Portland recommendations

My aunt & uncle used to live off Forest Ave with the Maine Turnpike abutting their backyard, and Riverside was a mile away. So I played many times in the '90s with my uncle as a teenager while getting my golf chops. It was pretty nice for a municipal course then, and driving by this year recently it appears to have been kept up.

Especially this time of year as opposed to spring, since there are some elevated drives to lower fairways that are at risk of staying a bit mucky well after snow melt.

 

And at least there are a few places at which to drown any annoyances at my latest round away!

 

I visited Urban Farm shortly after it opened, and I thought it had the potential to be a unique place. Guess they screwed the follow through.

 

I've been once, maybe twice. Large space inside.

It's cool if you want to do a flight of like 5 different alcoholic beverages at once. Although that's becoming less unique these days (see all the posts above).

 

I live in Maine and frequent Portland quite a bit, but hadn't made it to Belleflower until this week. I think these guys are a notch above the rest of the neipa breweries, even bissel and goodfire. Magpie reminds me of FPPA before the recipe change. Most of the ipas have enough bitterness to balance the fruit character of the hops, something that a lot of breweries have lost sight of in recent years.

That being said, the highlight for me was The Thunder, a passionfruit gose that actually tasted like passionfruit! The hazelnut coconut secret clubhouse might be the best stout have had from a maine brewery. I think these guys are on their way to become the best non-Belgian/farmhouse brewery in the state!

Plenty of people have recommended some great food options, but I have a few that haven't been mentioned yet:

Cafe Louis - brand new spot serving costa Rican brunch and dinner. Smallish plates. Went for brunch and everything we tried was fantastic. Ceviche tostada, chorizo breakfast sandwich, and carne asada eggs benny were highlights.

Mami - Japanese streetfood, highlights were the takoyaki and okonomiayke, but everything was great. The beer is also very affordable, $5 for most craft cans including a blackberry/raspberry sour from a Japanese/Brazilian collab...wasn't expecting that.

Mi sen noode bar - this place has been around for a while, but I never see it mentioned. Best thai food in the city (though I haven't tried them all yet)

The honey paw - this is a sister restaurant to eventide right next door. Honestly I find it has a more interesting menu and usually less crowded than eventide with the same great quality food.

Cheese louise - new to Portland, this place has great grilled cheeses albeit a bit pricey. Worth grabbing one for a quick bite if you're nearby, but not worth going out of your way for.

 

Mami's food truck was always a highlight of going to Industrial Way. Despite being a foodie, I don't think about specific foods a lot. That Onigiri...I think about a lot.

 

Lurked on this thread for a while and made it to Portland today.

I have to thank everyone who recommended Terelingua. It was great! My wife and I went there for lunch today and ordered the brisket tacos as well as the pork ones. Wow! Best tacos we’ve ever had. I also tried an ipa from Belleflower which was great.

As everyone says, a must do and the brisket tacos were unreal - the pork was great too. Not a cheap lunch but worth the stop.

 

Finally made it to Terlingua on Saturday. I gotta say, while the tacos were certainly solid, I was a bit underwhelmed after reading so many rave reviews on here. Also a bit pricey at $16 for what were 2 pretty average sized tacos. If I hadn’t also just split a large cone of Duckfat fries, I would definitely not have been full from the tacos alone. It’s a nice takeout option when hanging out at Oxbow, but I doubt I’d go back just to eat there as a stand-alone restaurant visit.

 

Portland isn't Boston obviously, but that's practically a deal for the Boston area.

The tacos are also even smaller here sadly...

 

Where are you paying $8/taco in the Boston area?

 

I think you're right about pricing. That being said, I'm a fan of the grab a few starters and some tacos strategy. It's the same price as getting a couple entrees, but you leave fuller. For instance, last time I was there, we did ribs, ceviche, cucumber/tomato, and deviled eggs and we all left happy.

 

Yeah, you're right, I probably was way off on that one.

Lone Star is about $4-5 per taco, but I think they might be half the size of the one's at Terlingua.

Painted Burro in Davis is $7-8 (assuming their menu is for one taco).

 

Honestly I think my future strategy will likely be the same—hang out at Oxbow, order some fries, and supplement my snacking with some expensive tacos. It was a good experience overall, just cobbled together from multiple spots. And I think I was just a little disappointed after building up Terlingua in my head like it was going to become one of my favorite spots in town. It wouldn’t crack my top 20.

 

Having never been to Terlinqua and never seen their tacos (size, etc.) that would seem high to me. If that’s the case on sizing versus Lone Star, was just back there Sunday, that seems like a large taco and price would seem in line then.

Looks like the Painted Burro price is for one. Haven’t been in forever, but once was a favorite, that price surprised me.

 

You could go restaurant hopping in that small area and snack your heart away too.

Oysters at The Shop, split an Italian sub at Ramona’s, tacos at Terlingua, fries at Oxbow, and even pizza at Radici.

 

I can and often do. East Bayside has become my favorite part of town. It had a solid core already, and so much great stuff has opened in the last 3-4 years.

 

Well sir, consider me quite jealous.

 

The Terlingua tacos are pretty decent in size (perhaps not enough to fill @AlcahueteJ ) but two are quite filling in my opinion. I haven't been to Lone Star and it's been a very long time since I've been to the Painted Burro (I haven't lived in Somerville in over 20 years).

That being said, the Terlingua tacos were worth every penny in my opinion. I certainly don't remember the Painted Burro being in the same league as Terlingua, looking on line it looks much nicer than it was 20 years ago but comparing the price of food is like comparing the price of beer. It only matters as much as you value the difference in quality or personal preference.

It's also hard to compare a smoked brisket taco's cost to anything that is not a smoked brisket taco. I love smoked brisket so I loved the taco. My wife got the fish tacos and she absolutely loved them as well, the bite I had was pretty amazing but it wasn't smoked brisket. We may have overpaid for the fish tacos but not the smoked brisket ones

 

Appreciate the insight!

Only thing is, I’m fairly certain Painted Burro wasn’t there 20 years ago…

 

Black cow is a nice spot