2016 Visitor's Guide

{ RESTAURANTS }

Summer and fall find our streets bustling with activity, including lots of sidewalk dining at intimate eateries.

Photo: Corey Templeton

31

DINING Long known for serving the freshest of lobster and seafood, Maine has now gained a national reputation for its innovative restaurants, craft beers, and growing number of award-winning chefs. Greater Portland’s dining scene targets all personalities and tastes, from

farmer's markets and at a variety of small specialty stores that offer a blend of prepared, imported, and local items. When you add "bold" and "innovative" to "fresh and local", you've described the spirit of Greater Portland's restaurant scene and its talented chefs. In the past couple of years, a fanciful fleet of food trucks has emerged on the Portland scene, serving everything from tacos to cupcakes; fast food is definitely more fun when discovered outdoors from these mobile urban eateries. Ethnic offerings are also prolific with new restaurants fusing modern interpretations with traditional Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and Asian cuisines for delicious results.

Micro-brew mania has also infected the region and you can quaff many locally- brewed beers and sip and savor a selection of over 15 Maine grown wines and spirits at Sweetgrass Winery and Distillery's Old Port location. Create your own brewery and distillery tour or take one of the regularly scheduled tours offered by Maine Beer Tours and the Maine Brew Bus. Join culinary tourists from around the country who are making pilgrimages to partake of the creativity of world-class chefs who have settled in the Greater Portland area. But whenever you visit, make reservations to ensure you can experience the food and ambiance at the dining spots that most intrigue you.

sophisticated restaurants to funky, artsy cafes. Breakfast is one of our specialties; early risers can start their day dockside with the fishing crews at Becky’s Diner or at the retro Miss Portland Diner. For dinner, enjoy views of Casco Bay from restaurants that line the harbor or soak up the ambiance of venues tucked away inside beautifully restored buildings. Many of Maine’s restaurateurs are proud to be part of the authentic farm- to-table movement and primarily use fish, meat, organic produce, and naturally grown fruit that come from local farmers, fishermen, and suppliers. Local foods are featured at century-old

CONVENTION + VISITORS BUREAU / 31