Portland, Maine

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There is so much good food and drink here it can be overwhelming at times. And that’s just in the line at Tandem Coffee when you have to decide whether it’s OK if you have blueberry pie for breakfast. Below I’ve listed some of my favorite places from over the years, and with Portland being named the “Restaurant City of the Year” by Bon Appetit, that list is just going to keep growing.

EAT

The oyster bar at Eventide Oyster Co.

◐ Tandem Coffee

Killer coffee in an old gas station. Get the malted ice coffee and a biscuit breakfast sandwich. Or cinnamon buns. Or scones. Get it all! **2021 UPDATE: The secret is out and Tandem now gets mobbed from when it opens at 8am! If you want the biscuit breakfast sandwich, I would order it online for pick up as soon as you can in the morning. When we went in June 2021, they had sold out by 10am, no joke. I don’t know if this is a pandemic thing or what, but it was infuriating! (Like – just make more?) The bright side was that it made us try stuff we wouldn’t have otherwise ordered – like their “loaded biscuit” and their everything bagel scone.

Coffee By Design

Good local coffee chain, with beans roasted right in Portland. There are a few locations in town.

◐ Standard Baking Company

Excellent bakery. Especially good for grabbing a coffee and morning bun to go before hitting the road to see the rest of Maine.

◐ Gelato Fiasco

Homemade gelato in a number of flavors, including my favorite, Wild Maine Blueberry.

◐ Maine Maple Creemee Co

Insanely good maple-based soft serve made with seasonal ingredients, served from a food truck located on the Eastern Promenade. Make sure to get whatever topping their serving that day! Check out their Instagram for their location.

◐ The Holy Donut

Potato donuts!

Becky’s Diner

Perfect little diner, often filled with fisherman. Get the blueberry pancakes.

Rose Foods 

Cozy French bistro with lots of seafood options.

J’s Oyster

Classic seafood spot, featured on No Reservations, where you can either eat outside on the pier or inside around the U-shaped bar. The Lobster Dinner is a great deal – clams, corn and a whole lobster for around $30, depending on market price. If the wait is too long for outside tables, jump into a bar seat and you can enjoy the whole menu there, with its own kind of atmosphere.

Little Tap House

Cute pub for a local pint and a burger.

The Shop

Impeccably designed dreamy oyster bar serving local beer and lovely wine

◐ Leeward 

Gorgeous newish Italian place, featuring tons of seasonal and local ingredients, and fresh pasta. We sat outside in the freezing cold and it was still good!

◐ Little Giant 

New-ish restaurant and market by the Portland Hunt + Alpine Club. You share plates ranging small to giant – loved the lobster salad (grilled romaine + chunks of whole lobster + herbs.) The cocktails are top notch, too – we loved the seawater martini and the “Blueberries for Sally” blueberry amaro cocktail.

◐ Duck Fat

Phenomenal seafood spot, and what someone could mildly obnoxiously call “New Mainer.” The lobster roll here is served on a steamed bun with brown butter and is mind-bendingly delicious. They also offer a number of flavored shaved ices, like horseradish and onion, to pair with your oysters. That and gorgeous herby and vegetable-infused cocktails (Hey, celery gimlet!) and it’s a done deal. Yes, it’s pricey, and the portions are rather small, but it’s INCREDIBLE.

Eventide Oyster Co.

Phenomenal seafood spot, and what someone could mildly obnoxiously call “New Mainer.” The lobster roll here is served on a steamed bun with brown butter and is mind-bendingly delicious. They also offer a number of flavored shaved ices, like horseradish and onion, to pair with your oysters. That and gorgeous herby and vegetable-infused cocktails (Hey, celery gimlet!) and it’s a done deal. Yes, it’s pricey, and the portions are rather small, but it’s INCREDIBLE.

Hugo’s

Fancier, tasting menu place owned by the Eventide folks. You must reserve a spot far in advance, so I’ve only been able to press my nose to the window. It looks nice.

DRINK

The wonders of Maine Craft Distilling.

