D. Taylor's Food & Travel

Tequilera’s Mexican Restaurant (Mexicantina) is the third restaurant to occupy this site at 183 US Route 1 in Scarborough over the past four or five years. I regularly enjoyed The Egg and went to the First Light restaurant that replaced it a few times. This was our second visit to Tequilera’s; the first time was shortly after they opened. Arrival We arrived just before noon for lunch and were seated right away. After a few minutes, we asked to be moved as the booth we were sitting at wasn’t nailed down and rocked whenever we moved. Also, the booth seats were extremely low and uncomfortable. There were only two other tables occupied at the time. Ordering The waiter took our order, a Chile Relleno and a Quesadilla Grande with Beef. He didn’t write it down. Sure enough, a few minutes later, he came back to ask, “was that chicken or beef?” My wife was happy because she wouldn’t have to return the plate as she did on our first visit. Food My Chile Relleno was quite good. More traditional th...

Background Because of COVID, it has been a long time since we have been out to a proper restaurant. We’ve done a lot of curbside and drive-thru pickup, but now that we have our COVID vaccinations and mask-wearing is becoming optional in Maine, I think we will be going out much more often. I also thought I’d start up this food blog again. This week, we thought we’d try The Garage at Pine Point. Unfortunately, we were eating about 3:30, and The Garage doesn’t open until 4 pm. So, instead, we went across the street to The Clambake.  Arrival The Clambake current hours are 11 am to 8 pm, seven days a week. We arrived about 3:40, and there were only a few people there.  Ordering Ordering is done in a line that leads to several cash registers. We placed our order for what we considered a “late lunch” and received our receipt with the call number. Then we walked across the hall to the bar. The bartender was pleasant and provided the drinks in plastic cups. My wife’s whisky soda was a ...

Restaurant Review: Nonesuch River Brewing Don Taylor It is rare that I think more of something isn’t better, but that was the case at lunch at Nonesuch River Brewing. Thin Onion Rings at Nonesuch River Brewing My wife and I arrived at an off time, about 3 PM, and were two of about eight customers in the restaurant. To get things started, we ordered drinks and an appetizer of thin onion rings. The onion rings came with a chipotle aioli drizzled on the top along with fresh slivered scallions.  I liked the scallions; they were flavorful. The chipotle aioli was tasty. I wish it had come on the side rather than on the onion rings because the aioli did an excellent job of off-setting the greasy onion rings – and they were greasy. It was one of the few times that we didn’t eat the entire order of onion rings. Backyard Farms Tomatos BLT at Nonesuch River Brewing Before we finished our appetizer, our sandwiches arrived. My wife got the Backyard Farms Tomato BLT with a mixed...

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...

By Don Taylor When we want a really great meal, we go to the Pine Point Grille in Scarborough. I think it is the best restaurant I've ever been to that doesn't have tablecloths. The food is elevated, I'd even say gourmet, and the service is impeccable. We had two reasons for going to the Pine Point Grille. First, my wife's birthday was last March. She wanted to go there for her birthday, but they hadn't opened for the season yet. Our going kept getting put off and I needed to make good on my promise to her.  Second, we had an out of town guest that we wanted to take to dinner. The Pine Point Grille seemed to be the perfect place to do both. We arrived early -- opening time, which is at 5 PM. and ordered drinks. We took our time with the menu. I'm a native of Minnesota, where "Tater Tot hot dish" is a staple. I was amazed reading about how the Pine Point Grill was elevating the humble Tater Tot ® to gourmet status with truffle ketchup, black ga...

I love good seafood. So, I was really excited to go to Baileys Seafood Restaurant on Pine Point Road in Scarborough. What a letdown. Bailey’s is one of the quintessential Main seafood places where you order at a window, wait for your number to be called and pick up the food and take it to your table. It was off-hours and off-season, so there wasn’t any line. I was a bit taken back by the prices. It was quite a bit more expensive than other restaurants of the same ilk in the area, for example, the Haddock dinner at Bailey’s is $4 more than at Ken’s and $3 more than at the Clambake (both are also along Pine Point Road in Scarborough). I thought, “Well if it is rally good, it’s okay.” My wife and I ordered onion rings as an appetizer, then I ordered the Haddock dinner and my wife ordered the baked stuffed scallops. The dinners had an option for baked potato, something the other restaurants in the area don’t have, so I opted for that. We were told the scallops would take ab...

I am “not from around here” and have never lived in a place before where establishments close for the winter. I understand it intellectually, but just haven’t gotten into the mind-set to know that my favorite places to eat in the summer and early fall will be closed for the winter and won’t open until spring. Last summer and fall we went to the Pine Point Grille several times and truly loved the food, particularly their pork entree, so we were very excited to learn that they were opening on March 19th. We couldn’t get there the first couple of weekends they were open but were able to go a couple weeks later. We arrived shortly after opening and they were already fairly busy. Maybe about half the tables were already taken.   In the summer they seat many people in their outside area, but March in Maine – everyone was inside and trying to be as far away from the door as possible. The Pine Point Grill is a nice upscale restaurant. It is probably one of the nicest places I know o...

We were recently talking to a neighbor about Chinese restaurants in the area and she recommended Chia Sen on Payne Road.  It is next to the AT&T store, near Bull Moose, not too far from the Maine Mall.  We were in the area and thought we would give it a shot. As we walked to the front door, the signs, “Fine Dining,” and “Chinese Cuisine,” promised a wonderful meal.   We were moderately disappointed when we didn’t see tablecloths, which are part of our definition of “fine dining.”   However, we were pleasantly greeted and brought to a nice table. It took a long time for the waiter to stop by.   We ordered waters with lemon.   Because Chia Sen also has a full bar, we decided to order a couple “Bloody Mary’s.”   The waters were dropped off quickly and the waiter left without a word – Presumably to go to the bar to get our drinks.   The waters did not have the lemon, as we had asked for.   The “Bloody Mary’s” took quite a while ...