LobsterCraft Opens in Greenwich With A Serious Lobster Roll Menu

Quietly, three months ago, Captain William Michael Harden aka “Captain Mike” opened his second Lobster Craft location in the heart of Greenwich on Greenwich Avenue. 

We sat down to chat with him about the Greenwich location, new menu items, new restaurants down the pipeline and the challenges of opening a restaurant during a pandemic. 

Like most restaurants, staffing has been an issue and he’s operating with a skeleton crew but he’s very proud of his young workers, their work ethic and dedication. With over a decade of success with the original Fairfield location as well as the Lobster Truck, the recipes have been perfected and feeding the masses is the easy part. (The hard part, for us, was deciding which roll to get! Scroll down and you’ll see what I mean!)

The Coastal, the award-winning roll is Lobster Craft’s take on the CT State Sandwich. Hot, buttered lobster, topped with a dash of the Captain’s Pinch in a perfectly toasted bun. THIS is the roll that started it all—the one that Flavored Nation named “The Best CT-Style Hot Buttered Lobster in the Country!

The Heat Wave, one of their most popular rolls—a hot lobster dressed with our amazing Serrano & Habanero pepper infused butter for just the right amount of spice. Accented with a dash of the Captain’s Pinch and served in a perfectly toasted bun.

Bacon makes it better… The LBLT (ABOVE), Lobster, bacon, lettuce and tomato. “Amazingly delicious hot, buttered lobster, with fresh, crisp romaine lettuce, diced garden tomatoes, perfectly cooked bacon, and topped with our custom garlic aioli. Add to that a dash of the Captain’s Pinch and serve it in our signature toasted roll— need we say more?”

The California, Lobster topped with our house-made wasabi soy sauce (instead of butter), garnished with thinly sliced cucumber and avocado, and served on their signature toasted split top roll. 

The Surf’N’Turf is the “Meat” the king of rolls—delicious, sweet claw and knuckle lobster seasoned with the Captain’s Pinch, topped with marinated flank steak shaved over a perfectly toasted roll, and finished with our garlic aioli. 

Can’t decide, try the Flight of Sliders which includes 1 Mini Coastal, 1 Mini Heat Wave, and 1 Mini Dirty Maynard. If you’re craving lobster but not sure how you want it, these sliders will satisfy your hunger and help you decide on a new favorite.

The Dirty Maynard is their take on the “Maine-style” cold lobster salad roll made with delicious knuckle and claw lobster meat, garnished with farm fresh onions, carrots, and celery on a bed of lettuce, dressed in seasoned mayonnaise, and on top of their signature toasted roll. The best of New England, locally available.

The Lobster Tacos your choice of either corn or flour, soft tacos, filled with delicious knuckle and claw lobster meat, lime-tomato chutney, avocado and seasoned with the Captain’s Pinch. There’s also Lobster Mac N Cheese, Clam Chowder and Lobster Bisque.

The Greenwich location seats 48 inside with an additional seating for 12 outside, and unique to Greenwich is the introduction of alcohol on the premises with a selection of wine, prosecco, beer, seltzer and Tito’s. They’re currently in the process of creating a couple of specialty craft cocktails. And soon they’ll be serving dessert, and what a better pairing than a Key Lime and Blueberry pies, both will be locally made.

Although people tend to associate the Lobster Roll with summertime dining, its year round demand is growing and Captain Mike is hard at work fighting the seasonal mindset associated with this New England specialty. More lobster-based and seafood items will be added to the menu this fall. We’ll see soups and other items featuring shrimp, clams and scallops from Copps Island as well as some pasta dishes, and all pasta will be made in-house. 

We also learned an interesting thing about Captain Mike. Before he opened Lobster Craft, long before he became a lobsterman, he was a toymaker employed by Crayola in Hong Kong. When his department was to relocate he decided it was time to come back to the States and settled down in Norwalk, the same house in which he currently lives with his family. One morning as he was having coffee and enjoying the views of the Long Island Sound he saw a lobster boat trolling around and a new career would be born.

The former toymaker soon would become a Coast Guard Captain and licensed Lobster fisherman. In 2006, Captain Mike fell in love with Jennifer Lynn. Sturdy and with good bones, the 38’ WESMAC lobster boat is currently based out of Groton and works their line of deep-water lobster traps east of Montauk in the Atlantic Ocean. The lore that the colder water produces the sweeter lobster meat is indeed true.

In 2012 Captain Mike purchased his first truck which won numerous awards including Best of Fairfield County and the Food Network’s Flavored Nation’s “best lobster roll in the country.” A boat, a truck and now two brick and mortar locations, with plans for expansion into West Hartford as well as Sarasota and Longboat Key, Florida. 

Have you made it to Lobster Craft yet? Are you team Hot or Cold?

Lobster Craft 107 Greenwich Ave, Greenwich

@lobstercraftct