◐ Maine Craft Distilling 

Local gin and rum distillery with a gorgeous tasting room. They put wild blueberries in their cocktails and they’re amaaazing.

◐ Maine Mead Works

I’m not normally a mead fan but they also make this alcoholic lavender lemonade drink that’s dangerously good.

Portland Hunt & Alpine Club

Very cool Scandinavian cocktail bar. They make their own tonic and have delicious cocktails.

The Bearded Lady’s Jewel Box 

Wonderful cocktail bar.

Ruski’s Tavern

Classic dive, directly across the street from Little Giant. They have some great bar snacks if you get hungry. Open since 1892.

BEER

Bissell Brothers is so good it makes lens flares spontaneously appear!

TIP: Breweries are scattered around the Portland area, but there are a few walk-able clusters, if you want to while away an afternoon trying them all out.

Thompson’s Point – 5 min. drive from downtown Portland. Only Bissell Brothers – so far!
Industrial Way – 15 min. drive from downtown Portland. Allagash, Foundation, Austin Street, Battery Steele and Definitive Brewing are steps from each other. (And New England Distillery!) And slightly further down the road is Geary’s.
East Portland – Shipyard, Oxbow, Rising Tide, Urban Farm Fermentory & Gruit Brewing Co., Lone Pine and Goodfire (Also Maine Mead Works, Hardshore Distilling Co., Maine Craft Distilling if you want to booze it up.)

◐ Bissell Brothers Brewing

One of the most talked-about Portland breweries, known for their deliciously hazy IPA’s. If you come here on a can release day, be prepared, it’s a scene. (If you’ve been to Other Half in Brooklyn, you get it.) You’ll see their Substance IPA on tap around town – so, so good! Cans available but the popular varieties sell out FAST.

◐ Allagash Brewing Company

One of the more famous, nationally-distributed Maine beers. Their brewery is about 15 minutes from downtown Portland, an easy drive/Lyft away. It’s huge and beautiful, and they have a ton of beers beyond the Allagash White you’ll be familiar with – including sours made with local berries (cherry, blackberry, peaches, etc.) Our recent favorite was Tiny House, a low abv hoppy house beer. Cans and bottles available, depending on the type.

◐ Austin Street Brewery

My fave of the Industrial Way breweries, after Allagash. The menu was limited when we were there but we loved Rally, a low abv IPA, and Patina, an American Pale Ale. Cans available. Also Mr. Tuna, the mobile sushi stand, was parked right next door!

Battery Steele Brewing

Loved the Flume DIPA! They have cans, and a few special beers only available at the brewery, all called “Onsight” with a number – when were there we loved Onsight #9.

Foundation Brewing Company

I feel bad – we didn’t love this one. The menu was mostly super hoppy, high abv IPA’s, which I normally like, but of the ones we tried we only really liked the Cosmic Bloom. But please, prove me wrong…Bon Appetit loves them, who knows!

Shipyard Brewing Company

One of the older local breweries, and probably the most corporate-feeling – the gift shop is bigger than the tasting room! That said, the beer is very good. Big fan of their Monkey Fist IPA, Summer Ale and Pumpkinhead.

◐ Goodfire Brewing

I’ll be honest – we didn’t make it to the brewery this time but we bought cans of their Prime IPA and it’s beyond delicious. So next time – top of the list!

◐ Rising Tide Brewery 

Huge list of beers – loved the Zephyr IPA. Cans and bottles available.

Bunker Brewing Company

Tasty “nano-brewery” in an old garage.

Oxbow Beer 

Really good, especially if you are into farmhouse ales and sours.

VISIT

Victoria Mansion

A 19th Century Italianate mansion. If you like house tours and history – check it out!

International Museum of Cryptozoology

Small, interesting collection devoted to North American legendary creatures, like Bigfoot, Jackalopes and the Fiji Mermaid. If you’re going to Bissell Brothers and like odd critters, stop here, too!

 Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse FREE

19th Century lighthouse at the end of a long jetty made of granite boulders, overlooking Portland Harbor. So beautiful.

Portland Breakwater Light & Bug Light Park FREE

Teeny little lighthouse beside a park full of people flying kites.