The Stoop Oyster Bar opens in Blue Hill
Eatery celebrates local seafood and aims to offer ‘a place for convivial gathering’
July 7, 2026
By Steele Hays
Owned by Deer Isle Oyster Company, The Stoop also serves cheese plates, tinned fish, salads, pretzels and chips, as well as beer, wine and cocktails. Photo courtesy of The Stoop.
BLUE HILL–The Stoop Oyster Bar, Blue Hill’s newest restaurant, opened on July 3, attracting an overflow crowd in spite of the 93 degree temperature outside.
The Stoop is owned by Deer Isle Oyster Company and its founder, Abby Barrows. She has been farming oysters in Long Cove on Deer Isle since 2015.
The staff shucked and served 19 dozen oysters between the 4 p.m. opening and 8 p.m. closing—that’s 228 oysters in total. Every oyster the restaurant served was grown in Maine and harvested from one of three nearby locations: Deer Isle, Great Spruce Head Island and Great Cranberry Isle.
“We were thrilled, we had a great crowd,” general manager Aubrae Filipiak said of the restaurant’s opening night. “We were busy from the moment we opened ‘til the time we closed.”
“People said they were thrilled we are here and they really liked the comfortable ambiance,” she said.
The Stoop’s name was inspired by the restaurant’s location in the historic 1826 Pendleton House Building at 27 Water Street, overlooking the town dock. Seating is split almost evenly between the restaurant's wooden front porch and its indoor dining room.
“A stoop is a place for a convivial gathering,” Filipiak said. “We hope that’s what we’re offering.”
General manager Aubrae Filipiak, left, and staff member Grayson Cheek, right, said the restaurant has been busy since opening night. Photo by Steele Hays.
In addition to oysters on the half shell, the restaurant’s current menu offers cheese plates, tinned fish, a range of salads, pretzels and chips, as well as beer, wine and cocktails. They plan to offer caviar from Italy, but shipment of their initial order has been delayed by supply chain disruptions, Filipiak said.
Filipiak said she drew on her 10 years of experience in the restaurant industry in designing The Stoop’s interior, which matches the historic feel of the Pendleton House. The wooden table tops are recycled antique bread boards mounted on metal bases, acquired at the Brimfield Antique Market in Massachusetts. A bench and several paintings came from a recent estate sale in East Blue Hill.
The Stoop is open from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday through Tuesday. They plan to stay open for business year-round, Filipiak said, and will revise their menu for the fall and winter months.