After a day of hiking we decided to brave the crowds and grab a bite to eat at Jordan Pond, one of the most popular stops along Park Loop Road. As much as we try to avoid overpriced tourist spots like these we couldn’t resist the combination of historic + popovers + tea service + view of nature.
We were seated inside by a window with a lovely view of the pond and ordered tea, popovers, salad, and a sandwich, which was (surprisingly?) quite tasty. Once we finished stuffing our faces we took a walk around the gardens, explored a few trails around the pond, and then headed back to Jordan Pond House to peruse the gift shops. It was a lovely afternoon relaxing by the pond, lingering over conversation and sipping our hot tea as people have done here since the 1890s.
DETAILS
Jordan Pond House /$=$$ // Jordan Pond House is probably one of the top 3 tourist attractions in Acadia, Thunder Hole (overrated) and Cadillac Mountain (awesome) being the other two. That, plus being the only restaurant within Acadia, means this place is extremely crowded. Even in late afternoon parking in one of the two lots was a challenge to find. TIP: Given its popularity if you want to eat outside, especially during peak hours (11:30-4) then it’s best to make reservations. There is plenty of indoor seating and when we arrived we only had to wait about 5 minutes before we were seated. I didn’t mind sitting inside one bit — we had a great view by the windows, a very private table, and no bees buzzing around our jam. As you can probably guess food is a bit overpriced for what you get, but it was actually pretty good. The popovers — what the restaurant is known for — were really tasty. A tea service for 1 person includes a pot of tea and 2 popovers — we split a service and found that it was more than enough for the both of us considering we also had salad and a sandwich. Another reason for Jordan Pond’s popularity is that there are so many easy trails in this area, including access to the famed Carriage Roads. I’m usually not a huge fan of super touristy places since I tend to be the type that likes to get away from people when in nature but Jordan House Pond is beautiful and definitely worth a visit while in Acadia.
