8 Fantastic Lobster Rolls in Boston (2024)

Erika Adams/Eater Boston

The area is full of lobster rolls — here’s where to find a handful of excellent ones

by Erika Adams and Terrence Doyle Updated Apr 12, 2024, 3:34pm EDT

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| Erika Adams/Eater Boston

This North End sandwich shop serves its lobster rolls “classic cold” or “hot in butter,” but note that both versions include mayo. There are three different sizes, including the 28-ounce “Lobstitution.” The smallest size comes on the traditional New England-style hot dog bun, while the others come on sub rolls. Want to send an out-of-town friend a taste of Boston? Pauli’s ships lobster roll kits and whoopie pies nationwide.

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Served on toasted brioche, Neptune Oyster’s lobster roll is available hot and buttered as well as cold with mayo. Keep in mind: Neptune’s roll is massive, not one of those four- or five-bite situations. And, expect to wait in line outside — Neptune is a super popular North End haunt and doesn’t take reservations.

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Erika Adams/Eater Boston

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Woods Hill Pier 4

Saltie Girl’s Gloucester lobster roll is an homage to the lobster fishers pulling bugs out of the waters off Cape Ann, which is about half an hour north of the city. It is served either hot or cold alongside a helping of housemade sea salt and vinegar potato chips.

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Saltie Girl

This trendy oyster and beer bar in Fort Point is co-owned by Jeremy Sewall, whose cousin Mark Sewall catches the lobsters in York Harbor, Maine. Row 34 has both a hot, buttered option, and a version dressed with mayonnaise and creme fraiche. Find other locations in Burlington, Cambridge, and Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

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Michael Harlan Turkell/Row 34

At Little Whale Oyster Bar, each roll comes with 8.5 to 9 ounces of meat, expertly prepared in either hot or cold fashion, piled into a sturdy Iggy’s brioche bun, and served with a generous pile of fries on the side. When it comes to traditional lobster rolls, this one is absolutely delicious.

• Open in Google Maps

Erika Adams/Eater Boston

Eventide’s roll is only served one way, hot, and tossed in brown butter instead of the usual melted regular butter, giving it a wonderfully nutty taste that pairs perfectly with the neutral lobster meat. It’s also more of an appetizer — about four bites in total, served without any sides — but the more experimental path here works well. In a town that loves its traditions, Eventide’s lobster roll suggests that the original way is not the only right way, and we are all better for it.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Erika Adams/Eater Boston

One of the city’s hottest new debuts so far in 2024 has been Le Madeline, a contemporary Vietnamese restaurant that has a menu with a must-try riff on a lobster roll. The tôm hùm rang me boasts fried chunks of lobster meat slicked in a tamarind sauce and garnished with heaps of tomiko, a bright orange fish roe, all stuffed into a buttered brioche roll. It’s a decadent, delightful new entry to this list.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Erika Adams/Eater Boston

This North End sandwich shop serves its lobster rolls “classic cold” or “hot in butter,” but note that both versions include mayo. There are three different sizes, including the 28-ounce “Lobstitution.” The smallest size comes on the traditional New England-style hot dog bun, while the others come on sub rolls. Want to send an out-of-town friend a taste of Boston? Pauli’s ships lobster roll kits and whoopie pies nationwide.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Served on toasted brioche, Neptune Oyster’s lobster roll is available hot and buttered as well as cold with mayo. Keep in mind: Neptune’s roll is massive, not one of those four- or five-bite situations. And, expect to wait in line outside — Neptune is a super popular North End haunt and doesn’t take reservations.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Erika Adams/Eater Boston

• Open in Google Maps

Woods Hill Pier 4

Saltie Girl’s Gloucester lobster roll is an homage to the lobster fishers pulling bugs out of the waters off Cape Ann, which is about half an hour north of the city. It is served either hot or cold alongside a helping of housemade sea salt and vinegar potato chips.

• Open in Google Maps

Saltie Girl

This trendy oyster and beer bar in Fort Point is co-owned by Jeremy Sewall, whose cousin Mark Sewall catches the lobsters in York Harbor, Maine. Row 34 has both a hot, buttered option, and a version dressed with mayonnaise and creme fraiche. Find other locations in Burlington, Cambridge, and Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

• Book with OpenTable
• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Michael Harlan Turkell/Row 34

At Little Whale Oyster Bar, each roll comes with 8.5 to 9 ounces of meat, expertly prepared in either hot or cold fashion, piled into a sturdy Iggy’s brioche bun, and served with a generous pile of fries on the side. When it comes to traditional lobster rolls, this one is absolutely delicious.

• Open in Google Maps

Erika Adams/Eater Boston

Eventide’s roll is only served one way, hot, and tossed in brown butter instead of the usual melted regular butter, giving it a wonderfully nutty taste that pairs perfectly with the neutral lobster meat. It’s also more of an appetizer — about four bites in total, served without any sides — but the more experimental path here works well. In a town that loves its traditions, Eventide’s lobster roll suggests that the original way is not the only right way, and we are all better for it.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Erika Adams/Eater Boston

One of the city’s hottest new debuts so far in 2024 has been Le Madeline, a contemporary Vietnamese restaurant that has a menu with a must-try riff on a lobster roll. The tôm hùm rang me boasts fried chunks of lobster meat slicked in a tamarind sauce and garnished with heaps of tomiko, a bright orange fish roe, all stuffed into a buttered brioche roll. It’s a decadent, delightful new entry to this list.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Erika Adams/Eater Boston

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