As others have noted, a big shout-out to the servers who are really working hard. They are serving drinks and delivering food, and since it’s one of the only places open on the island in the off-season, the place is packed!
The slushies are very boozy! Which is great if you’re in the mood for boozy drinks. We had one in the middle of the day and then went hiking, and it was a bit much, but certainly great for the evening!
The atmosphere is fun. We went two times. The first time was for lunch one day, and they had the game on, which was great. And the second time was for a bingo trivia, which was a lot of fun, but there was definitely one gentleman at the bar who was not happy that people were not paying attention to the game! The place is full of locals, as you might imagine. And that’s fabulous as well. It’s nice to see the same bases around town.
For lunch, I had a wonderful crab roll. They were out of fish for the fish bites, which was fine, as we ended up having a fish sandwich instead, which was wonderful. The second day, when we came back for trivia, we ordered the fish bites, and they were really really over breaded. It just ruined the fish. That’s why this review is four stars instead of five. The atmosphere is great, the servers are really hustling, the drinks are boozy, and most of the food is on-point, but they really need to watch the breading on the fish bites. The same fish was in my fish taco, and again, you need to cut way back on the breading and let the fish shine. You’ve got great fish here! Let’s not put too much breading on it and hide the flavor of the fish! One more Shout-out to all of the servers who really were working very hard, especially on trivia night. The host even made a joke that “you’re either here for trivia night, or you’re here because we’re the only place open on the island.” Oh, they also have a little café attached and you can order coffee, with or without booze!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Dawn gallipo
Everything was amazing. Definitely come and check it out.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Deb Wyman
Food was consistently good which is incredibly important in my book... I had a Reuben one day for lunch and a quesadilla for night for dinner...both equally delicious!
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 4
Dan Albert
A little short staffed but everything was very good.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Eric Adams
Very good food. Large menu. Waiter was awesome
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Tori Lusk
I wanted to take a min to give a big shout out to the hustling ladies at this little restaurant. We came on a ferry from Rockland and had a very quick turn around but wanted to eat good food. So we hoofed it up to this little spot, ordered to go food and told them we were on the clock We sat and had a couple of beers while they prepared our food. The boxed it up so nicely, got everything we ordered correct with napkins spoons, sauces etc and had us out of there just in time to get back. What a treat when we got on the boat ride back and sat to eat. The food was amazing! I mean everyone of our pack of 10 raved over what you might think was just bar food, but it was not just bar food. It was delicious! Them spicy pickle fries, clam chowder, fish bites, fish sandwiches, loaded fries (that sauce tho 😋) right down to the slaw! Best food we had So far in Maine. So good and so well packed and right on time. Love to give kudos where they are due so thank you ladies!!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Fish & Chips, Loaded Fries
Brian Byers
I was stuck on the island while waiting for the ferry and needed lunch. This was a nice little spot to kill some time. I ordered the fish taco and loaded fries.
The taco was actually a burrito with a rather dry and crumbly tortilla. It tasted ok though.
The loaded fries were amazing!
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Fish Burritos, Loaded Fries
Alex West (yttrium)
We had to wait a long time for takeout but it was a very busy Friday night. They were absolutely packed inside.
Food is very affordable, even cheaper than typical restaurants back home, which is insane considering the nature of pricing on the island. And the food is great, to boot!
Parking: Nearby parking lots separate from the building. No direct parking at the restaurant itself. Not a far walk though.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Karen Elena Nunn Thompson
Salads were good. You have to get there early. Remember this is a small island and they can and will run out of items. You just have to roll with it. Service was good. Atmosphere was casual. Prices were very reasonable. Best we have seen in Maine so far.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
John
Had a great meal. The fish n chips were absolutely delicious. A short walk from the Maine State Ferry Service that operates out of Rockland. It was fun to ride the ferry over, have lunch, do a little exploring in all the shops and then walk back and catch the last ferry back to Rockland.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Fish & Chips, Burger, Pulled Pork
The server here was very friendly and the place was interesting. A bar and a little restaurant with alcoholic slushies on tap. We ordered crab rangoons as an appetizer. They were delicious and well priced. For the meal my wife got a grilled cheese baguette with bacon and onion and apple which was an interesting sandwich. And I got my traditional Reuben. The sandwiches were delicious. My Reuben especially, no soggy parts. Crispy bread, excellent sandwich. Unfortunately, our fries were cold as soon as they hit the table. Not an ounce of warmth to them. When asking how our food was the server did apologize for the cold fries and offered to refry them. It's almost a shame that lunch was so filling, because the dessert menu looked amazing. This was our first visit to the Sand Bar on vinalhaven Island. If we get to come back out here again we'll definitely come back to the restaurant.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Tylor Magee
Ordered multiple times from here as I am working on the island. Food is okay, definitely not impressed. Also, pricing is quite strange. Ordered 3 of the same things 3 days in a row and each time the price was different lol.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 2
Lisa Fehnel
Fun island place. Friday night Trivia Night.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Ida Foster
Things have changed since I lived there 1980 to 85 check it out !!? ???
