The rollicking Dennett’s Wharf (15 Sea St., 207/326-9045, www.dennettswharf.net, 11 a.m.–10 p.m., $10–25) is the kind of place where rum-filled customers have pinned dollar bills to the ceiling. Students, families, and day sailors munch on baby-back ribs and lobster pie under an awning on the waterfront, then wash it all down with the restaurant’s own Wharf Rat Ale.

When thoughts of midday snacks start hitting, set your sights on Bah’s Bakehouse (26 Water St., 207/326-9510, www.bahsworld.com, 7 a.m.–5 p.m., June–Sept.; hours vary in off-season, $2–9), where the cases are filled with strawberry and cream croissants, snickerdoodle cookies, and giant honey shortbreads.

The dining room of the Pentagöet (26 Main St., 207/326-8616, www.pentagoet.com, 8 a.m.–10 p.m. daily mid-May–Sept., $17–26) has a refined colonial ambience that somehow strangely sympathizes with the Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong crooning in the background. The menu is an impeccable mix of New England seafood and homemade pastas, highlighted by haute cuisine accents like white truffle oil, goat cheese cream, and tarragon bourride.