Splurge in Portland

Fore Street ★ 4.8

old-port · 288 Fore Street, Portland, ME 04101

Fore Street opened 1996 in a converted Old Port warehouse and built modern New England cooking around a wood oven, open hearth and turning spit.

Tip: Same-day walk-ins fill the bar from 17:00; book online up to two months ahead for tables.

Fore Street ★ 4.8

288 Fore Street, Portland, ME 04101

Fore Street has been Portland's flagship wood-fired dining room since 1996, with a wood-burning oven, open hearth and turning spit at the kitchen's heart.

Twelve ★ 4.7

east-bayside · 115 Thames Street, Portland, ME 04101

Twelve at Portland Foreside since 2022, now led by Chef Hannah Ryder, runs a Maine-ingredient tasting menu around an open kitchen on Thames Street.

Tip: Tuesday to Sunday from 17:00; bookings open six weeks out via Resy.

Solo Italiano ★ 4.7

old-port · 100 Commercial Street, Portland, ME 04101

Solo Italiano on Commercial Street opened 2016 from Chef Paolo Laboa, with Ligurian cooking, hand-cut trofie pesto and house bread from a Genovese-style oven.

Tip: Awarded due forchette by Gambero Rosso in 2025. Reservations through their site; lunch from 12:00.

Twelve ★ 4.7

115 Thames Street, Portland, ME 04101

Twelve at Portland Foreside, opened 2022 by Prentice Hospitality and now led by Chef Hannah Ryder, runs a Maine tasting menu on Thames Street.

Central Provisions ★ 4.6

414 Fore Street, Portland, ME 04101

Central Provisions at the top of Fore Street, opened 2014 by Chris and Paige Gould (Beard nominee), with rotating small plates of crudo and pork belly.

Leeward ★ 4.5

85 Free Street, Portland, ME 04101

Leeward on Free Street, since 2020, from Jake and Raquel Stevens, with a chef-driven fresh-pasta program inside a brick-and-tile Italian dining room.

Solo Italiano ★ 4.3

100 Commercial Street, Portland, ME 04101

Solo Italiano on Commercial Street, since 2016, from Chef Paolo Laboa. Genovese cooking with house-made pastas, breads and pesto from a stone mortar.

Chaval ★ 4.2

58 Pine Street, Portland, ME 04102

Chaval on Pine Street in the West End, since 2017, from the Piccolo team of Damian Sansonetti and Ilma Lopez. Spanish-French cooking around the wood oven.

Izakaya Minato ★ 4.1

54 Washington Avenue, Portland, ME 04101

Izakaya Minato on Washington Avenue, since 2017, from Thomas Takashi Cooke. A small izakaya with binchotan-grilled yakitori, donburi and a sake list.

Via Vecchia ★ 4.0

10 Dana Street, Portland, ME 04101

Via Vecchia on Dana Street in the Old Port, a brick-and-ivy small-plates Italian room with handmade pasta, Maine seafood and a velvet-booth wrap-around bar.