A informal survey for the Orono area (Portland, Brewer: garden, moving to)

[Zymer]

Originally Posted by starwalker

AMEN, brother!! We like our meat rare to medium-rare at the most done... get a lot of "are you sure??" comments and when we eat at Golden Corral or the like, we have had the grill guy be a smart aleck and offer something he barely had put on the grill... love to watch them drop their jaw when we say, "thank you". LOL

I went to a Japanese place that had a dish that featured what the menu described as "rare" beef. The meat was still cold from the fridge- they dropped it (a 2 1/2" thick piece of tenderloin) on the grill and seared one side (maybe 20 seconds), then flipped it and seared the other side, took it off and sliced it.

It was delicious.

[Lynn and Russ]

Thanks for all of the feedback and suggestions. Any thoughts on existing restaurants/pubs in the Orono are such as the Bear Brew, Margaritas, The Market Cafe, The Woodman's, etc.?

[K-Luv]

Originally Posted by Lynn and Russ

Thanks for all of the feedback and suggestions. Any thoughts on existing restaurants/pubs in the Orono are such as the Bear Brew, Margaritas, The Market Cafe, The Woodman's, etc.?

Out of those mentioned I am only familiar with Margaritas. My opinion is that it is not so good. I find the cantina decor kind of cheesy, but there is nothing wrong with that. My beef with the place is that they bill it as a Mexican restaurant, but in reality the food is more Tex-Mex then anything. It's hard enough to find a decent burrito around here and maybe Mainers think that Marg's is good food, I dunno. Coming from California, it is almost an embarrassment for me to think of their food Mexican. Kind of like renaming a Joe's Crab Shack A Taste of Maine.

[K-Luv]

Originally Posted by Zymer

I went to a Japanese place that had a dish that featured what the menu described as "rare" beef. The meat was still cold from the fridge- they dropped it (a 2 1/2" thick piece of tenderloin) on the grill and seared one side (maybe 20 seconds), then flipped it and seared the other side, took it off and sliced it.

It was delicious.

Man, does that sound good! The quality of meat required to pull something like that off has to be top notch. You couldn't do it with a steak from Hannaford's.

[bignhfamily]

Originally Posted by K-Luv

Out of those mentioned I am only familiar with Margaritas. My opinion is that it is not so good. I find the cantina decor kind of cheesy, but there is nothing wrong with that. My beef with the place is that they bill it as a Mexican restaurant, but in reality the food is more Tex-Mex then anything. It's hard enough to find a decent burrito around here and maybe Mainers think that Marg's is good food, I dunno. Coming from California, it is almost an embarrassment for me to think of their food Mexican. Kind of like renaming a Joe's Crab Shack A Taste of Maine.

DW and I have said many times that New England in general could use many more authentic Mexican restaurants.
Though I am a lifelong Yankee, I was fortunate to be raised by parents who were well traveled and acquired a taste for a wide variety of foods. Mum is Bostonian who spent many summers throughout out Europe and Dad is Texan and lived many years in South America and Asia. So our diet was always spicy and colorful.
We lived in San Diego for several years and love Mexican food, especially Baja style. There is a small chain of Baja Style Mexican restaurants called Fins that served the best fish tacos! I'm craving them right now!
Maybe such a restaurant is to off the wall for the bland traditional NE diet but something along those lines would get my vote. Might do good in Orono with the college kids.

[moughie]

I think if someone started up a Baja Fresh ( now owned by Wendy's?) in Maine, it would do well.

You are right, bignhfamily, New England and esp Maine, could use some good Mexican food! I think such a restaurant it would be very popular and attract a devoted clientele.

[Maine Writer]

Originally Posted by Lynn and Russ

Have any of you eaten at the Bear Brew Pub? We ate there on Sunday and thought the food was good. We liked the atmosphere as well. Seems like a fun place.

My oldest DD lives nearby and is a good friend of the owner. Bear Brew is her favorite place. She works security at night then goes to "the pub" to unwind before going home. It's the place she meets up with friends to play foosball and something to eat (she's vegetarian). She also likes Woodman's. It was convenient when she lived across the street. Having lived across the street, she had some interesting stories about the folks who staggered out and some of the fights.

Zymer mentioned not over cooking the onion rings. I say the same for seafood.

Originally Posted by msina

"Hooters" in Maine,.. in winter,.... hmmmm... you have a "point" (or two).

I heard Hooters was moving into the Smokey Bones building. I don't know if that's true.

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

Around here I am sure that you could easily get: moose, bear, venison, chevron, game fowl, rabbit.

Yumm

No moose or bear, that would get the restaurant shut down in no time flat. Some game fowl is domestically raised. Rabbit and chevon are getting easier to find. Chevron is gas and more expensive by the day.

[Zymer]

"I heard Hooters was moving into the Smokey Bones building. I don't know if that's true."

I can't find anything to substantiate that.

Around Aug 2006, Michael Harris (who runs/ran The Stadium on Congress St. in Portland) announced his intentions to open a Hooter's. Almost immediately the city council voted to impose a moratorium on chain restaurants with more than 30 units nationwide (Hooters has over 400).

Despite the obvious popularity of this kind of restaurant, and the fact that it would have created another 60-70 jobs, narrow-mindedness and/or pressure from a certain "action group" Portland sent the loud and clear message that they would try to slam the door on this chain.

In addition to Harris, 3 or 4 other groups have indicated their desire to open Hooters Restaurants in Maine. Will other cities be so short-sighted?

[Submariner]

It is kind of humorous that a family burger stand would get so much press and assumed reputation from it's name that communities would ban it.

If I wanted to open an A&W root beer stand with miniskirt wearing car-hops would it get the same response?

I have been in two 'Hooter's restaurants, the waitresses wear T-shirts, shorts, high socks and sneakers.

The first time that I entered a 'Hooters', we were in Hawaii, I was with a group of sailors who likewise had never been in a 'hooters'. But from it's reputation, they all wanted to go inside. A peewee softball team was enjoying hotdogs and ice cream, it really did not seem much different from any other hamburger stand.

The second 'hooters' was in Ct, near the VA hospital, I found that they do serve beer. That hooters had a crowd of business suits in it, having their lunches.

[mainebrokerman]

Originally Posted by Zymer

"I heard Hooters was moving into the Smokey Bones building. I don't know if that's true."

I can't find anything to substantiate that.

Around Aug 2006, Michael Harris (who runs/ran The Stadium on Congress St. in Portland) announced his intentions to open a Hooter's. Almost immediately the city council voted to impose a moratorium on chain restaurants with more than 30 units nationwide (Hooters has over 400).

Despite the obvious popularity of this kind of restaurant, and the fact that it would have created another 60-70 jobs, narrow-mindedness and/or pressure from a certain "action group" Portland sent the loud and clear message that they would try to slam the door on this chain.

In addition to Harris, 3 or 4 other groups have indicated their desire to open Hooters Restaurants in Maine. Will other cities be so short-sighted?

where do all these fruitcakes come from??