Post # 7 Shaw's Fish & Lobster Wharf Restaurant

After eating several awesome burgers this summer while travelling, I realize that writing about only Boston burgers is unfair to the other great burgers out there. Therefore, we'll sprinkle in some out-of-town spots where the burgers rival the best we’ve discussed. If these hidden gems are already favorites, you might feel a certain in-the-know pride as we sing their praises, sort of like how I feel when a much loved deep cut comes on my favorite radio station at the bottom of the dial.

Shaw's Fish & Lobster Wharf Restaurant
129 Maine 32
Bristol, ME 04554
207 677 2200

One time years ago I said this about my buddy Scott: “We joke around a lot, but we also talk seriously about our problems. And what I like most about Scott is, when listening to his problems I realize how small mine are.”

I said this at a time when drama followed Scott like a faithful puppy. But his fortunes have turned and we now talk mostly about burgers. Like the one I had at Shaw’s Fish & Lobster Wharf Restaurant, in Bristol, Maine. 

Earlier this summer, as Scott’s new and beautiful and extraordinarily wealthy girlfriend prepared to leave for yet another international vacation without him, she asked which of her two summer homes (the lake house or the coast house) he'd like to hang at while she was gone. He picked the coast house, and asked me along.

The beautiful and extraordinary coast house

We'd been exploring the Booth Bay region all morning when we came upon Shaw’s on Round Pond in Bristol. Shaw’s isn’t much to look at from the outside, but once you climb the side stairs to the back porch you’re treated to a view that’s quintessentially Maine. Lobster boats, skiffs and Boston Whalers undulate in a quiet cove while gulls hover over fishing enterprises along the jagged coast.

The view from Shaw's back porch

As you might expect, Shaw’s Fish & Lobster Wharf Restaurant is a Restaurant on a Wharf that features Fish and Lobster. And that, to me, is a good reason to try their burger, as good seafood shacks often make great burgers. Scott saw it differently, and even when threatened with a second banishment from Happy Burger (see post # 3) he ordered a lobster. Well, he missed out, as this was the best burger I’d had since Happy Burger's inception.

Scott, happily burying his head in yet another clam

The patty is a full 6 ounces of preformed 80/20 chuck. It is char-grilled, and while I usually prefer a flat griddled burger (the escaped juices sear back into the meat to create a more flavorful bark) the bark on this burger was well worth the bite. Curiously, the sesame seed bun is, in fact, flat griddled, and it too is delicious. 

Pardon the half eaten burger. I couldn't wait.

What separates Shaw’s burger from others is the attention to seasonings. Before being cooked the patty is sprinkled liberally with Monterrey steak flavoring. During cooking it is painted (quite literally with a house paintbrush) with melted garlic butter containing four additional seasonings. I asked the chef what they were but he wouldn't budge. Apparently, it's a secret as closely guarded as Col. Sander's. But that's all well and good, as a bit of mystery adds flavor to any relationship.

This is a truly outstanding burger. Coupled with the view from the back porch and a coast house to return to, it's hard to beat.

Score: 9 out of 10 napkins