Where to Eat and Drink Near the Beach: York, Maine Restaurant Guide

York sits at the very bottom of the Pine Tree State, right near the Maine-New Hampshire border. It’s not as well-known a Maine summer vacation destination as, say, Bar Harbor or Ogunquit, but that’s a good thing: it means fewer crowds.

The regional travelers who’ve discovered this small beach community know its charms well. As you drive in, thick forests and coastal waterways surround you, until you come upon the smattering of private beach homes, and finally a handful of beaches, including the popular long, sandy stretch aptly named Long Sands Beach. From this beach, you can glimpse the town’s iconic lighthouse in the distance.

Unlike more built-up beach towns, York’s hotels, restaurants, and shops catered to tourists are a bit scattered rather than all condensed into a singular stretch of beach front. As such, when you’re hungry, chances are likely that you’re going to need to drive rather than explore on foot, but the effort will be worth it. This town offers all the Maine seaside eats that you want from a trip to the state’s shores, plus more. Here are a few of the York, Maine restaurants you’re going to want to check out.

There’s a lot to love about A Little Auk. The on-site restaurant at The Viewpoint Hotel, an all-outdoors eatery, with small tables scattered around and under a tent, crushed shells underfoot. A 1969 Airstream trailer has been converted into a bar, where you can saddle right up to the window and watch the artful bartenders at work.

As for the menu, expect small plates, wood-fired pizza, seafood, sliders, and daily boards that feature a grilled protein or smashed potatoes, plus a side of pickled veg and vinaigrette. I can’t recommend the lobster sliders enough, each butter-brushed roll stuffed with daily-picked Maine lobster.

The restaurant recently began serving breakfast as well—on weekdays—with your expected offerings like avocado toast and breakfast platters, but also some unique options like a savory waffle (yes, please!) and a sweet potato slab, which is basically a generous slice of sweet potato topped like an open-faced sandwich.

And the name? A little auk is a delightfully adorable, black-and-white marine bird.

Address: 229 Nubble Rd, York, ME 03909

Fox’s Lobster House is an old-school seafood restaurant, open since the 1960s, and boasting one of the best locations in town. The restaurant sits exactly adjacent to the Nubble Lighthouse, which is arguably York’s most famous landmark. You’ll see it on just about all your tourist tchotchkes, and it’s on every list of “things you must do in York.” It claims to be one of the most photographed lighthouses, too, so you can’t miss it—and planning a meal at Fox’s gives you the perfect opportunity to check it out, plus easy parking.

Both indoor and outdoor seating is available and the menu is pretty extensive, offering lots of fried seafood and Maine lobster cooked just about every way you could want it. Lobster tacos, lobster stew, lobster bisque, lobster salad, lobster dinners, lobster pie, lobster macaroni and cheese, lobster rolls… You get the idea.

Of course, after all that lobster, the owner’s prize-winning blueberry pie is the requisite dessert.

Address: 8 Sohier Park Rd, York, ME 03909

I love visiting the local breweries and distilleries when traveling, and when I visited York Beach Beer Co. for the first time a few years ago, it did not disappoint. While situated within walking distance of a few hotels and touristy areas, it’s not overrun with tourists and, after spending a weekday morning at the beach, it was actually pretty quiet. 

There’s a small indoor space and outdoor patio, with a food truck—York Beach Eats—parked up to the side, and I could not encourage you enough to order a lobster roll flight to go along with your beer flight. The lobster roll flight includes four miniature lobster rolls in various styles, including the OG Maine roll, a Connecticut-style roll, New England-style roll, and spicy roll. Pair it with the brewery’s Flannel Sombrero, a Mexican-style lager, and I can’t think of a better post-beach lunch.

Check the brewery’s events calendar before you head out. Regular events range from trivia to live music to book fairs.

Address: 33 Railroad Ave, York, ME 03909

If you don’t really want to go that far off the beach for a meal, then Sun & Surf Restaurant wins big points for convenience. It’s the only restaurant that sits literally right on Long Sands Beach. Open and family-run since the 1960s, the restaurant offers multiple outdoor dining spaces in addition to the inside space, and conveniently serves breakfast in addition to lunch and dinner.

