Portland Recommendations (2022)

Thanks all -- think I have plenty to choose from. Will probably just make the decision based on what the tap list looks like at the moment and what kind of food I'm craving after a day on the mountain. Will report back when I've had the chance to check these out!

 

I was in Portland in September. Allagash had only outdoor seating and isn't open late, so not sure how that would affect your plans in the cold weather depending on your opinion of heated outdoor spaces. But their on-site food truck's lobster rolls and lobster grilled cheese were a good lunch. https://www.allagash.com/food/

I only visited Bissell to pick up cans, but I would say the "vibe" is average - it's in a business park by the airport. We enjoyed walking around the East Bayside area better - I would recommend Oxbow and Belleflower.

We only drank at Kings Head and Novare Res before/after dinner- both great taplists but can't comment on the food. A lot of Novare Res's seating was outside on their deck, so may be harder to get a seat in the winter.

We also stayed outside of the downtown due to crazy hotel prices, in the Clarion Hotel by 295 near Bissell's location. Not sure if it was an anomaly or not, but on a Saturday night we had no problem getting a Lyft from hotel to the Old Port area, but trying to get back it was going to be a 45 minute wait for a ride. We ended up just walking the 2 miles back instead, which ended up being slightly sketchy once we got off the main drag.

 

How did you like the Clarion? I have a reservation there for Beer With(out) Beards.

 

Clean, but fairly dated interior. They had some ballrooms, so it seems like they had some weddings or other events going on. And a church on Sunday morning.

It was just the price that was insane for a mediocre hotel by the highway on the edge of a city. We paid an average of $350 a night for Labor Day weekend, but only because comparatively the hotels in Downtown were like $500 or $600 a night. If that Clarion was next to I-95 near the Philly airport, it'd be like $125 a night.

 

Prices in Portland and the other vacation spots in Maine go way up during holiday weekends like Labor Day and other big vacation times. Or just the summer in general. Right now the Clarion is $115 a night. I would think he could get some good deals downtown this month.

 

Good to know. If Allagash (this time of year) isn't a great destination unto itself and I can enjoy plenty of their stuff elsewhere I may skip that one (although the food truck sounds amazing). I went with an AirBnb that's either a long walk or a very short Uber ride from these destinations.

 

If booking downtown, remember to factor in the price of parking. The hotels I looked at run $25-30/night, but I didn't look at higher-end places.

 

Do they all charge for parking downtown? I stayed in a few places over the years but it’s been a couple years since I last stayed overnight so I don’t remember.

 

I couldn't find one that didn't.

 

Ha, well I just assume most aren’t willing to stuff themselves silly for a weekend.

@William_Navidson I’ll echo the suggestions here. Not much to add, just wanted to +2 for Liquid Riot. Their Gueuze was among the best I’ve had, and the owner is friends with Jean Van Roy from Cantillon…so he’s in good company.

Their tap list is also varied in terms of styles, so you can usually find other sour styles, German styles, lighter beers…etc. Good vibe in the tap room too.

Regarding pub grub and casual seafood, you can’t go wrong with King’s Head for pub grub and High Roller for seafood. Their lobster tacos are friggin’ awesome.

Other spots for wild type beers are Allagash obviously, and Oxbow. Oxbow has a window for Duckfat (poutine fries, so that may satisfy your pub grub itch), but I’m not sure how late the window is open. The tap room itself is open late, super chill vibe there too.

Enjoy! I’m jealous.

 

Hotel prices got CRAZY last summer. A few of my friends and I stayed at the Clarion in May for ~$130. Similar group went back up in July and Clarion never dipped below $400 a night, ultimately being fully booked days in advance. (Note: given location and relative cleanliness, it is a fantastic value under $150. It is a nightmare at $400 lol.) Portland is a terrible place to find Airbnbs since covid started, feel like the barrier for a weekend went way up in the past two years.

 

Kind of shocked at the love for Liquid Riot. I haven't been there in a couple of years, but in my experience going several times, it was as mediocre as the day is long. It's not terrible, but would not make my top-40 places in town.

@William_Navidson I think all of your initial suggestions are good ones. I'd skip Thirsty Pig personally unless you really love sausage. It's an old school craft beer institution, but generally a pretty average tap list IMO, and nothing on the menu but sausage. King's Head is great, honestly the second best tap list in town pretty consistently, behind Novare.

I'll second @mrmattosgood's recommendation for Crispy Gai. Outstanding.

Your best bets for a big stout or barleywine is King's Head or Novare, but it can be hit or miss depending on what's on tap. Sadly, in my opinion, Bissell is the only brewery in the city that does a good job with those styles, although I don't think they are serving any at the moment. The best place around for those is really Barreled Souls, about 20 minutes south in Saco, which I absolutely love.

Other spots I recommend are Mash Tun for a great local tap list and kind of a divey, local feel, and Independent Ice Co., which is an excellent (albeit pricey) whiskey bar with very good food.

I may be up for grabbing a beer depending on when you're in town, since you're solo--shoot me a PM. And I won't bring my kids.

 

Four. Hundred. Dollars. A Night.

I just looked and the rates are similar for July 2022. Now I feel a lot better about $135/night in April.

Edit: and now I just looked at hotel rates in Boston. I could stay at a four-star hotel in the up-and-coming Seaport District for about $250/night at the same time. What the what?

 

I was going to mention Barreled Souls for the stout/big Beer suggestion but didn’t since it was out of town. But I’ll say plus one to this. I enjoyed it when I was there with a buddy a couple years ago.

 

I hadn't been in a couple years either until January. The Gueuze they had on tap was top notch, and I was blown away by the Rauch Helles. They have a coolship out back too which I didn't know about.

The style variety is appreciated. Last I went in January I've now started crossing breweries off my list for being too gimmicky and boring. And some of the beers I had at some places were just flat out bad, even for pastries and hazies.

They make their own spirits too which helps if you have people in tow who don't want beer.

The owner really knows his stuff and is well traveled in Europe.

 

My wife and I are going up to Portland the first weekend of April and managed to get the Hampton Inn Downtown for $500 total for Thursday -> Sunday. Hooray going off-season!

 

All helpful stuff, thank you! Didn't know Barreled Souls was so close. I'll have a vehicle, so I may need to swing by there for some beer to go on my way in/out. And will put Crispy Gai near the top of my list as well, given your seconding.

 

Funny how I haven't been to King's Head or Liquid Riot in some years. KH I stopped in with family one time on a Saturday afternoon (8-10 years ago?) and it was oddly not busy except for one large group. We proceeded to wait for like 15 minutes and no one came to serve us after we were seated. I just got a weird vibe from the place and we decided to jet before ordering anything. The food menu may have been a little sparse for some of my crew who were picky eaters as well, can't remember for sure.

LR we protested after the chicken skins appetizer was removed from the menu, that was crushing. The beer was always pretty good and my mom like the sours for sure, although they didn't blow us away at that time 4-5 years ago. But I have sampled some of the recent Liquid Riot/Novare Res collabs at Novare and with their quality it seems like Liquid Riot is worthy of another visit sometime.