looking for Portland, Maine travel recs

frick ya i like beer


as for the restaurants, 2 nicer places and lets say 2 casual lunch spots?

Nicest restaurant in Portland is Fore Street. Hard to get into, so plan ahead. Other places owned by the same people are Street & Co. (upscale seafood) and Scales (seafood place on the water). Grace is another pretty good place--in an old church. There are a ton of other great places to eat and drink.

Lots of hotels in town if that is where you want to stay. If you want an upscale place by the water, look at Inn by the Sea in Cape Elizabeth. Very nice but still s short drive into Portland.

How long will you be there ?

Just Portland or checking out othe ME towns?

That place looks perfect, but booked for the days we are going! Thanks for the info zappy

My son and I will also be there for three days in October. Thanks for the thread. Any additional tips on places to eat (looking for mostly lobster) and outdoor things to do are appreciated.

I'd recommend Bao Bao if you like Asian food.

Also, we took the ferry over to Peaks Island, rented bikes, and road around. Good activity for a half day. There was also a pretty good restaurant across from the bike rental with great views of the harbor.

We went to Maine this summer and stayed 1 night in Portland.

Allegash White - my new favorite beer. (FYI - not a big beer drinker)

We ate at DiMillo's based on a friends recommendation. Got there before 5 and had to wait about 1/2 hour. It was good, I would go back.

Maine Diner is in Wells, Maine, about 45 minutes from Portland.
Maine Diner Video
We got there about 2:00 & had to wait about 1/2 hour but it cleared out after lunch for a while.
I had Irish Eggs Benedict, it has hash rather than Canadian bacon. Also had one blueberry pancake; both were great.

South of town are 2 different light house locations; Portland Head Light at For Williams Park and a little farther south is Two Lights State Park at Cape Elizabeth. I think the first one is the most photographed light house in Maine and we only found one at the 2nd location and it was on private property.
BUT, in looking for the lighthouses we found The Lobster Shack restaurant. I don't know if it is good, we didn't have time to eat, but the parking lot was full. It is near the water. Check out the reviews on line.

If you like pies, check out Two Fat Cats bakery. It is near Duckfat. I had read about Duckfat on the TB but no one else wanted to go. I think it was the name.

I would take some type of water tour. We only did one at Bar Harbor because one of our party got sea sick but I think they are worth the $.

Someone mentioned Bath. If you go there you might want to drive a little farther to Wiscasset (< 1 hour drive) and eat at Red's Eats. They are supposed to have the best lobster roll in the state. We drove by it and there must have been 100 people standing in line.

If we ever go back we'll spend some time in the Bath/Wiscasset area. They both looked like nice places to hang out.

We also stopped by L. L. Bean in Freeport, Maine. If you are a big Bean fan I guess that is worth doing. Didn't do much for me.

We had a great time. Everyone was very friendly and the whole state is kinda like Mayberry, at least the part we saw. We took secondary and back roads as much as we could.

My favorite city. I would live there in a heartbeat.

I second Thirsty Pig (the buffalo chicken dip is to die for) and Duckfat...we tried to have dinner at Eventide but had an unfortunate experience with the service there so we left before eating. I've heard great things about it, though, so I would try it again on a different night.

We did brunch at a place called Hot Suppa! which was amazing, and so cozy and hospitable.

Tons of great breweries there, and you can walk to a lot of them if you're downtown. Bissell Brothers is probably my favorite brewery ever (and I've worked in a few). Ubers are plentiful so even if you're staying outside of downtown, you shouldn't have trouble getting around.

It's a beautiful city, the people are SO friendly (even the hobos are nice...they don't ask for money, they just wish you a good morning), great food and craft beer scene.

I can't wait to go back.

What's the best time of year to go? Assuming the summer?