My husband & I will be spending one day in Portland, ME. I’m overwhelmed trying to figure out a good restaurant to make dinner reservations. Can someone tell me if there are any restaurants that would be considered “can’t miss?” We love good atmosphere. I don’t care if it’s rustic cozy or a little upscale. I don’t want so much upscale that I couldn’t just wear a nice pair of jeans though. We enjoy most any cuisine but my husband isn’t much on Thai, Indian or Sushi. Any suggestions to help me narrow this down are much appreciated!

We love Maine and visit once a year from the “other” Portland. In January we had a very good meal at Fore Street which is a very nice restaurant although you could definitely wear a nice pair of jeans. We also had a great meal at J’s Oyster Bar. It’s down in the docks so definitely no problem wearing jeans. Totally different vibes in these two places, look at the websites and see which appeals to you. We had reservations at Fore Street but walked into J’s.

Have fun!

Pretty vague request, you could first go on Google maps and check out restaurants there, you can look at recent reviews and look at the menu. Then you might be interested in a few and come back here to see if anyone has any comments on them.

I’m not sure what other details I could include in my question. But thanks for the advice. And thank you Tracilee. I will definitely check out those 2.

Month of the trip? Time of year? (maybe I missed it)

My favorite memories of Maine on the coast were eating lobster from stands sitting in the sand or at picnic tables with a lobster roll.

But seems you are wanting something more formal? In the downtown area?

Anywhoo... welcome to New England (used to live there and miss Vermont like crazy)

We will be in Portland this Tuesday.

And we actually enjoy “non up scale” restaurants better but are open to either. We’re just not interested in uber upscale. We’re spending 5 days on the coast so we’ll definitely be getting some lobster shacks in. Just hearing about the great Portland restaurant scene. We’ll be spending 5 days in VT as well so if you have any can’t miss suggestions for VT, that would be appreciated!

Where in Vermont? What towns? (I used to live in southern VT, Brattleboro area)

If you want to drive a bit south of Portland, Ken's Place in Scarborough is very casual and very popular. Open daily until Oct 26. Go at an off time and preferably a weekday.

Eventide Oyster Company. Casual.

555 North, located at the Federal, in Brunswick.
More formal.

Suze- 3 days in Woodstock area & 2 days in Bennington.

Ah, nice choices! Never been to Woodstock. Not sure the overall itinerary but the drive (only an hour or so) across the south edge of VT from Bennington over to Brattleboro is super scenic. There's this stop I love https://www.hogbackmountaincountrystore.com/

if you are in Woodstock area on a saturday, the Norwich farmers market is wonderful. You'll find some prepared foods and free samples. If you bake, visit King Arthur Flour to shop. Dan and Whit's country store is a required visit. Have lunch at Simon Pierce.

Awesome tips! Thank you all so much!!