The Top 76 Restaurants Near Lucky Cheetah

The open kitchen here runs on live fire: a wood-burning oven, a grill, and a turnspit that turns out roasted pork while chefs pull oysters and raid a glass-windowed vegetable humidor in full view of the dining room. It's a New England restaurant in a high-ceilinged brick warehouse above the Old Port, and a James Beard Outstanding Restaurateur winner. The rope-cultured mussels in garlic-almond butter are the kind of thing regulars order without looking up.

1. AAA Four Diamonds
2. James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Outstanding Restaurateur · Dana Street
3. Portland Press Herald Top 10 · Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. Food & Wine Dutch Baby · Best Dishes Our Editors Ate This Year
2. Portland Press Herald Top 10 · Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland
3. James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Northeast · Jeremy Broucek

Warm ochre walls, bookshelves stacked with dried flowers, and handmade pasta that regularly lands a James Beard nomination: this cozy Italian restaurant on Free Street is the kind of neighborhood spot that somehow becomes a national conversation. The chef's shapes and sauces pull from whatever local producers are doing well right now, and the wine program is its own reason to linger. Settle in and watch Portland's Arts District do its thing out the window.

1. James Beard Awards 2022 · Nominee · Best New Restaurant
2. James Beard Awards 2024 · Nominee · Best Chef: Northeast · Jake Stevens
3. Wine Enthusiast Forward 50 Restaurants

1. Portland Press Herald Top 10 · Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland
2. James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Northeast · Chris Gould

1. James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Outstanding Restaurateur · Dana Street
2. James Beard Awards 2026 · Winner · Outstanding Restaurateur · Dana Street

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland
2. James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker · Brant Dadaleares

Communal tables and mismatched plates set the tone at this noodle bar on Middle Street, where the menu wanders confidently through Asia with a New England detour. Lobster wontons land in seafood curry; smoked lamb khao soi shows up alongside whatever happens to be coming off the wok that day. The room is tight, which concentrates the energy nicely. A James Beard semifinalist for Best Chef: Northeast in 2024.

1. Condé Nast Traveler 15 Best Restaurants in Portland, Maine
2. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland
3. James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Northeast · Valerie Goldman

The blonde wood sushi bar is the room's focal point, and the chefs behind it move like they've been doing this forever. Miyake is a classic Japanese restaurant on Fore Street where the kitchen fuses traditional sushi with French and Italian technique and leans hard into Maine seafood. Every seat fills fast, and the counter draws regulars who know exactly what they're ordering before they sit down.

1. Condé Nast Traveler 15 Best Restaurants in Portland, Maine
2. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

A mahogany bar anchors one end while a giant abstract mural anchors the other, and in between, marina lights hang above wooden booths full of regulars who clearly regard this as their personal dining room. Sur Lie is a tapas-style New American spot where small, eclectic plates rotate through whatever the kitchen finds interesting. A James Beard semifinalist for Outstanding Hospitality, the warmth here is structural, not performed.

1. Condé Nast Traveler 15 Best Restaurants in Portland, Maine
2. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Hospitality
3. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Krista Cole

Old wooden beams from the original building were milled into the chef's counter, which is where you want to sit at this New England French restaurant if you can get it. The menu runs refined and a little lusty at once, French technique laid over serious local sourcing. The New York Times and Esquire both noticed when it opened, and the room has been full ever since.

1. AAA Four Diamonds
2. The New York Times The Restaurant List
3. Esquire #33 · The Best New Restaurants in America

1. James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Best Chef: Northeast · Thomas Takashi Cooke
2. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

The burnt banana coconut tapioca pudding is a little ugly and completely beside the point, which is almost the whole story of this Vietnamese restaurant on Washington Ave. The menu runs bright and chili-forward, with shrimp cakes wrapped in butter lettuce and twice-cooked eggplant that quietly steals the table. A James Beard nominee for Best Chef: Northeast and a New York Times Restaurant List pick, it draws the kind of crowd that orders everything.

1. James Beard Awards 2022 · Nominee · Best Chef: Northeast · Vien Dobui
2. The New York Times The Restaurant List
3. Condé Nast Traveler 15 Best Restaurants in Portland, Maine

1. New England Best New Brunch · Yankee Food Awards
2. The New York Times Mushroom Breakfast Taco · The Best Restaurant Dishes We Ate Across the U.S.
3. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. The New York Times Dulce de Leche Flan · The 14 Best Restaurant Desserts We Ate Across the U.S.

1. Condé Nast Traveler 15 Best Restaurants in Portland, Maine

1. Esquire The Best New Restaurants in America
2. Portland Press Herald Top 10 · Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

The room seats maybe thirty people and fills up fast, tucked between the West End and Parkside in a spot that looks like a classic neighborhood tavern and then proceeds to serve broiled scallop with caviar and hollandaise. Small plates anchor the menu, the wine list has a point of view, and the cocktails are sharper than the setting lets on. Condé Nast Traveler put it on their Portland list, which surprises no one who's been.

1. Portland Press Herald Top 10 · Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland
2. Condé Nast Traveler 15 Best Restaurants in Portland, Maine

1. James Beard Awards 2022 · Nominee · Best Chef: Northeast · Damian Sansonetti
2. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service · Mary Allen Lindemann

1. Portland Press Herald Top 10 · Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland
2. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Northeast · Isaul Perez

1. James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Northeast · Mary Celia Bruns

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. Esquire Espresso Martini · The Best Martinis in America
2. Punch Best New Bars
3. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

The building used to be a Dairy Queen, and the kitchen leans into that legacy rather than running from it. Woodford F&B is a neighborhood restaurant where the chef, a James Beard nominee, turns out unfussy food with serious technique: charcuterie with a devoted following, a brisket burger stacked high, a croque-monsieur that earns the trouble. The room is relaxed enough that no one's performing, but the cooking suggests someone back there very much is.

1. James Beard Awards 2024 · Nominee · Outstanding Hospitality
2. James Beard Awards 2022 · Nominee · Best Chef: Northeast · Courtney Loreg
3. Condé Nast Traveler 15 Best Restaurants in Portland, Maine

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. James Beard Awards 2024 · Winner · Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker · Atsuko Fujimoto
2. James Beard Awards 2022 · Nominee · Outstanding Baker · Atsuko Fujimoto
3. Portland Press Herald Top 10 · Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. Portland Press Herald Top 10 · Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Bar
2. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland
3. James Beard Awards 2022 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Bar Program

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. Eater The Best New Restaurants in America

1. James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Hospitality

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Five Star
2. AAA Five Diamonds

1. AAA Four Diamonds

1. New England 20 Best New England Cideries

1. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Krista Cole

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Cara Stadler and Cecile Stadler

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. Portland Press Herald Best 75 places to eat and drink in Greater Portland

1. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Northeast · Jason LaVerdiere

1. Bon Appétit America's Best New Restaurants

1. AAA Four Diamonds

1. James Beard Awards 2026 · Winner · Best Chef: Northeast · Evan Hennessey

1. James Beard Awards 2023 · Winner · America's Classics: Northeast

1. The New York Times The Restaurant List
2. James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best New Restaurant

1. New England 20 Best New England Cideries

1. New England 20 Best New England Cideries

1. James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Northeast · Nicole Nocella

1. Bon Appétit #9 · America's Best New Restaurants