Portland Pie Company - Scarborough, ME

Looks can be deceiving. 

Restaurant Review – Portland Pie Company, Scarborough, ME

“It’s all about the dough” is a great moniker for the Portland Pie Company. The dough is great but the pizza, not so much.

We stopped at the Portland Pie Co a couple years ago and I guess we had forgotten why we hadn’t returned immediately. I remember now….

We arrived a bit after noon on a Sunday and the place was quite busy.  However, a hostess seated us right away; we ordered our “water with lemon,” a beer, and a cider and reviewed the menu.

The Fryeburg Fair
Portland Pie Company - Scarborough, ME
When the drinks arrived, we ordered our food. I’m still looking for great hamburgers and ordered what they call the Fryeburg Fair - Two beef patties topped with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onion, and pickle, finished with a mix of ketchup & mustard it is served in their pie pocket.  I substituted a salad for potato chips for the side. I was a little concerned when the waitress didn’t ask me how I would like it cooked.

My wife decided upon the Mount Katahdin – A pizza with a pesto sauce, fresh spinach, artichoke hearts and sliced tomatoes woven in a three cheese blend.  She ordered the 14” thin crust so she could have some to take home.

Then we waited.  And we waited.  The waitress stopped by to tell us our order was “coming right up.” We waited some more.  After more than 45 minutes the food finally arrived. The pizza looked amazing.  The burger was one of the most pathetic looking ‘burgers I’ve ever seen. Clearly, they intend to present the burger with a side of fries or something, but when served with a side salad you just get an empty plate with a pickle spear and their burger stacked upon itself in a mistaken attempt to make it seem more like “tall food.” The side salad was served with the burger (not before like most places do) and was a beautiful mix of lettuces with plenty of tomatoes, onions and cucumber slices.  The salad was and excellent choice and well worth the $1.00 upcharge. The burger tasted better than I was expecting. The beef, although well done, was still juicy and tasty. The pita bread looking pizza dough pocket was quite good, better than most buns at other places.

Soggy Mount Katahdin
Portland Pie Co.
As I said before, the pizza looked amazing. However, it was one of the worst tasting pizzas ever. It was soggy and had a greasy taste only expected on a meat pizza. Neither of us could taste the basil. When you took a slice off the platter, it left a snail trail.

The server didn’t offer to put the remaining pizza into a takeaway box for us. But otherwise, she was okay, albeit quite busy.

Rating - 3.0

Ambiance: 4 (Nice “pizza joint” atmosphere but too noisy for conversation at midday.)
Food: 3 (Pizza was soggy, the burger was good.) 
Service: 2 (Server was okay – But a long wait for food.)
Price: 3 (Lunch was under $13 each, not including drinks)
Value: 3 (There are many pizza focused restaurants in the area. Better pizza can be found elsewhere.)

Conclusion


Pizza looked much better than it tasted.
The bottom line is that the burger looked weird but tasted quite good and the pizza, that looked really good, was not very good at all. Looks can be deceiving. I am sure it will be years before we return.

Location

We went to the Scarborough location, 499 Expedition Drive, across the parking lot from Cabella’s.


Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for your comments.

Popular posts from this blog

Chef George’s Auto Mile Diner, Saco Maine

Image
Restaurant Review – Chef George’s Auto Mile Diner, Saco Maine I’ve found a great little breakfast place in Saco, the Auto Mile Diner. It is small, but the food is excellent, and the staff is always friendly. I’ve been there several times for breakfast and have always found the breakfasts great. I was getting my Jeep serviced across the street and walked over for breakfast. I there are only eight tables, but I was able to find a good seat. Moments after arriving the Owner asked if I’d like coffee. After hearing my reply, a nice cup of coffee was placed in front of me. There is a menu on the table as well as posters on the wall suggesting other items. After several visits, I’ve found the Mexican Omelet is one of my favorites—peppers, onions, cheese, jalapenos, and tomatoes, wrapped in eggs with salsa and sour cream on the side. There are several choices for accompanying sides, I picked hash browns and a grilled English muffin. The food arrived quickly and was delicious
Read more

Restaurant Review – Pappy’s Café aka Pappy’s Tavern

Image
Review by Don Taylor Pappy's Tavern - Andover, Minnesota It is rare that I go to the same restaurant two times in a row; however, I during my recent visit to Minnesota I went twice with friends to Pappy’s Café (The sign outside says Pappy’s Tavern while the menu says Pappy’s Café. People who know me know I really love a good breakfast, so two sets of friends on two separate days took me to Pappy’s. Frist, I went with friends from Blaine, MN, who live about 10 miles from Pappy’s. When we arrived, the place was very busy. We threaded our way to the back to a table next to the pull tab sales booth. It was busy, but it made buying pull tabs easy for my friend who only needed to turn around to purchase them. We ordered Bloody Marys while we reviewed the menu. The waitress, Sidra, brought the Bloody Marys with a snit. It had been a long time since I had a Bloody Mary in the Midwest that I had forgotten the tradition of having a small beer chaser (called a snit) with your Blo
Read more

Bridge Street Cafe - Rockford, MN

Image
While I was in Minnesota my brother suggested we go to breakfast at just about the best breakfast place he had been to lately.  He said it was about ten miles but would be well worth the trip.  So we loaded up our mother and headed to Rockford and the Bridge Street Cafe. The Bridge Street Cafe is a home-town cafe which is open for breakfast, starting at 6:00 AM (7:00 AM Sat & Sun) and open until 2:30 PM (3:00 PM Sat & Sun) and provides a nostalgic trip to a classic all American classic cafe.  Apparently downstairs of a Masonic Lodge the decor is pleasant. We were quickly greeted and asked if we wanted coffee or juice. We looked over the menu, my mother decided upon the “Breakfast Scramble” with breakfast potatoes (versa hash browns).  Both my brother and I decided on “The Bridge Street Breakfast.”  Three eggs, sausage, bacon, potatoes, and toast.  Quite unusual, one of the options is French toast and both of us selected that as well as hash browns.  Breakfast Scr
Read more