For breakfast, expect your typical omelets, benedicts, and pancakes, as well as a kids’ menu and breakfast cocktails. For dinner, you’ve got your sandwiches, salads ,and seafood-focused entrees, like boiled lobster and scallops. A few Italian-leaning menu items are also available, like the chicken Florentine, shrimp scampi, and lobster ravioli. While the lobster and fried clam strips are easy options, don’t overlook the restaurant’s seafood sandwiches; in addition to lobster rolls, the restaurant also offers haddock, swordfish, clam, and salmon sandwiches.

Address: 264 Long Beach Ave, York Beach, ME 03910

Sometimes, though, when you’re on the beach, you don’t want to stop the fun to go back to your accommodations, shower and get ready, and then come back out for a meal. Sometimes, you just want to throw on a t-shirt over your swimsuit, slap around in your flip-flops, and grab a quick—yet tasty—bite. The place to do that while you’re on Long Sands Beach is The Oceanside Store.

The family-run store, with its walk-up window for ordering breakfast, lunch, dinner, and ice cream, draws lines of hungry customers that stretch down the sidewalk. The menu, posted on the building’s exterior, is pretty extensive for a simple operation. At breakfast, you have to order a breakfast wrap, stuffed with eggs, cheese, veggies, and bacon, and then take it down to your beach blanket. Later in the day, do the same with your cheese fries or chicken fingers.

The store also offers less-beach-friendly options, like whole pizzas and combo dinners, but a row of tables on the sidewalk gives you a place to sit and chow down if you’re wanting something along those lines.

Address: Oceanside Ave, York, ME 03909

When visiting this restaurant for the first time, my husband and I came to a conclusion. There is a genre of restaurants in towns that receive a fair amount of tourist traffic, that specifically specialize in a kind of “rough around the edges” aesthetic. Think dining outdoors at old picnic tables, all-disposable dinnerware, and food that you eat with your hands.

Lobster in the Rough falls into this category—which means it’s not going to satisfy everyone, admittedly. However, if you want a lively spot that’s super-casual, where you can drink a beer and eat a huge barbecue dinner, then this is going to be right up your alley.

Yes, you can get a lobster dinner here, but if you’ve already had your fill of lobster on your Maine trip (shocking, but it can happen), go for that barbecue plate and make sure you’re there during a live music night for a particularly fun atmosphere.

Address: 1000 U.S. Rte 1, York, ME 03909

When you’re driving or walking through the bustling tourist area near Short Sands Beach in York, The Goldenrod stands out. The historic building with its striped, green awnings, and neon signs beckon with promises of fresh ice cream and other goodies.

The Goldenrod is part restaurant, part ice cream shop, part soda fountain and part candy store, and its history stretches back to 1896. Both the ice cream and salt water taffy are made on-site, and if you fall in love with said taffy, you can order it straight to your door once you go back home.

As for the food, expect a diner-style experience (with the friendly, fast service to match). You can’t go wrong with one of the restaurant’s many sandwich options, served with a side of potato chips, whether you go for the seafood salad or something a little more nostalgic like the chicken salad, tuna salad or even a PB&J.

Address: 2 Railroad Ave, York Beach, ME 03910

Lulu’s is the kind of place that you pass by and you think, “Wow, they all look like they’re having a great time… I should be there!” A much newer option in York, it sits across from Long Sands Beach and is the on-site restaurant for the newly renovated and highly lauded Nevada hotel, a totally restored retro property.

The restaurant touts its tiki vibes and claims that it’s the first restaurant in the entire state to cook its al pastor on a trompo (which is a vertical, spinning grill, and which you’ll probably recognize once you see it, even if you don’t know the technical name). In addition to the indoor dining space, Lulu’s also has a patio and lawn rimmed with tiki torches and offers chairs circling fire bowls.

The menu is just as promised, offering options like Hawaiian rolls and house-fried Spam as starters, plus a raw bar and fried rice bowls. If someone in your party isn’t really feeling the tiki vibes, though, they might opt for an onion smash burger or some tacos. Save room for the fluffer nutter pastry for dessert.

Address: 141 Long Beach Ave, York, ME 03909