Five Great Lobster Rolls From Newcomers and Old Favorites

Seafood houses are the best bet for finding a good lobster roll, since they generally have good supply lines to the best product, as well as chefs who know their way around shellfish. But lobster rolls have been popping up on menus outside of seafood restaurants, too. Here are five places, from old favorites to food halls to newcomers, where you can get a taste of New England at the height of lobster season.

The Kitchen American Bistro

1039 Pearl Street, Boulder 303-544-5973
1560 Wazee Street, 303-623-3127

Michael Bertozzi joined the Kitchen Bistro and Next Door American Eatery groups as culinary director last January, and once summer rolled around, he added a tempting lobster roll to the Kitchen's menu. Built on a Fireking Baking Company brioche roll from Massachusetts, this sandwich follows most of the Maine-style lobster roll rules, except that Bertozzi has chosen to use dashi aioli instead of mayonnaise to dress the sweet lobster meat. The result has a subtle, oceany back note from the dashi (made with dried bonito flakes and kombu seaweed), but the lobster still stars.

Maine Shack

1535 Central Street
303-997-2118

LoHi's Maine Shack only serves a few kinds of seafood, and lobster is the headliner. The menu offers several different rolls from which you can choose, depending on your hankering for lobster and your tolerance for add-ins. The most indulgent is the Lobsterado, which perches a whole lobster tail atop a buttered roll, but there are also the simpler Maine (dressed with mayo) and Connecticut (drizzled in butter) rolls, and one called the Fancy, which comes topped with a light celery and cucumber salad, which adds crunch and freshness without distracting from what's really important.

Manzo Lobster & Oyster Bar

500 East 19th Avenue
303-862-9282

Seafood expert Rich Manzo just opened Manzo Lobster & Oyster Bar this month, and he takes his lobster seriously. The restaurant hides a 2,500-gallon tank that replicates the North Atlantic in miniature, providing a comfortable home for live lobsters flown in from Maine. Sandwiches are available dressed in either Connecticut or Maine styles, the latter using housemade lemon aioli for a hint of citrus. The restaurant also adds a leaf of butter lettuce to separate the buttered roll from the meat, but if that's too much for you, you can always request it naked.

Steuben's Uptown

523 East 17th Avenue
303-830-1001

This favorite joint has been serving lobster rolls alongside other American classics for the past fourteen years, and even its food truck, which launched a decade ago, has been peddling the New England specialty longer than many Denver eateries have been around. Steuben's offers the lobster dressed in mayo or butter atop a classic split-top roll, and a side of shoestring fries seals the deal.

Rock N Lobster Roll (at Edgewater Public Market)

5505 West 20th Avenue, Edgewater
720-749-2220

Starting out as a food truck, Rock N Lobster graduated to brick-and-mortar status when Edgewater Public Market opened in 2019. For bargain hunters, this one rings in as the cheapest on the list, and you can get your sandwich in either a buttery Connecticut style or dressed in mayo with a dash of Old Bay seasoning on the New England lobster roll. Beyond the classics, you can also reel in a lobster grilled cheese sandwich or such outlandish specials as a recent chicken-fried lobster and waffle plate.