usa :: new england :: general

[herpsky]

Just thought I'd start a topic b/c I wanted to share a small guide I wrote for a friend on sufu 

 

Portland, ME

 

I was honestly surprised by the quality of the eats I found in this city. 

I honestly think this city has some of the best "new American" cuisine in the country. 

 

The best part about is that you can eat and drink like a king without breaking your bank. 

 

With that said, there is a lot of scenic areas with outdoor activities outside of the city. If we are just talking about Portland proper, there's not a whole lot to do besides walking around and absorbing the rustic vibe of an old port. 

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g40827-Activities-Portland_Maine.html

is a good resource for sight seeing. 

 

Beer:

New England, especially Vermont and Maine, has a lot to offer. I think a lot of Vermont-based beers have gone mainstream e.g. Magic Hat and are available outside of the state. On the other hand, Maine beers, for whatever reason, have been pretty kept exclusive. Because other parts of the state is a tundra, Portland is usually the only place to get exclusive beer. 

 

With that said, Allagash is undoubtedly the most renowned brewery in Maine. They offer brewery tours. Try the Allagash Curieaux if you get a chance. It's mind blowing. 

 

The other company that has blown my mind is Baxter Brewing Company. They are located in Lewiston, ME. My friend's father invests in them. That's how I found out. Their beer is only available in cans, I believe. IPA that comes in black cans is amazing. 

 

You should def. pick up some beer on your way out. Trader Joe's and Whole Foods on Marginal Way (they are right next to each other) have a variety of hard-to-find beers. They are also the largest TJ and WF retail stores I've been to in the US.

 

Food: 

 

I suppose Portland caters to tourists but it doesn't really mean it's full of tourist traps. Most of the good restaurants are located in the area close to the port / water where tourists are. 

 

Tough to make recommendations because you are from the city. But here it goes:

 

The Front Room probably has the best breakfast / brunch food ever. The prices are ridiculously cheap for a super trendy restaurant. They have a full bar with amazing mixed drinks. I think most breakfast plates are around 7.50 (Yes, we are in 2013). 

The guys who own this place also operate two other restaurants in the city and they are absolutely outstanding as well. 

 

Hot Suppa is another great joint. They serve both dinner and breakfast. They also have a full bar with lots of microbrews on tap. 

 

Duckfat is pretty hyped. They serve Belgian fries and beer. I guess people in this area haven't had pomme frites. Not much of a novelty for dudes like us.

 

Forestreet (for dinner) is amazing. Pretty upscale. Great ambiance. Great food. 

 

Bars: There's a bunch on Wharf street. They are hella cheap and decent. 

 

Shopping: There's an outlet mall and LL Beans corporate campus about 15 minutes north of Portland. The LL Bean corporate campus has like 6 or 7 stores on site. Lots of cool souvenir type of things. Portland Trading Company is the shop. They stock Engineered Garments and WWM. Cool people. 

 

I think there's a lot of fall foliage if you go a little north of Portland. You might as well drive around a bit because you are driving up there. 

 

Hope this helps

 

[readytoignite]

yo you're in Portland now? you get around eh. great idea for a thread, gotta jot down some southern CT faves when i have a sec

 

re: Portland, Otto is great for pizza too. the best part is they have a mesh thing that they lay down in the takeaway box so the crust stays crispy if you need it to go.  they're so successful they opened a branch in cambridge, MA.  apparently the secret to tortellini pizza is to use tortellini worth eating.

 

duck fat is out of control, stopped by maybe four years and it was good not great but manageable.  tried to go saturday lunch time on the way back from down east and it was ridiculously mobbed.

[herpsky]

i don't live there any more. i live in the southwest? 

 

lived in the down east area for like 6 months.

[herpsky]

any thoughts on rhode island? i know doctorworm is the only bru who lived there

[nah_bruh]

any thoughts on rhode island? i know doctorworm is the only bru who lived there

 

late to this, but what are you looking for? for a small city, providence has a pretty good food scene I think. a lot of decent korean spots, 'new american' spots, bars and a new specialty ramen joint that's getting a lot of hype but I haven't been yet.

