Porthole Restaurant

The Porthole is now closed. They had a SERIOUSLY bad health inspection (Rats, water flowing directly below the floors to the bay, dirt, bugs etc...) and were shut down by the city. They reopened briefly, but the owner says he's not certain they will reopen as it will take too much money to rehab and pass health inspections. Information can be obtained by going to the website of the local paper, the Portland Press Herald.

My husband and i stopped at the Porthole on the way back from Maine to CT and they had a closed sign on the door on a Friday at noon. Too bad. :(

My family and I visited Porthole today. As indicated below, they don't make the brioche sandwich anymore. They make a more traditional lobster roll, except that its about twice as large as anywhere else. Right now market prices for lobster are low since this year's harvest has been excellent. The price was phenomenal and the lobster roll was delicious. Even better was the fried calamari. A huge portion, light batter, sweet squid in a tangy aoli sauce. We all loved it and can't wait to be come back.

Went there today for lunch. The management has changed (according to the waiter this happened three months ago). Tried the lobster roll, porthole burger, and the fried haddock sandwich. The only one worth paying for is the fried haddock. It was really disappointing to go there expecting what we saw on food network just to learn they weren't cooking the same things anymore. Don't bother going, there are much better places in Maine.

We stopped yesterday and had the same result as below. Very limited menu and the lobster roll was not the same as the video. Not sure if they changed ownership or something, but the lobster roll was pretty disappointing. My wife had beer-battered haddock and she enjoyed that. Overall, very disappointing, as the other Maine restaurants have all been very good places to eat!

Just went to the Porthole in Portland ME and was dissapointed with the lobster sandwich. My husband and I traveled from Long Island NY to Portland after seen the restaurant featured on Guy Fieri's show. The meat was ok but not abunduant and on a hard stale hot dog roll, not the fresh brioche bread featured on the show. The ginger calamari was good. I'd think twice about the features on the show. Knocked this restaurant off my list. ES

This is where I had lunch today....

I ate the squid, which was really good. However, I was most interested in the Lobster Roll they showed on TV. However, when I ordered it (lunchtime), they were out of lobster. That was a disappointment. As it is to my opionion one of their signature dishes (rest of the menu was not too special), and we were in the harbor in Portland Maine, to my opinion that is a place where you are not supposed to be out of Lobster, in the middle of summer, when on 50 yards from the entrance is a Lobster company where fisherman were bringing lobster every 20 minutes, and they had over 1000 lobsters in their big pool. Something like going to Holland, and you hear that they are our ot cheese, or no bratwurst and beer in Germany.

This restaurant is amazing!! It is so unassuming on the outside; you barely notice it and likely wouldnt even drive down the street it is located on if you weren't a local. We went there this weekend after visiting this site and looking for places close to old orchard beach. When we entered the "dive" we were hit with this amazing character of the place. It really has a great vibe. I ordered huevos rancheros with a side of hash and my fiance ordered the fishermans breakfast. I have to admit that I got a little frustrated when we got to 1 hr past ordering and we still hadn't received our food yet. BUT let me tell you... it was completely and utterly 100% worth the wait. It was by far the best breakfast joint we had ever been. I order Hash every single place we go because it is my favorite breakfast side. There hasnt been any place in the US that I have been that even comes close to the flavor packed into this side dish. My fiance's meal had homemade sausages (PACKED with flavor) and homefries with sweet potato in them. The effort they put into the dishes is clearly seen and it is evident that the food is all made from scratch. We loved this place so much we returned later for a late lunch. IT did NOT dissapoint. I loved the lobsta sandwich, clam chowder, and crab cakes! The sandwich had a nice thin dressing that highlighted the taste of the lobster and did not take away from it. The crab cakes were light and airy and packed with flavor from the red peppers and onions in them. My fiance loved the fish sandwich. We will be coming back to the porthole diner for years to come for the food and atmosphere.

My husband and I just came home from Portland.  We like to eat at the  smaller restaurants.  We tried the Porthole  Restaurant and loved it.  The food was great.  We had  Fish n chips.  The fish was wonderful.  We had potato soup.  That was great.  We will revisit that restaurant the next trip to Portland.