Eventide Restaurant Review

Eventide is an awesome restaurant in Portland that often has a ridiculous wait for good reason. If you get in at 5 or even just before 6, you may be able to get a table in less than 3 hours. Depending on the hostess, you may or may not get a text confirmation which makes it much easier to find a nearby bar to hang out at instead of the street. Best of all, they are dog friendly at the outdoor tables which are quite nice and a little less overbearing like inside.
The beer menu is good with a few local craft beers on tap, though not huge. The inside is cool with a huge raw bar. Service is good and pretty fast, but definitely doesn't rush you or the people whose table you are waiting for out.
The food is exquisite. Anything from the sea is amazing and worth a visit. The best way to approach the menu is like tapas and just pick a few things that sound interesting and let the staff suggest a few more for you.
The oyster shooters are a great place to start and you can get your paired with the spirit of your choice. The jalapeno vodka was a good one to take away some of the fishiness of the oyster and ended up complimenting it well.
The octopus salad was delectable and stacked up well to the excellent ones we recently had in Croatia. No rubberiness or burnt flavor here. Just huge tentacles in a nice glaze with some tasty veggies. It's sort of like discovering a giant sea squid under the murky depths of lettuce. Jacques Cousteau would be proud.
The green curry lobster stew was one of the more interesting dishes as it managed to merge two things I love, without ever having thought to put them together, and pulled it off well. The coconut curry soup was a very good thai one with excellent and succulent lobster bits in it. Somehow this went amazingly together and no one else seems to have figured it out.
The lobster roll was good, but a different type than you may expect. The brown butter and bao bun made it feel a bit more like a bbq roll and the taste was a bit more like korean bbq. This was fine, but don't expect a huge Maine style roll.
The bbq fried oysters were absolutely stunning. They looked great with huge shells and a colorful palate of stuff on them, and tasted even better. The crispy potatoes lent a great texture to the dish and the cabbage gave a nice tanginess. This was the waitress' favorite and it was so good, we ordered a second round.
The crab roll was good, but the least memorable of the dishes. It could use some color to be a bit more appealing as it is white meat on a white bun. However, it was quite tasty and definitely on the good end for a crab roll. Maybe there just isn't much more you can do with a crab roll.
We typically only get dessert is a meal is off the chart, and so naturally we went with the ice cream sandwich. It came with great ice cream inside a huge cookie and was nothing like a normal ice cream sandwich. It was just delectable. If we weren't ready to lay down and die in the street, we would have had a second.

Great food and atmosphere. Should've listened to our waitresses recommendations!

Lobster roll was not a flavorful as other places and also too tiny for the price. A RIP off. Bun was too mushy. Good chicken burger though. Too busy and Service could be more humble.

Sub-par. Everything is overpriced. Don t order any lobster/crab- type roll here. The bun is a sticky sweet yeast roll. And not enough meat/roll filling. They also don't course your meal so don't expect anything to come in any reasonable order. We got our lobster rolls before our drinks. It's obviously all premade if it takes 2 mins to order and get to your table. Just go anywhere else. Save your time and money.

Long wait, had to stand at bar. 30.00 for 12 oysters....good but not worth 30.00. A little disappointing.

Just beautiful food. Eventide has created a playfully nontraditional Maine menu that stands out from the crowd in the best way. An astonishing balance of New England/Asian flavors, expertly executed every time. I'm still thinking about their coconut curry lobster stew. Perfect service, gorgeous interior and quirky beverage menu. I love this place!

Just the best lobster rolls, plus tons of other excellent menu options, and a great drink menu, topped off with superb service.

We waited an hour to get a seat but that's to be expected as it was a spontaneous visit. It was worth it though. Got a lobster roll and a soup. View of the city was good from our seats

Fantastic food and good drinks. Especially a big fan of the lobster stew and chicken sandwich. During COVID they've taken over half the street and have a huge makeshift patio for safe outdoor dining. Prior to the current pandemic, they were open late with a nice downscaled menu, but I can't say for sure if that's still the case.

Staff is friendly and efficient, and while the indoor space isn't huge, it is open and let's plenty of sunlight in.

What's not to love? Oysters, crudo, lobster rolls & cocktails! Awesome off season late night menu and $1 oysters during snow storms!

Great service. Awesome oysters. The specials were okay, but not great.

Food was excellent and the place has a great vibe. My server, Meg, made really good recommendations. She was very good.

When I get to heaven, there will be two of Eventide's lobster rolls (they are, in all fairness, a bit tiny) and two dozen oysters, all locally sourced, waiting for me. If you pass through Portland without stopping here, you are a fool.

Fresh, delicious oysters, paired with local craft beer. Casual, clean setting with friendly service. Great place. Hope to return soon.

A lot of fake reviews. Not worth the waiting for service. Relies on the cruise ships and not locals. A one time visit, just to say you have been.

The portions were very small and the menu was expensive. The lobster roll was good but not worth the money.

It may be a little weird, But I think of this place as the center of the universe.

Awesome food and drinks. While the lobster roll was excellent, zero complaints, the crudos and raw fish dishes were amazing and really stole the show for us.

Queued for 45 mins with small kids to get to the front desk to be told there is another 90 wait for a table. Asked if we could take away (answer No) but told we could stand around inside and eat. And the staff there couldn't have been ruder about their lack of communication. Sure theres a great place in there somewhere but glad I don't have to deal with their customer service.

delicious lobster rolls, but expensive and small. still worth it.

This place was great. Fantastic selection, great drinks. Worth stopping in!

Raw tuna dishes are insanely good, perfect balance with thin garlicky sauce!

Great date night dinner! The wait was about 30 minutes on a cold Tuesday, so definitely a place in high demand! Staff super friendly and gave great advice about what to try-for two people we went with one of the daily specials plus two lobster rolls and a whoopie pie for dessert, which was plenty. We left satisfied, not stuffed!

I think this was the best lobster roll I ve ever had. It was a smaller portion, but I would definitely go back for that meal. Outdoor seating was plentiful and the waitstaff was so kind. Every table was wiped down to follow COVID preparedness guidelines. Definitely recommend!