Maine Restaurant Week spotlights Brunswick seafood, menus and takeout boosting local economy

Maine Restaurant Week, running through March 12, 2026, has pushed Brunswick’s downtown and riverfront restaurants to spotlight local seafood, with fixed-menu offerings designed for dine-in and takeout that could help boost business traffic. A Press Herald column notes several Brunswick spots are participating and highlights local-sourcing across menus.

According to the MRW menu listing for Pepper’s Landing at 147 Bath Rd, Brunswick, the restaurant is offering a “Cup of Clam Chowder” and a BAKED HADDOCK described as “Haddock fillet topped with cracker crumb, sherry, butter, onion, and lobster cream sauce. Served with mashed potatoes and veg of the day.” The MRW listing also includes non-seafood options listed as “CHICKEN BRUSCHETTA” and “BUCATINI FLORENTINE” and dessert choices of “Chocolate truffle cake or Blueberry Pie,” but Press Herald’s write-up singles out the chowder and the baked haddock as central to Pepper’s Landing’s MRW offering.

A Press Herald column dispatch details Gurnet Trading Company as a lunch-and-early-supper operation “off Route 24 as you head out towards Harpswell by the Gurnet Straits,” and reports the restaurant is making its MRW items available for takeout because of limited hours. The column specifies Gurnet’s MRW dish as a “crab roll made with local Jonah crab” served with “regular or sweet potato fries or onion rings along with a side of coleslaw or macaroni or [...]” — the Press Herald excerpt is truncated after the macaroni listing, and the published note explicitly states the menu can “also be ordered as a takeout option.”

At the river end of downtown, Press Herald highlights 555 North’s mussel plate made with “locally grown mussels from Portland-based Bangs Island Mussels,” served “with pickled peppers, garlic and chive butter with a side of grilled bread and fries.” Just off Maine Street, Pomelia’s brings a regional twist with “Pomelia’s Sicilian Seafood Gratinati,” which the column describes as “local haddock baked with gulf shrimp, olives, capers and tomatoes in a white wine sauce, and is topped with herbed pangrattato (rustic herbed breadcrumbs) and served with crispy potatoes.”

Beyond Brunswick proper, the Press Herald column points readers toward Bath’s Linden + Front — described as “a bit outside of town” — where MRW offerings include “seafood chowder with potato, bacon and corn” and a signature “craburguesa” that tops a crab cake with pickled onions, green goddess dressing and mixed greens on a buttered sesame brioche with a side of fries. The column also notes that traveling south to Yarmouth and Portland yields “many more options ... serving everything from oysters to flounder to local seaweed.”

The MRW official page carries visible sponsor and partner text including “mainespirits,” “coffee by design,” “Maine Trust for Local News,” “Norway Savings Bank,” and others, plus a site banner reading “MRW LOGO 2025” and a sign-up prompt to “receive occasional news and updates from mainerestaurantweek.” The MRW materials and Press Herald excerpts do not list fixed prices or a start date; the supplied materials only state MRW “runs through March 12, 2026,” and the Gurnet Trading Company side listing in Press Herald is truncated. Diners planning to participate should confirm current availability, hours and pricing with individual restaurants as menus and service hours may vary during the promotion.