1. Frontier Cafe
City: Brunswick, ME
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (207) 725-5222
Address: 14 Maine St.
Description: It’s really nice to see people putting Maine’s old mills to good use. This place impresses with its high ceilings, neat old wood floors, picnic tables, and especially its high-end soups and sandwiches. Locals love the market plates, which bring a nice selection of meats, vegetables, cheeses, and breads on a platter and lets you do with it what you will.
2. Great Impasta
City: Brunswick, ME
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (207) 729-5858
Address: 42 Maine St.
Description: Though some might be tempted to call it the Good Impasta, this place certainly has staying power—it’s been a local favorite for ages. The specialty here is pasta—obviously—with a mix of seafood, veal, chicken, and veggies on top. Try the Pollo Spinaci, which is chicken sautéed with fresh spinach, or the manicotti, the primavera Alfredo, or Melanzana Parmigiano, which is sliced baked eggplant stuffed with smoked mozzarella.
3. Richard’S Restaurant
City: Brunswick, ME
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (207) 729-9673
Address: 115 Maine St.
Description: Richard’s is a find, if only because you can indulge in a little bratwurst, Wiener schnitzel, or Rheinischer sauerbraten (Rhineland-style marinated roast beef) right there in downtown Brunswick. This Maine Street classic is a house divided—on the one hand, you can get good old New English favorites like shrimp and scallops, steak, and sautéed chicken breast, and on the other hand, you can enjoy genuine Deutsch delicacies. German beer is also on tap. Open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for lunch and 5 to 9 p.m. for dinner (Friday and Saturday till 9:30 p.m.). Closed Sunday.
City: Brunswick, ME
Category: Restaurants
Address: 212B Maine St.
City: Brunswick, ME
Category: Restaurants
Address: 46 Maine St.
6. Sweet Leaves Teahouse
City: Brunswick, ME
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (207) 725-1326
Address: 22 Pleasant St.
Description: A white clapboard tea room near the post office on the way into town, this nifty little cafe serves more than simply tea (although you can get that in a couple dozen varieties). There’s also a fair-size menu of salads, soups (try the “kitchen sink” chowder), and sandwiches on panini, as well as beer and wine, and the emphasis is on local and fresh. For dessert you’ll want to try the homemade ice cream. Definitely worth a lunch stop—for under $10 you can eat very well here.
7. Wild Oats Bakery And Cafe
City: Brunswick, ME
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (207) 725-6287
Address: 149 Maine St.
Description: What a great place this is. First you have to arrange to meet someone here, because this is one of the town’s community gathering places. Second, order up a sandwich, a bowl of soup, or some salad and take it to the tables outside, if it’s nice, or to the overstuffed chairs in the Tontine Mall, if it’s not. The baked goods section—date bars, pecan bars, strawberry snickerdoodles, plus a zillion other cookies and brownies—is amazing. The salad sandwiches—curried chicken, tuna, egg—are fantastic, and every day brings with it a new type of bread. A half sandwich will fill most anybody’s belly.