Mid-Range in Portland

Tandem Coffee Roasters

• ★ 4.8
• Cafe
• $$
• East Bayside

Tandem Coffee Roasters on Anderson Street, since 2012 from Will and Kathleen Pratt, is Portland's flagship third-wave roastery and East Bayside cafe.

Allagash Brewing Company

• ★ 4.8
• Brewery
• $$
• Woodfords and Deering

Allagash Brewing on Industrial Way, since 1995 from Rob Tod, is Portland's flagship Belgian-style brewery, with free ticketed tours via the operator site.

Scratch Baking Co

• ★ 4.8
• Bakery
• $$
• West End

Scratch Baking Co in Willard Square pulls Portland's deepest Sunday bagel queue, five minutes from downtown but across the bridge in South Portland.

Duckfat

• ★ 4.7
• Belgian
• $$
• India Street

Order Large duck fat fries with truffle ketchup, plus the meatloaf panino.

Duckfat on Middle Street, since 2005 from Rob Evans and Nancy Pugh, is the Portland sandwich shop built around twice-fried Belgian frites cooked in duck fat.

Cong Tu Bot

• ★ 4.7
• Vietnamese
• $$
• East Bayside

Order Pho ga chicken broth, then banh xeo with shrimp and pork.

Cong Tu Bot on Washington Avenue, since 2017 from Vien Dobui and Jessica Sheahan, a 30-seat Vietnamese room serving pho ga, banh xeo and cha gio spring rolls.

Speckled Ax Wood-Fired Coffee Roasters

• ★ 4.7
• Cafe
• $$
• Arts District

Speckled Ax on Congress Street (Bolinder roasting since 2007, shop since 2012) roasts coffee over an open hardwood fire from an Arts District storefront.

Bissell Brothers Brewing

• ★ 4.7
• Brewery
• $$
• Libbytown and Stroudwater

Bissell Brothers Brewing at Thompson's Point opened 2013 from Peter and Noah Bissell, with the modern New England IPA program built around The Substance Ale.

Tandem Coffee + Bakery

• ★ 4.7
• Brunch
• $$
• West End

Order Buttermilk biscuit sandwich with bacon, fried egg and sharp cheddar.

Tandem Coffee + Bakery on Congress Street is the West End brunch shop, opened 2014 by Will and Kathleen Pratt, with biscuit sandwiches and house pour-overs.

The Purple House

• ★ 4.6
• Pizzeria
• $$
• Woodfords and Deering

Order An everything bagel with cream cheese and house-cured gravlax, plus a pizza by the slice.

The Purple House in North Yarmouth, 20 minutes from Portland, opened 2018 from Krista Desjarlais with Montreal-style wood-fired bagels and sourdough pizza.

Boda

• ★ 4.6
• Thai Street Food
• $$
• Arts District

Order Grilled chicken with sticky rice and nam jim jaew dipping sauce.

Boda on Congress Street, since 2010 from Bob Wongsaichua and Dan Sriprasert, is Portland's Thai street food room with grilled meats, curries and noodles.

Coffee By Design

• ★ 4.6
• Cafe
• $$
• East Bayside

Coffee By Design on Diamond Street, since 1994 from Mary Allen Lindemann and Alan Spear, is Portland's longest-running independent roastery.

Oxbow Blending and Bottling

• ★ 4.6
• Brewery
• $$
• East Bayside

Oxbow Blending and Bottling on Washington Avenue, since 2014, is the Portland blending and bottling outpost of the Newcastle, Maine farmhouse brewery.

Novare Res Bier Cafe

• ★ 4.6
• Belgian
• $$
• Old Port

Try Belgian beer flight, charcuterie

Novare Res Bier Cafe in Canal Plaza runs deep into the night, with 25 taps of Belgian and craft beer plus charcuterie and pretzels until 01:00 weekends.

Blyth & Burrows

• ★ 4.6
• Cocktail bar
• $$
• Old Port

Try Vintage-inspired craft cocktails

Blyth and Burrows on Exchange Street runs vintage-inspired craft cocktails until midnight Wednesday through Saturday, with a Broken Dram speakeasy downstairs.

Rose Foods

• ★ 4.5
• Jewish Deli, Bagels
• $$
• Woodfords and Deering

Order The lox bagel with whipped cream cheese, plus a cup of matzo ball soup.

Rose Foods on Forest Avenue opened 2017 from Chad Conley, a Jewish deli with hand-rolled bagels, house-cured lox, smoked whitefish and matzo ball soup.

Bard Coffee

• ★ 4.5
• Cafe
• $$
• Old Port

Bard Coffee on Middle Street, since 2009, was Portland's first dedicated specialty-coffee cafe and runs a rotating multi-roaster program with no house roast.

Foundation Brewing Company

• ★ 4.5
• Brewery
• $$
• Woodfords and Deering

Foundation Brewing on Industrial Way, opened 2014 by the Bonney and Mahaffey families, runs hazy IPAs, farmhouse beers and Detroit-style pizza.

Goodfire Brewing Company

• ★ 4.5
• Brewery
• $$
• East Bayside

Goodfire Brewing on Anderson Street in East Bayside, since 2017, runs hop-forward IPAs alongside crisp lagers and a German Kolsch (Dizzy Spell).

Rising Tide Brewing Company

• ★ 4.5
• Brewery
• $$
• East Bayside

Rising Tide Brewing, founded 2010 by Nathan and Heather Sanborn and at 103 Fox Street since 2012, anchors East Bayside as a Portland craft pioneer.

Battery Steele Brewing

• ★ 4.5
• Brewery
• $$
• Woodfords and Deering

Battery Steele Brewing on Industrial Way, since 2017, runs hazy IPAs and barrel-aged wild ales out of the Allagash and Foundation neighbouring complex.

