The Independent Cafe

My husband’s favorite place in Bar Harbor! He stopped by here 3 times in 2 days. First day he got the blueberry coffee cake which he shared with me, it was so flavorful and moist, same day he went back for a strawberry scone! Second day he went back in for more blueberry coffee cake and also got clam chowder. The soup was so delicious and very reasonable price compared to other places in Bar Harbor. The service was great. If we are ever coming back to Bar Harbor we will stop by for sure! Thank you!

Had a wonderful mocha coffee, thank you to the barista (sorry I forgot your name 🤪).

After a busy morning hiking in Acadia, my family and I decided to try this place for lunch. For the massively overpriced fee of $50, we got a spinach salad, a vegetarian BLT, and a caprese grilled cheese. No sides or drinks were included. My biggest issue with this place actually isn’t the food which was good. After paying for our food, I inquired if there was a place we could wash our hands. An employee nervously asked an older white man (I’m assuming the owner) who angrily came out and pointed to their “no public bathrooms” sign. I pointed out that we were CUSTOMERS at this point, not just “the public.” His suggestion was that we literally walk a block away to go use public sinks. And he was super rude, loud, and argumentative the entire time. No thanks. I’m not crazy about CoVid, but I do believe in washing your hands before eating. Not providing your customers a space to do so is ridiculous.

Massively overpriced, even in this inflated economy. Out of 3 times only once was my $6+ latte actually hot enough. And then I went to buy a small juice which I was sure couldn't be more than 4-5 bucks. It was $10 lol. I realize nobody has forced me to pay these prices but it's bar harbor, the pickings are slim

The coffee was bitter, my kids' hot chocolates were lukewarm and very watered down. For that much money I'm not sure what the point is, there's much better coffee up and down the main street. It was recommended by someone we met at the lake and we wanted to try it out, very disappointing.

My friend and I came here after a long day of hiking and were looking for some sandwiches to take home and munch on. I ordered the vegetarian BLT which totaled to over $16, came with no sides, and was literally missing the vegan aioli it said it came with. It had almost no flavor and was disappointing considering how expensive it was. I would at least expect fries or chips or something, but oh well. It was probably expensive because they know tourists will pay that much for anything.
My friend got the lobster brie panini. On the menu it says something along the lines of "market price," meaning that it has no fixed price and changes according to market fluctuations. The other paninis were maybe 15, 16 dollars so she had assumed it would be roughly the same price. To our surprise, her total was 34 DOLLARS for a panini, and when she opened the container it was maybe a bit bigger than her palm. She wasn't aware of the price until just before she put her card in, and as we all know it isn't easy to opt out of buying something at the last second so she followed through with the payment. Regardless, a panini like that should be no more than 17 dollars max. Im not sure if this - taking advantage of tourists - was intentional or not, but everything could've been so much better here.
On the other hand, the inside is very charming and they have a good selection of local foods. The staff was also quite nice and helpful, but I wish they would've put a bit more effort into the quality of the food.

Really cool shop with a lot of "maine" made food things. Wonderful vibe. Food however is pretty costly for what you get. Just as a baseline a plain bagle with cream cheese is almost $7.

One of the worst caramel lattes I have had. The blueberry latte was not tasty either. And the prices were quite outrageous. :( Go somewhere else for coffee in Bar Harbor.

This place just became my must-visit stop for any future days in Bar Harbor. The first time I came in it was too close to closing to get the vegetable juice I wanted (I get it; cleaning a juicer is a pain) but I was craving veggies and that’s something Bar Harbor restaurants seemed to be low on while I was here.

So I came back at a better time the next day and got a delicious carrot apple celery juice, and the very friendly guy behind the counter was willing to play with the ratio a bit when I asked to up the carrot to apple balance since I love veggies. Then when I went in this afternoon and asked for same thing, he went a step further and asked me if I wanted to experiment further with some other veggies he had in stock. I told him to go for it and be creative, as long as it wasn’t sweet I’d be happy. We tried a bit here, he added a bit more of something else, and lo and behold I have the tastiest veggies juice blend I could possibly find to enjoy on my last day here. So pleased!

And also highly recommend the Maine-made Choomis they stock on their shelves of cool Maine food goods, perfect little not-too-sweet, dairy-free and grain-free brownie bite.

Love this place!!!

Decent iced coffee. Pleasant atmosphere. Post lunch trash was overflowing in the trash can and piled up at the coffee station.