How much lobster rolls cost in Maine right now

With the lobster-and-tourist season in full swing, we are updating the BDN Lobster Roll Index with mid-summer prices.

Prices are holding steady compared with spring, according to our unscientific poll of 11 lobster shacks and restaurants from Brunswick to Lubec.

This week, we found Maine lobster rolls on average cost $36 each. That’s the same as when we checked just before Memorial Day, and 60 cents more than they cost, on average, last summer.

Anneliese Riggall, owner of LDI Lobster Dock and Dine in Little Deer Isle sells her lobster rolls — 4 ounces of meat with chips, slaw and a pickle — for $32. On a good day, she sells more than 200, but figuring out what to charge isn’t straightforward, she said.

“It’s very hard to price out a lobster roll,” she said. “We’re not in Bar Harbor, so we can’t charge $50 each, and I don’t want to.”

She said her price is “exceptionally fair” but wants to keep lobster rolls accessible, even if they are a luxury item, Riggall said.

Repeat customers are very important to the business, she said, especially since Little Deer Isle is off the beaten path.

“We have a lot of people who live in the region and I don’t want them to feel like they’re paying more than they should just because it happens to be July in Maine,” Riggall said.

Throughout the summer, Bangor Daily News is maintaining a lobster roll price index – periodically conducting a quick survey of how much some restaurants and takeout stands are charging for lobster rolls — one of the most highly sought items every summer in Maine.

Some notes on these numbers: A few restaurants include sides like fries and coleslaw in the price, while others don’t. And lobster roll sizes can vary — when a restaurant offers more than one size, we list the price for the largest one. We also added two new entries to our index — McLoon’s Lobster Shack in South Thomaston and LDI Lobster Dock and Dine in Little Deer Isle.