Most Mainers have had boiled or steamed lobster with a side of corn on the cob. The combo is hard to beat, especially during the summer, when the lobsters are “sheddas” and the corn is sweet and fresh from the field.

But the new owners of Lighthouse Lobster Shack in Wiscasset are offering the unbeatable combo, with a twist. Both of the Maine delicacies are deep fried with a crispy golden shell. If this seems like a travesty, it is one well worth sampling.

Mark Suarez and Robert Harris were working as pipe fitters at Washburn & Doughty in East Boothbay. They met through a friend of Harris. “One of my best friends from high school told me I should get a hold of Mark when he found out we'd be working at the same place,” Harris said.

During lunch and breaks the two friends would put pipe fitting on the back shelf and talk about their dream — opening a restaurant somewhere in Midcoast Maine.

“We knew we wanted a change,” Harris said, “and when this place came open we talked about it for a few months, then jumped on it.”

The pipe dream became a reality, and on the Friday before Memorial Day they opened their restaurant.

The pair, both with unlikely southern accents (Harris is from Mississippi and Suarez is from Florida) are humble about their endeavor. “We're just two southern boys, ex pipe fitters,” Harris said.

But they're so enthusiastic about the food in their restaurant, even if you think deep-fried lobster is, well, a sacrilege, they'll have you sampling their perfectly cooked golden-fried delicacies before you can say, “this is sinful.”

Suarez said all they wanted was a place to serve good food at a reasonable price. “We're not looking to make a million dollars. If we can make enough to pay our bills and retire here, hey we'll be happy.”

Neither man has owned a restaurant before this, though Harris' mother ran a five-star hotel and restaurant, The Longfellow House, in Pascagoula, Miss. “That's where I learned to cook,” he said. “It was my dream as a kid. Watching my mom, I knew it was just something I wanted to do.”

Aside from the fresh seafood items, Suarez said the restaurant also features barbecue. “Southern style ribs and chicken. Not Carolina style, and not Memphis style. We have the Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi southern barbecue. So it's a little bit different.”

The homemade onion rings are cut and made fresh, along with the deep-fried green beans. And Suarez said the corn on the cob, dipped in their special batter, comes with “a little bit of southern flair, like my daddy says.” The fresh vegetables are then deep-fried to a crisp golden brown.

Rounding out the crew at the restaurant are Suarez' girlfriend, Kelly Coady, from Boothbay Harbor, who helps out where she's needed and waits tables, Lindsay Poland, who waits tables, and all-around helper Mike Kinney, who said he does what needs doing.

The owners have applied for a beer and wine license and are hoping to start serving both soon. And deep fried pickles, another southern, surprisingly delicious menu item, will probably be added to the menu when they start serving beer. “It's going to happen because I know beer drinkers like deep-fried pickles, Suarez said.

The restaurant is now only open during the summer, but Harris and Suarez are hoping to change that. “If it works out that we find we can run it year-round, we will,” Suarez said. And if that works out they plan to set up a breakfast buffet.

If they do remain open during the winter they'll need to make a change with the kitchen. The kitchen is outside. Customers can sit on the deck and get a close-up view of their food being prepared.

A couple from Toronto, Caroline Gdyczynski and John Popham, who had been dining on the deck, stopped to tell the owners how much they enjoyed their meal. “We were starving and looking for a lobster roll,” Popham said. “And they were great.” They also had the deep-fried corn, which they dubbed “a special treat” and “outrageous.”

The next time you're driving on Route 1 in Wiscasset, don't just drive by Lighthouse Lobster Shack, in the Maine Heritage Village, 3 miles south of Wiscasset Village. This restaurant is not your typical run-of the-mill fried food joint. They are open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Closed Mondays. The phone number is 207-882-5015.