As others have noted, a big shout-out to the servers who are really working hard. They are serving drinks and delivering food, and since it’s one of the only places open on the island in the off-season, the place is packed!
The slushies are very boozy! Which is great if you’re in the mood for boozy drinks. We had one in the middle of the day and then went hiking, and it was a bit much, but certainly great for the evening!
The atmosphere is fun. We went two times. The first time was for lunch one day, and they had the game on, which was great. And the second time was for a bingo trivia, which was a lot of fun, but there was definitely one gentleman at the bar who was not happy that people were not paying attention to the game! The place is full of locals, as you might imagine. And that’s fabulous as well. It’s nice to see the same bases around town.
For lunch, I had a wonderful crab roll. They were out of fish for the fish bites, which was fine, as we ended up having a fish sandwich instead, which was wonderful. The second day, when we came back for trivia, we ordered the fish bites, and they were really really over breaded. It just ruined the fish. That’s why this review is four stars instead of five. The atmosphere is great, the servers are really hustling, the drinks are boozy, and most of the food is on-point, but they really need to watch the breading on the fish bites. The same fish was in my fish taco, and again, you need to cut way back on the breading and let the fish shine. You’ve got great fish here! Let’s not put too much breading on it and hide the flavor of the fish!
One more Shout-out to all of the servers who really were working very hard, especially on trivia night. The host even made a joke that “you’re either here for trivia night, or you’re here because we’re the only place open on the island.”
Oh, they also have a little café attached and you can order coffee, with or without booze!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Everything was amazing. Definitely come and check it out.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Food was consistently good which is incredibly important in my book... I had a Reuben one day for lunch and a quesadilla for night for dinner...both equally delicious!
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 4
A little short staffed but everything was very good.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Very good food. Large menu. Waiter was awesome
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
I wanted to take a min to give a big shout out to the hustling ladies at this little restaurant. We came on a ferry from Rockland and had a very quick turn around but wanted to eat good food. So we hoofed it up to this little spot, ordered to go food and told them we were on the clock We sat and had a couple of beers while they prepared our food. The boxed it up so nicely, got everything we ordered correct with napkins spoons, sauces etc and had us out of there just in time to get back. What a treat when we got on the boat ride back and sat to eat. The food was amazing! I mean everyone of our pack of 10 raved over what you might think was just bar food, but it was not just bar food. It was delicious! Them spicy pickle fries, clam chowder, fish bites, fish sandwiches, loaded fries (that sauce tho 😋) right down to the slaw! Best food we had So far in Maine. So good and so well packed and right on time. Love to give kudos where they are due so thank you ladies!!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Fish & Chips, Loaded Fries
I was stuck on the island while waiting for the ferry and needed lunch. This was a nice little spot to kill some time. I ordered the fish taco and loaded fries.
The taco was actually a burrito with a rather dry and crumbly tortilla. It tasted ok though.
The loaded fries were amazing!
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Fish Burritos, Loaded Fries
We had to wait a long time for takeout but it was a very busy Friday night. They were absolutely packed inside.
Food is very affordable, even cheaper than typical restaurants back home, which is insane considering the nature of pricing on the island. And the food is great, to boot!
Parking: Nearby parking lots separate from the building. No direct parking at the restaurant itself. Not a far walk though.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Salads were good. You have to get there early. Remember this is a small island and they can and will run out of items. You just have to roll with it. Service was good. Atmosphere was casual. Prices were very reasonable. Best we have seen in Maine so far.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Had a great meal. The fish n chips were absolutely delicious. A short walk from the Maine State Ferry Service that operates out of Rockland. It was fun to ride the ferry over, have lunch, do a little exploring in all the shops and then walk back and catch the last ferry back to Rockland.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Fish & Chips, Burger, Pulled Pork
Restaurantji Recommends
The server here was very friendly and the place was interesting. A bar and a little restaurant with alcoholic slushies on tap. We ordered crab rangoons as an appetizer. They were delicious and well priced. For the meal my wife got a grilled cheese baguette with bacon and onion and apple which was an interesting sandwich. And I got my traditional Reuben. The sandwiches were delicious. My Reuben especially, no soggy parts. Crispy bread, excellent sandwich. Unfortunately, our fries were cold as soon as they hit the table. Not an ounce of warmth to them. When asking how our food was the server did apologize for the cold fries and offered to refry them. It's almost a shame that lunch was so filling, because the dessert menu looked amazing. This was our first visit to the Sand Bar on vinalhaven Island. If we get to come back out here again we'll definitely come back to the restaurant.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Ordered multiple times from here as I am working on the island. Food is okay, definitely not impressed. Also, pricing is quite strange. Ordered 3 of the same things 3 days in a row and each time the price was different lol.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 2
Fun island place. Friday night Trivia Night.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Things have changed since I lived there 1980 to 85 check it out !!? ???
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Great vibe and delicious chocolate cream pie!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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