We live close to this restaurant and are glad that it is open again. The historic schoolhouse building has been updated extensively. We had lunch on the outside deck. I ordered the steak & cheese philly sandwich with fries and as lobster dishes were on...the menu my partner asked for a lobster roll (not on menu) that they were glad to prepare. Our meals, paired with local draft beers were served by Caroline who checked back with us a few times to see if we needed anything. We enjoyed our meals in this unhurried atmosphere.More

Stunningly well presented and beautiful place. It is clear that a great deal of money and "thoughtful thought", right down to the details, has gone into the building and appearances. Lovely curved entry stairway, top flight plantings, artfully arranged. I would say that the appearance...is that of a place intending to rank with the very best in certainly the state and probably the Northeast, along the lines of, say, Primo or Black Point Inn. But the human element seems to have taken a far second place. For one thing, and I agree that this is a nit, the greeter was dressed in some sort of outlandish combo of mismatched clothing that looked like it might have been on sale at Goodwill. And he stated that he was a part owner. It may have made a statement, but that statement should have been blacked out. And the food was really interesting - a chef that was trying way too hard to be "inventive" without taking care of the basics. The presentation of the dishes LOOKED beautiful, but the oxtail pasta, while it tasted great, had at least one piece of bone in it and numerous chunks of basically inedible fat. And the strawberry shortcake went far astray with the weird idea of using cornbread instead of biscuit and had unsweetened whipped cream. Sadly, it just didn't work. About service: there was only one server, way too few. She said that the restaurant had not expected as much business and had sent the other server or servers home. An exemplar of the general lack of experience in the place. So, I am afraid for the future of this beautiful place. We went on an afternoon. Down the road apiece was Dolphin, with an hour wait and a packed parking lot. When we arrived here at about 5 PM, we were the about the second couple and the parking lot was empty. A few diners arrived later. People vote with their feet (or cars), and this particular candidate is behind so far. There have been countless restaurants that have come and gone where the owners have had perhaps good intentions and lots of money but no common sense or solid restaurant experience instead of sticking to excellent basics. This looks like it may become one of them. If they don't know what they're doing, they need to hire an experienced and presentable manager and a careful chef and get out of the way. That way could lie great success. I wish them the best.More

My son and I ate dinner for the first time since the restaurant opened. Of course we remember this space as the School House Cafe from several years ago. It's a much different venue now and the menu and food reflect this. I'd been looking...forward to trying it out and am so glad we finally did. We throughly enjoyed our meals! I had the Basil Pesto and Gremelli Pasta Pangrattato. It was delicious! My son had the Lexus Burger and he said it was the best bison burger he's ever had. We both saved room for dessert. I had the Limoncello which was a light marscapone cream cake. My son had the corn bread pound cake with strawberries and whipped cream. We both thought our desserts were wonderful and a perfect end to our meals. Our server was great - attentive and well informed about the menu. The rehab of the building is wonderful. Brought back to it's original only better. Everyone was wearing masks and using best safety practices. You will not be disappointed so please come out and support Harpswell and this great new restaurant!More