5 Best Restaurants in The Southern Coast, Maine

Award-winning chef Bowman Brown is behind this restaurant, situated in an old mill building—transformed with exquisite, Scandinavian-style decor—and offering just two tasting-menu seatings (at 5 and 8:30) a night. This is one of Maine's most highly regarded and splurge-worthy dining experiences, featuring meticulously prepared, seasonally inspired dishes, but if your budget is tight, note that the first-floor Jackrabbit Cafe serves small plates and pastries for a fraction of the tasting-menu price.

Housed in a historic barn, this wine bar and its front patio get busy in summer, and for good reason: artisan cocktails and flavorful small plates are expertly made, and, as the name suggests, the wine list is stellar. Except for a six-week break in midwinter, it's open year-round and cozy on cold nights, too. Stop in for live music or book a small-group cocktail class.

This off-the-beaten-path spot takes farm-to-table dining very literally. The fresh-grown produce—much of it from the grounds at Jordan’s Farm—needn’t travel far: prix-fixe dinners are served, family- or tasting-menu style on the intimate "chef's porch" or in private screened gazebos tucked among the flower fields, yours for the whole night. Reservations are available January 1 for the following season, and slots book up fast, so reserve early, or walk in to enjoy a cocktail outdoors.

The small, shareable plates at this restaurant are excellent (think littleneck clam toast, locally made sourdough, and fresh plates of cheeses and greens), but the cocktails, that incorporate inventive ingredients (like a foam made from seawater collected from nearby Fortune’s Rocks beach) aren’t to be missed. Grab a spot on the spacious, laid-back granite patio in summer or inside at the intimate bar in colder months.

This artful bar in happening Kittery Foreside district has an excellent selection of mostly local brews on tap, as well as a rotating menu of fun cocktails. Equally praiseworthy is its upscale-but-still-approachable pub fare, which includes buffalo fried oysters, ratatouille, and bar snacks like deviled eggs with pickled watermelon rind.