Abel’s to Reopen in Summer of 2018

Abel's Lobster Pound will be reopening under new management in mid June 2018 after being closed in 2017. The restaurant will be operated by Kelsea and Glenn Squires who will be leasing the restaurant from the Henry R. Abel Boat Yard.

Photo Jodi Carlisle

According to a press release “We are excited to continue the rich history at Abel’s Lobster Pound established by the previous operators,Henry Abel, Dave Beal, then Ted Stanley and his family.”, said Kelsea who is currently the school nurse at Connors-Emerson Elementary School in Bar Harbor.

Kelsea and her mother Carmen Sanford will be the day-to-day managing operators and have hired Dakota Hatton as the General Manager and Executive Chef. Carmen and Dakota bring many years of food service experience to the table through working together at August Moon catering of Bar Harbor. Dakota is also owner of “Maine Bakes“ which will continue operations through his long-time staff.

Kelsea states that “Abel's will carry on the tradition of being very much a family run restaurant as it has been since first opening in 1939. We are excited to be the next Mount Desert Island family to continue offering exceptional service and the unique Abel’s experience on the shore of Somes Sound” She further stated that “We were offered the restaurant in 2017 but it was too late in the spring to pull it all together so we stepped back and have been working hard all winter to be ready for the upcoming season.The menu will remain pretty much the same as its always been but with a few additions which Chef Hatton has been working on. Both lunch and dinner will be offered seven days a week. We are very fortunate to have Dakota taking the helm of the kitchen and staff.”

Squires explained that the hours of operation will remain the same as in previous years but they plan to lengthen their season through the fall.

I reached out to Dakota Hatton to get a little more detail about his experience and he offered this: "I have worked for Michael and Fayelle Anderson for 8 summers as Michael's right hand man at August Moon Catering Cmpany. as well as his business Roscoe's at Jackson Lab. During winters I spent as part of Vail Resort's management team running different restaurants for different resort locations in Colorado and Northern California. I have left Vail Resorts and August Moon to run Abel’s as my summer job and will work in the winters at Mount Crested Butte Keystone running conference services. I also own "Maine Bake where we serve KOA campground campers lobster dinner 7 nights from a food truck May thru October, which will continue this year"

Kelsea can be reached at abelslobsterpound@gmail.com for further questions.

Categories: Food, Mount Desert