The Maine House — Restaurant in Hallowell

It doesn't matter how good a drink is, if you cannot get served. Do yourself a favor, and visit State Lunch a few miles north in Augusta instead....

Dropping this place down to 1 star and adding to my original review below from about a month ago. As a similar situation that I previously described happens on our recent visit last Saturday, Jan. 6th. As before, we stopped here for post-dinner drinks after a different place in town. Bar was mostly full, but a table with 2 seats was open and we took it. A few minutes into the visit, 2 patrons left the bar, and with nothing to indicate their return, we sat there. The bartender working greeted us. Another employee eventually came over to the area and pulled the bartender aside for a chat. We were then told by the original bartender that the seats were taken, which struck us as odd, as she already welcomed us, and surely would have mentioned that the seats were taken earlier. She wasn't rude, but we were definitely surprised. Rather than go back to the table we had, we left and went elsewhere....

[original review] • Stopped here just for drinks after having dinner elsewhere. The drinks were amazing. I could definitely taste the smoke in the Mezcal. The only reason I dropped the stars on service wasn't related to our interactions at all. While we were there, we saw two other couples turned away because the staff wanted to close early. It was only 9:30 PM on a...

We went to the Maine House for our date night, which usually means drinks and appetizers. We typically look for a variety of interesting small plates, but the selection here was lacking. The food is from the Liberal Cup, and over the past few years, the quality there has noticeably declined. That said, it seems to have improved a bit.

My wife ordered a crab cake, which was good. I had the spaghetti Bolognese, but it was more like American Chop Suey—plentiful, but not at all as advertised.

Personally, I found their cocktail menu too sweet overall, and it lacked any classic offerings—no Aviation, no Vieux Carré, etc. I ordered a Manhattan, which was decent, but it was served with a bright red maraschino cherry instead of a Luxardo cherry like you’d expect at an upscale cocktail bar. Small details like that matter.

Finally, when we arrived, there was only one waiter serving an almost full house. I flagged her down and placed our drink order, but after 20 minutes with no drinks, I asked about them. She snapped at me. While I understand she was under pressure, taking it out on customers is not acceptable.

I'd like to see a revised food menu specific to a craft cocktail bar, and more thought on the drink menu with more...

Bartender is dismissive. If you want to tie one on then stop here bc their drinks are straight alcohol. Seems odd to complain about a strong drink but you can't even taste the drink. It's literally alcohol only which is why these 2 completely different drinks tasted exactly the same. A cross between alcohol and orange peels which there may have just been waaay to mich orange flavor in them. I heard ppl go there to pregame before other bars and I see why. It would be decent if they actually took the time to make a decent cocktail instead of just inundating you with alcohol. I keep considering giving them another chance but at 15.00 a drink,...