Maine Eats · region guide · checked October 2026
Maine Highlands: whoopie pies & dairy bars
2 whoopie pie and donut stops, 2 dairy bars and 1 diner in Maine's Maine Highlands region, each checked in business in October 2026 against a 2025 or 2026 source, plus the 390 restaurants in the app's directory here.
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About this region
The Maine Highlands region is Penobscot and Piscataquis counties. Of the 390 places to eat and drink the app knows here, the most are in Bangor, Brewer and Orono. Our hand-checked lists have 6 places here; the towns with the most are Bangor (1), Hermon (1) and Monson (1). The most common kinds of place are Bar & Pub (74), Coffee & Café (54) and Bakery & Sweets (42). The longest at the same address is Pat's Pizza in Orono, there since 1931.
How we draw it: the Maine Office of Tourism's Maine Highlands region, on county lines. Counties: Penobscot, Piscataquis. A place is in it when its town is in one of those counties. Town pages here: Bangor.
Where to eat in the Maine Highlands region
The 12 towns here with the most places to eat and drink by the app's count; each link opens the web search for that town alone.
Whoopie pies & donuts in the Maine Highlands region
2 places, by town. The statewide guide has 16.
Dysart's Restaurant & Truck Stop
530 Coldbrook Rd, Hermon
Blueberry pieDiner Known for: blueberry pie; baked beans; homemade bread; breakfast all day · At this address since 1967
I-95 Exit 180 truck-stop restaurant known for big plates, daily baked beans, homemade bread and pies; the restaurant ended 24-hour service in 2019 but the truck stop stays open around the clock.
Governor's Restaurant & Bakery
963 Stillwater Ave, Old Town
Whoopie pies Known for: whoopie pies (traditional, peanut butter and seasonal flavors); strawberry pie
Old Town restaurant and bakery of Maine's Governor's family-restaurant chain; at the 2026 Maine Whoopie Pie Festival, Governor's of Old Town won the judged best-flavored prize (banana bread whoopie pie) and Governor's also took the healthy whoopie prize (carrot cake); the chain ships whoopie pies by mail.
Diners in the Maine Highlands region
1 place, by town. The statewide guide has 13.
Dysart's Restaurant & Truck Stop
530 Coldbrook Rd, Hermon; listed above
Dairy bars in the Maine Highlands region
2 places, by town. The statewide guide has 54.
Gifford's Famous Ice Cream
1109 Broadway, Bangor
Dairy barSeasonal Known for: Gifford's hard ice cream; sundaes; frappes · Season: about March to fall (opened March 6 in 2026) · A branch of Gifford's Famous Ice Cream, Skowhegan
Bangor scoop stand of the Skowhegan ice cream maker, usually the first of its stands to open each spring.
Sawyer's Dairy Bar
34 North Main St, Newport
Dairy bar Known for: shakes; soft serve; sandwiches
Newport dairy bar dating to the 1950s, serving shakes, soft serve and sandwiches.
Icons and old favorites
Hand-checked places here that aren't in the guides above: James Beard honorees, long-running places, inns and bakeries.
The Quarry
15 Tenney Hill Rd, Monson
James Beard winner Known for: American fine dining with Filipino flavors (menu changes every two weeks)
Chef-owner Marilou 'Lulu' Ranta's fine-dining restaurant, which also feeds Monson Arts residents; won the 2023 James Beard Award for Outstanding Hospitality.
James Beard: Outstanding Hospitality 2023 (winner): The Quarry, Monson
Pat's Pizza
11 Mill St, Orono
Known for: pizza; spaghetti and meatballs · At this address since 1931
The original Pat's Pizza, a University of Maine institution on Mill Street that began as Farnsworth's Cafe in 1931 and turned to pizza in 1953.