Cousins Maine and Lobster Holds Festival for New Smyrna Restaurant

By Xander Alsup

Motlow Buzz Contributing Writer

SMYRNA, Tenn.-- Cousin Maine and Lobster held a food festival on April 8 to celebrate its new restaurant at 1932 Almaville Road in Smyrna.

The multi-million-dollar franchise celebrated with a wide variety of other local food trucks such as Music City Brisket, The Grilled Cheesery, and Funk Seoul Brothers, as well as two of their own.

According to the restaurant's site, they debuted their first food truck back in the spring of 2012 in California. Since then, owners Sabin Lomac and Jimmy Tselikis have seen a lot of success.

Tselikis and Lomac received their big break after being featured on the ABC TV show "Shark Tank." After making a deal with Barbara Corcoran, the brand now has more than 20 food trucks in 13 cities with more than 100 employees.

One thing that sets Cousins Maine and Lobster apart from their competition is the quality of their food.

For example, the lobster tacos are served with a wonderful blend of Maine lobster, cabbage, pico de gallo, and cilantro lime sauce all wrapped up inside a flour tortilla for $14 for three tacos.

Out of all the foods on the menu, the most well-known entry is probably the lobster rolls.

When ordering the lobster rolls, one has two choices to choose from. The first is the Maine Lobster Roll.

The Maine Lobster Roll is served chilled, with a touch of mayo on a New England-style roll. Although it sounds simple, that doesn't make it any less delicious.

Next up is the Connecticut Roll, served warmed with butter and lemon on the same New England-style roll. You can pick up either of these rolls for $15. 

This newest restaurant installment is owned by franchisees Craig and Quinn Betts.

When asked about the influence behind Cousins Maine and Lobster's famous lobster roll, Quinn Betts explained that the original idea stemmed from the childhood memories of the two owners.

"Jim and Sabin usually would use leftovers to make the dish," said Betts.

Of course, now the dish is made fresh and is probably one of their most well-known dishes other than their lobster mac and cheese.

Another fact many will find interesting is that Cousins Maine and Lobster's lobsters really are sourced exclusively from Maine.

"So far, we've only sourced our lobsters from Maine, and we have no plans to change this in the future," said Betts.

To learn more about the restaurant and see the full menu, visit www.cousinsmainelobster.com.

While the Smyrna restaurant is not yet open, the food trucks will remain active. You can see their location schedules by checking their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/CMLobsterNashville/.