A Nice Night Out Near Augusta, Maine?

August 17, 2012 2:41 PM

Recommend me a nice/ special occasioin restaurant within an hour's drive of Augusta, ME?

Pretty self explanatory, looking for a nicer, romantic place for dinner within an hours drive of Augusta. Ideally it's in a place that can explored/hung out in for a while before dinner but not necessary. No other restrictions aside from ' they take reservations.'

posted by The Whelk to food & drink (8 answers total)

Well, one hour puts you right into Portland which has a huge number of awesome restaurants. Portland itself is a great city, with walks around the Old Port/on the water taking as long as you want them to. If you're really keen to walk, and have some time to kill, I can vouch for just sitting in the dark on the Eastern Promenade with your partner; that's how my wife and I spent our time last night after our anniversary dinner!

Peruse this blog for some honest reviews of food in town. I definitely have my own favorite places but it's hard to go wrong in this town.
posted by monkeymadness at 2:55 PM on August 17, 2012

Henry and Marty or clementine in Brunswick are both intimate with good food and Brunswick has a nice main street to walk down, with Bowdoin College at one end and a river at the other.
posted by Sukey Says at 4:17 PM on August 17, 2012

It's a little bit over an hour according to Google Maps, but Anjon's in Scarborough is very good, with lovely views of the salt marshes. It's maybe 10 minutes' drive from Old Orchard Beach, if you want to get your tourist trap on before or after dinner. Or on the way down you could take a detour to Two Lights State Park for some dramatic surf on the rocks, particularly when the tide is coming in... just down the coast from Winslow Homer's studio.

Seconding Old Port as a good general destination.
posted by usonian at 4:58 PM on August 17, 2012

I'd go to Cafe de Bangkok. Really excellent Thai. They catered my wedding :)
It's in Hallowell, which is right outside Augusta. It's a cute downtown filled with antique shops, including IIRC one which specializes in antique light fixtures and glass globe lampshades. Thousands of them packed into a tiny shop, it's awesome. And there are high water markers from various floods on the sides of some buildings. It's a pretty small downtown, but if you like quirky antiques it's good for part of an afternoon before dinner.
posted by Adridne at 5:04 PM on August 17, 2012

If you're happy to drive all the way to Portland, Bar Lola is really excellent and their prix fixe menu is a fabulous deal (alternately, letting them choose your meal for you feels indulgent and lovely). I haven't eaten at Bresca, but it's also supposed to be extraordinary. If you like sushi, Miyake is the place to go.

A little bit closer to Augusta, Trattoria Athena in Brunswick makes exquisite food (including deep fried artichoke hearts that are somehow delicate despite being totally sinful) and Solo Bistro in Bath does a really nice job with contemporary cuisine in a really beautiful space (the owners used to own a design store, so they've attended to every detail of how the place looks). These latter two definitely might include a more casual clientele, just because it's midcoast Maine and people don't dress up all that much here, but they're both the kind of restaurants that people would dress up for if they were in other locations, and you wouldn't feel out of place having a special occasion meal in either.
posted by dizziest at 7:41 PM on August 17, 2012

If you make it to Portland, there's always Novare Res for pre/post-celebration dinner libations. It's where we'll be Friday night!
posted by robocop is bleeding at 4:17 AM on August 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

You could also go to Rockland, which has a nice little downtown with lots of art galleries and cool shops.

I have never been, but have heard many, many good things about Primo.

Of course you cannot go wrong in Portland.
posted by suki at 4:21 AM on August 18, 2012

Hallowell is definitely a good place to walk around/explore before dinner. Joyce's takes reservations.
posted by JanetLand at 4:25 AM on August 18, 2012