1. Chef Et Al. Hard by the USM campus on Forest Ave, this upscale bistro offers casually fine dining and a quality (and cheaper) bar menu of appetizers and lunch-size portions. Nice local beers are on offer. I had the mussels, which were very good, and sampled the drafts. My one quibble: I'd like Chef to be a little more adventurous in the beer offering. How about the Allagash Dubbel or Grand Cru rather than the more pedestrian White?
2. Shame, Shame, Shame. It was the familiar Shipyard paddle. It was bright red, the color they designate for their IPA, my eyes suck, I pointed to it and gestured with my glass, which was empty, the 'tender brought my beer, it was completely flavorless, I asked about it, the 'tender explained it was their summer seasonal. The folks at Shipyard should be ashamed for 1) brewing a horseshit seasonal, and, 2) disguising it as an IPA to the unsuspecting. Be careful out there!
3. Granny's Burritos. A serviceable burrito in the underserved Portland Tex-Mex market. I'm glad they are back. They're in the former Uncle Billy's Rest-O-Bar space on Congress St, by Joe's Smoke Shop. I love the funky space, the juke box, the strange art and artifacts on the walls. I used to love the variety of local beer on tap at the old Granny's. The new Granny's seems to have adopted Uncle Billy's policy of shitty beer selection. It hasn't adopted Billy's overpriced food policy though: ten buck gets you a burrito and a beer. The poor beer selection was salvaged by Seadog IPA being one of the 3 draft beer options (along with Shipyard Export and PBR). The Seadog might be the best of the local IPAs and was just fine to wash down my burrito with.
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