for a taste of the local Gulf of Maine shrimp, but that was not the case. For entrees, the most pleasing was the fish and chips, a generous piece of flaky, nicely fried haddock served with fries and Cole slaw. The smash burger was a double patty with all the trimmings but it lack seasoning and the usual crispness that is associated with the smash of the cold patty against the hot metal of the grill. The smoked salmon BLT was a fail. The bacon was cut to bits, the avocado schmear barely covered half the bun, the lettuce was part of the heart that was curly and made the sandwich fall apart and there was no tomato on the sandwich. For dessert , we shared the blueberry crisp with vanilla ice cream. While the blueberries were tasty as was the ice cream, there was no crisp here on the top except for a bit of oats that appeared to be added before the ice cream without being baked on. Generally, I can overlook some fails like the ones reported but there is no excuse for dirty dishes and unsafe conditions. Drinking water comes in a carafe that you serve yourself by pouring into short blue tinted tumblers. I poured for our table and two of the glasses were not used by us as there were lip prints of lipstick on them. We took two glasses from an adjacent table that was just set and again, one of them was also marked with a lipstick lip mark. Lastly, I asked for a table with a view, if possible. We were seated in a corner with a view of the trees for one of us and a view of the water. I noticed a door with an exit sign near us. It's a door you would not be able to exit as it was a clear 15ft drop to the ground. A wooden 2x4 was affixed to the frame across the door handle so you could not use it. But in case of fire, there was no way to safely escape through this door to no where. I might return under the right circumstances for the bisque and the fish, but I would walk out if I encountered the same safety issues again.

I was in town for work. I've heard great things about this place- all true. I wasn't super hungry…read moreso I got an appetizer and I wanted room for pie. Sticky fingers are chicken tenders in a sweet and spicy sauce. Amazing. Now for the pie. I got the Strawberry pie. It was perfection. I wanted to try their world famous blueberry so I took a whole pie home to share with my family. It didn't disappoint. My mother hates blueberries and she asked for a second helping. My only problem is it's so far away. If you're in the area please check this place out.

I neglected to post it at the time of the review. It's the raspberry pie I spoke of. It still makes…read moreme drool just thinking about it!

I love this place but its always closed when it says open monday - friday. I will say they have the…read morebest sandwiches when open. I wish they had a Facebook page and kept people informed when closed

We had to run to Calais to go the a hardware store, we're starving , we drove over an hour and this…read moreplace was the nearest restaurant so we stopped! What an absolute hidden gem! The inside was decorated so cute! BUT THAT SANDWICH! Wow I got a steak sandwich and being from Philly is always hit or miss, but let me tell you, this was hands down the best sandwich I've ever had, so simple, so delicious. I haven't stopped thinking about it for a week, I am counting down the days until I can return to the sandwich man. The service was amazing, everyone was so friendly, so kind, just wow. As long as this place continue operate , I will never stop visiting because of this place. Thanks for the best sandwich I've had in a very very long time! You guys keep rocking on! Thanks for everything you do!

We ordered the crab cake dinner to go. Cakes were good and came with slaw and fries. Also…read morepicked up to fresh lobster that we steamed at home. Service was great and we would go back.

Disappointing. Really had higher expectations. Restaurant only had a few customers…read more Seafood was way overcooked, chewy, and flavorless. We ate inside. Nobody asked how our meals were. For a lot of money, we didn't even finish our meals, and relegated much of it to the trash, whereas if it had been good we would have taken the remaining home. We don't like leaving negative reviews and are very forgiving, but the food was not good. Service was friendly and restaurant very clean and cozy.

great sandwichs , they have salads and lobster rolls too. I…read morethink the prices are reasonable. The bread ,they use is fantastic will definitely go again. The ocean view are beautiful.

While out looking at houses in the area, we stopped to grab a bite to eat. So glad we did!…read more Although my husband and I are New Englanders, we moved to Arizona about 12 years ago and are moving back east again. So, we haven't had the luxury of New England subs for quite a long time. Pat's sub roles are just superb! I had the eggplant parm sub and my husband have the chicken parm sub. Both were outstanding. We will absolutely be back!

Used to be a great place. Now they've removed the waitresses, the bar and ambiance. The food is…read morestill decent but it's lost its charm sadly.

I'm only giving it four stars because we didn't order any food. The service was great. Our server…read morewas prompt and helpful. The selection from the bar was limited to beer and wine, which was more than adequate. The owner was friendly and the interior was amazing! The stained glass feature was beautiful! The variety of objects on display and the manner in which they were displayed makes this pub worth visiting. You're visiting an art exhibit that offers drinks and food. They're only open on Fridays and Saturdays in the summer, so make time to visit!

Short menu and only open for dinner on Friday and Saturday but each dish is delicious! I had the…read morecrab cakes and my wife had the pulled pork. What really makes it special is the venue itself. One wall is a huge stain glass window of Van Gogh's Starry Night. The rest of the room is an art piece 6 years in the making. You'll have to go there to see it. Plus it is housed in a beautiful old house in a tiny town just off of route 1

This is a great food truck in a location where there's not many other options for food, the burgers…read morewere good, broccoli bites were delicious and didn't take very long for our food to be ready. Our kids have the Pizza burger and loved it, we also had mozzarella sticks and we're pretty good as well. Definitely advise people in area to check it out if you haven't already

The lunch box is a small family operated food truck with a great variety of delicious food and the…read moreservice is great too! I have been waiting all winter for them to open back up again and I am so happy they are reopened! My favorite thing to eat is there chicken fingers and I could eat them every day. They also have delicious cheese burgers and also have scallop rolls, crab rolls, fish & chips, and shrimp too! By far my favorite place to eat! I highly recommend going there.