 

I would say shopping is very weak.

quality of women is okay, but I can't vouch for much outside of the college hill area. a lot of creative/indie types due to a big independent music scene and RISD/brown/jwu.

 

oh, and on the topic of breweries, my boy and I recently headed out to vermont and bought three cases of these and I have never tasted anything so succulent in my life.

[akuma no uta]

^^^ that place closed it's doors last week and is now only doing distribution now, you were lucky.

[herpsky]

late to this, but what are you looking for? for a small city, providence has a pretty good food scene I think. a lot of decent korean spots, 'new american' spots, bars and a new specialty ramen joint that's getting a lot of hype but I haven't been yet.

 

I would say shopping is very weak.

quality of women is okay, but I can't vouch for much outside of the college hill area. a lot of creative/indie types due to a big independent music scene and RISD/brown/jwu.

 

oh, and on the topic of breweries, my boy and I recently headed out to vermont and bought three cases of these and I have never tasted anything so succulent in my life.

Heady topper is one of the best beers I've ever had. It used to be pretty easy to pick up but it's gotten super hyped and it's becoming increasingly hard to cop. If you like the alchemist, you'd like Hill Farmstead. Another world class brewery. It's very hard to come by but I would highly recommend it. Edwards is my favorite style. Hoppy but smooth.

 

I'm headed out to RI the first week of December. I'm flying into PVD. No idea how to get into town. I might have to UberX it.

Edited November 21, 2013 by herpsky

[herpsky]

^^^ that place closed it's doors last week and is now only doing distribution now, you were lucky.

You talking about the alchemist? The "store" closing its door doesn't mean much, I think.

 

The alchemist used to be a brewpub. After that huge hurricane several years ago, the town of waterbury where the alchemist was located basically went underwater. I'm not too familiar with the story but the owners decided to go distro only as opposed to running a restaurant. What used to be the old alchemist bought out and it's a BBQ joint. The BBQ is decent. The tap selection is amazing. They serve some of the most coveted New England microbrews.

 

The "brewery" only sold canned beer anyway -  Heady Topper and that disgusting gluten free saison. They offered no tours or beer sampling because they essentially brewed one type of beer and the brewery itself is uber small. I guess they had a small selection of glassware and people will miss out on those. 

[akuma no uta]

^^ yeah, it was just a convenient way to get it.

[herpsky]

yeah. It's a huge pain now. You have to know the re-stock dates of liquor stores / grocery stores to cop. 

I was there maybe in May but even the brewery was sold out of HT. 

[nah_bruh]

yeah, I'm actually heading to hill farmstead next week after my finals, so excited!

 

herpsky, if you're not opposed, it's actually quite easy to get to PVD from the airport by bus. there are two lines, the 20 and the 14, both of which take you to kennedy plaza in the middle of downtown. 14 is express, 20 takes a bit longer. check out the ripta site.

 

there's also an airport shuttle for $11 which will take you to a number of hotels/site downtown. you can catch them right outside the airport in the arrivals lane, although I'm not exactly sure what times they're there. might be your best choice though, considering they're pretty quick.

 

taxis will run you about $30-40 to get anywhere downtown.

 

if you have any questions, feel free to PM me.

Edited December 2, 2013 by nah_bruh

[herpsky]

yeah, I'm actually heading to hill farmstead next week after my finals, so excited!

 

herpsky, if you're not opposed, it's actually quite easy to get to PVD from the airport by bus. there are two lines, the 20 and the 14, both of which take you to kennedy plaza in the middle of downtown. 14 is express, 20 takes a bit longer. check out the ripta site.

 

there's also an airport shuttle for $11 which will take you to a number of hotels/site downtown. you can catch them right outside the airport in the arrivals lane, although I'm not exactly sure what times they're there. might be your best choice though, considering they're pretty quick.

 

taxis will run you about $30-40 to get anywhere downtown.

 

if you have any questions, feel free to PM me.

thanks man. that's really helpful.