The Honey Paw

• ★ 4.5
• Asian fusion
• $$
• India Street

Try Hand-pulled noodles, fried rice

The Honey Paw on Middle Street runs hand-pulled noodles, fried rice and pan-Asian small plates through to 22:00 nightly, the Big Tree late-evening stop.

Izakaya Minato

• ★ 4.5
• Japanese
• $$
• East Bayside

Izakaya Minato on Washington Avenue in Portland runs binchotan-charcoal yakitori and a sake list from a 2026 James Beard finalist for Best Chef Northeast.

The Front Room

• ★ 4.5
• Brunch
• $$
• Munjoy Hill

Order Eggs benedict with house hollandaise; a side of cinnamon swirl French toast.

The Front Room at the top of Munjoy Hill, since 2006 from Chef Harding Lee Smith, is the flagship brunch room with a full bar and Congress Street windows.

Hot Suppa

• ★ 4.5
• Brunch
• $$
• West End

Order Eggs and biscuits with house andouille gravy; the corned beef hash.

Hot Suppa on Congress Street, founded 2006 by the Sabina brothers and under Nachreiner and Rodrigues since 2025, runs Southern brunch with andouille gravy.

Forage Market

• ★ 4.5
• Brunch
• $$
• East Bayside

Order Wood-fired bagel sandwich with house cream cheese and lox.

Forage Market on Washington Avenue runs Montreal-style wood-fired bagels and sourdough breads with bagel sandwiches, salads and soups in East Bayside.

The Holy Donut

• ★ 4.5
• Brunch
• $$
• Old Port

Order Wild Maine blueberry potato donut and a flat white.

The Holy Donut on Commercial Street pulls a weekend morning queue for Leigh Kellis's Maine potato donuts in rotating seasonal flavours, like wild blueberry.

Lay Day Roasters

• ★ 4.4
• Cafe
• $$
• East Bayside

Lay Day Roasters on Preble Street in Bayside Portland, a small-batch micro-lot specialist with a rotating single-origin program and a quiet roastery cafe.

Lone Pine Brewing Company

• ★ 4.4
• Brewery
• $$
• East Bayside

Lone Pine Brewing on Anderson Street opened 2016 from Tom Madden and John Paul, with core IPAs (Portland Pale, Tessellation) and a pilot system for one-offs.

Austin Street Brewery

• ★ 4.4
• Brewery
• $$
• East Bayside

Austin Street Brewery on Industrial Way, since 2014 from Will Fisher and Jake Austin, runs hop-forward IPAs and a clean German-style pilsner.

Definitive Brewing Company

• ★ 4.4
• Brewery
• $$
• East Bayside

Definitive Brewing on Industrial Way, since 2017, runs a clean lager-forward program from a warehouse-and-patio taproom with rotating Fri-Sun food trucks.

Green Elephant

• ★ 4.3
• Vegetarian
• $$
• Arts District

Order The vegan coconut soup, then the mango curry over jasmine rice.

Green Elephant on Congress Street, since 2007 from Dan Sriprasert and Bob Wongsaichua, is Portland's all-vegetarian Thai kitchen by the State Theatre.

D L Geary Brewing Company

• ★ 4.3
• Brewery
• $$
• Woodfords and Deering

D L Geary Brewing on Evergreen Drive opened in 1986 from David and Karen Geary as the first commercial craft brewery east of the Mississippi.

LFK

• ★ 4.3
• Cocktail bar
• $$
• Arts District

Try Sandwiches, small plates, cocktails

LFK on State Street runs the kitchen and cocktails until midnight daily, the Arts District late-night stop near Longfellow Square with book-lined walls.

Maine & Loire

• ★ 4.3
• Wine bar
• $$
• East Bayside

Maine & Loire on Washington Avenue in Portland is a wine-shop counter with the city's deepest natural-wine selection from the Loire and beyond, no tipping.

Becky's Diner

• ★ 4.3
• Brunch
• $$
• Old Port

Order Short stack with bacon and a cup of clam chowder.

Becky's Diner on Commercial Street has run on the working waterfront since 1991, opening at 05:00 for the fishing crews and the breakfast queue behind them.

Camp Pennant

• ★ 4.2
• Brewery
• $$
• Old Port

Camp Pennant on Commercial Street, the 2024 rebrand of Michaud's 2013 Liquid Riot under Michael Fraser, pours Pennant Distilling lines plus wood-fired pizza.

OTTO Pizza Congress

• ★ 4.2
• Pizzeria
• $$
• Arts District

Try Slice of mashed potato bacon scallion pizza

OTTO Pizza on Congress Street runs the city's late-night slice counter with unconventional pies (mashed potato bacon scallion, pulled pork mango) until 22:00.

Speckled Ax

• ★ 4.2
• Cafe
• $$
• Arts District

Speckled Ax on Congress Street in Portland is the city's wood-fired coffee roaster, roasting over open hardwood flame and vanishingly rare in the country.

Bayside Bowl

• ★ 4.2
• Brunch
• $$
• East Bayside

Order Breakfast sandwich on Standard Baking biscuit; the bloody mary bar.

Bayside Bowl on Alder Street runs weekend brunch from the kitchen of the downstairs bowling alley, with a rooftop bar that opens at noon through summer.

OTTO Pizza Congress Street

• ★ 4.1
• Pizza By the Slice
• $$
• Arts District

Order A slice of mashed potato bacon scallion and a slice of pulled pork mango.

OTTO Pizza on Congress Street, since 2009, is the flagship of the Portland slice chain that runs unconventional toppings on hand-tossed thin crust.