![New Outdoor Dining Options in Maine This Summer New Outdoor Dining Options in Maine This Summer](https://i1.wp.com/www.pressherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2024/05/19041526_20200814_RoadClosure_13-1716478322.jpg?w=1024&w=1200&resize=1200,0&ssl=1)
If you like to eat, this is a very good time to be a stranger in Maine.
With the boost provided by the pandemic, the outdoor dining scene in Maine is growing and changing every year. Not only are new restaurants opening with patios and terraces as standard, but others are using spaces on sidewalks or streets. There are so many options that you can choose outdoor dining based on the view, the type of food you fancy, or the atmosphere.
Now that it’s officially summer, here are some ideas for exploring southern Maine’s outdoor dining scene.
NEW CHILDREN IN THE YARD
Several new restaurants offering outdoor dining have opened or are opening immediately. One is Ocotillo, a lunch spot on Danforth Street in Portland’s West End neighborhood that opened in early April. Run by the same owners as Terlingua, the spot serves Texas and Mexican-inspired dishes and seats about 30 people on a partially covered back patio. terlingua on Washington Avenue in Portland also has plenty of outdoor seating, including a huge private patio.
The place for breakfast and lunch baking maine in Wells opened in May and has a patio with seating for 40 people in a garden, with umbrellas and tables. It is run by the owners of Bake Maine Pottery Cafe in Portland. Backwoods Burger on Gray Road in Gorham is scheduled to open in early to mid-June and will serve specialty burgers in a small building, with all its seating outside at picnic tables.
Outdoor seating in Terlingua. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer
SOMETHING WEIRD
If you want to search for outdoor dining spots by cuisine, seafood is a good place to start. A new restaurant called Thames landing It is due to open in July or August on Thames Street in the Old Port, in the former Helm Oyster bar. The restaurant will have a patio with seating for 32 people and will offer lobster rolls, fish and chips and chowder, along with burgers and other dishes.
He Clam Bar on Commercial Street along the Fore River in Portland has reopened for the season, with tons of outdoor seating, including covered spaces with umbrellas. The venue also hosts weekly cribbage games. Long time favorite food truck mr tuna He recently opened his new sushi restaurant Middle Street in Portland’s Old Port, with picnic tables for about 20 people. The outside area is for takeout service only.
The Clam Bar has made the unpleasant industrial section of Commercial Street worth a stop. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer
NEW PLACES IN OLD SPACES
Some other new restaurants with outdoor seating that have opened this year include magissaa Greek restaurant in Portland’s East Bayside, where Baharat used to be, and a Mediterranean restaurant. Seafood Paellawhich moved into the Forest Avenue space that most recently housed Pizzaiolo. Noble Barbecue plans to move this summer from off Forest Avenue in Portland to the former Elsmere barbecue spot in the Deering Center neighborhood. The place has terrace seating for about 60 people.
KEEP CONTINUED
The popular food truck park Congdon After Dark in Wells is open for the season and has added a couple of new trucks. One is Fred’s Fried Dough, which features vegan and preservative-free dough, and travels to locations in southern Maine, including Portland and Westbrook. The other is the Terra Firma Food Truck, using organic lamb and chicken raised on the Terra Firma farm in the York County town of Acton. The food truck park, located next to Congdon’s Donuts on Route 1, also has more picnic tables this year, for about 75 total. There will be live music from Thursday to Sunday.
A new food truck park is scheduled to open June 7 in Freeport. Athena’s Cantina Food Park, at 491 Route 1, will feature several trucks as well as live music and movie nights. At the opening, you can expect to see The Athens Canteen, Bowllicious, Cross slice, High Roller Lobster Co. and Meet on the street.
Dane Giallongo and his father, Scott, at the Terra Firma food truck in Portland last year. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer
Some of the new food trucks touring the Portland area this year include ancient dogswith hot dogs from different parts of the country, and cake-oh-mya converted ambulance serving pie at Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth.
A new food cart called Gunnar’s Icelandic Hot Dogs is scheduled to begin in June near Congress Square Park in Portland, selling locally produced traditional Icelandic hot dogs. According to the online “Guide to Iceland,” hot dogs are made from lamb, beef and pork and are often topped with fried onions, a local sweet and spicy brown mustard or a mayonnaise-based remoulade.
VISITS TO ISLANDS
What better place to eat outdoors than an island in Maine? Or a beach in Maine, for that matter? Byers & Sons Bakery of Long Island, on Long Island in Casco Bay, has a bayside dining area next to the public beach. The place serves cakes, cookies, muffins, donuts and ice cream and even has beer that you can drink on the terrace while you wait for the ferry back to Portland. He Diamond’s Edge Restaurant, on Great Diamond Island in Casco Bay, has outdoor seating on a tree-shaded lawn at the water’s edge. There is also a marina right there, so you can bring your own boat. Or just take the ferry.
UP, UP AND AWAY
Here are two interesting twists on the idea of rooftop terraces, what they can be and what you can see. Luna Rooftop Bar It’s on the sixth (and highest) floor of the Canopy by Hilton hotel, overlooking the historic brick buildings on Commercial Street and the water and boats in Portland Harbor. The roof terrace is covered and there are fire pits and heaters for the colder nights.
For a view of Portland you probably won’t find on a calendar or postcard, try the rooftop bar at Bayside Bowl on Aliso Street. The venue is about 30 feet high with views of downtown, Munjoy Hill, Deering Oaks, Back Cove and fireworks at Hadlock Field after some Portland Sea Dogs baseball games. There’s a converted Airstream trailer on the roof serving tacos and other dishes and a full bar. It is open weather permitting.
On a clear day, you can see much of Portland from Bayside Bowl’s rooftop bar/dining room. Photo courtesy of Bayside Bowl
FREE PARKING
Continuing a trend that took off during the pandemic, the city of Portland is allowing restaurants to have “parklets,” or dining spaces in blocked off-street parking spaces. So there’s less parking, but more food.
A great place to find many parklets is the Old Port. Consider these places with parklet permits this year: Honeypaw/Dusk and duck fat on Middle Street; rosie, Mommy and Front spring on Fore Street; Luisa cheese and Hunting and Alps on the market street; and high roller Lobster Co. and Daddy on Interchange Street. Create a lively street scene.
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