Kraig and I recently took a day trip to Portland, Maine to check out some restaurants and breweries.  We decided to split our meals, so we would have the appetite to sample more restaurants in one day.

We started with lunch at the Portland Lobster Company.  We ordered the lobster roll and clam chowder.  The lobster was fresh and they didn’t use globs of Mayo, but it wasn’t the best lobster roll I’ve ever had. The clam chowder seemed to be lacking in clams and seasoning.You have a nice view there and the food is fresh, so it’s worth the trip!

Afterward, we walked around town for a bit.

Then we went to a FREE beer tasting at Allagash Brewery.  Each person gets four free brewery selected samples and you can opt in or out for a tour of the brewery. I was quite impressed when we arrived at Allagash because it looked similar to arriving to a wine vineyard.  Allagash White is probably the first “fancy” beer I started to drink when I was in college.  I don’t typically order it nowadays, but it was a fun experience to check out the brewery and sample some of their other beers.

Next up, was a casual tasting at The Rising Tide Brewery.  There were food trucks outside the brewery and an industrial feel to this location.

After the breweries, we headed back into town. Round one of dinner was at Eventide Oyster Co. We shared delicious oysters hand selected by our waitress and their melt in your mouth, mouthwatering lobster roll.

That drink below is a Cava Bloody Mary. It was a fun spin on the traditional Bloody Mary.

Round two of dinner was at Duckfat. We of course got an order of their Belgian fries and the House Smoked Brisket Panini. This food was apparently too good to wait and take a picture of because I have no photos. 🙂 It was a really casual, cozy, atmosphere with wonderful comfort food meets hipster.  Not sure what the real word for that is in the foodie world.

We had a lot of fun checking out Portland.  Where are your favorite day trip locations in New England?