Rí Rá Irish Pub & Restaurant — Restaurant in Portland

We have been going to Ri Ra in Portland, ME on and off for many years now. Unless you live or work on the ocean, you will find the view almost worth the trip. Having been there, this summer, both on the weekend and earlier in the week, I have observations that may tweak the timing of your visit.

Obviously, the weekends are busy. Busy means: noise, more crowded, more social interacting, perhaps not as good service, and of course a livelier atmosphere , and music downstairs, if you are into the party scene. However, if you want to enjoy a window seat, or at least a good view of the ocean, go earlier in the week. All bets are off if a large cruise ship should happen to be in port, as the docking berth is just up the road a piece. As we are beyond the 30 to 40 'something' scene, we prefer the latter. With a view of the ocean you will see a constant stream of ocean traffic, especially in the summer, with the constant arrivals and departures of the Casco Bay Ferry Boats, ocean taxis, ocean tow services, private boats, etc. Likewise, if you like people watching, the second floor offers views as well of the piers and the outdoor deck of the pizza parlor, below.

When it is not crowded, it is a great place to relax, have a cocktail or beer, and enjoy a delicious plate of wings. The latter are on the smaller side but you get 15 or so, and they are very tasty.

The menu, like those at most restaurants, has changed over the years. I really miss the hanger steak of yore. We stopped going for a while years ago when they dropped the dinner menu and just had the same 'pub' menu for lunch and supper, but now they have the expanded dinner menu back. I looked online beforehand at the menu and noted that they had a Rib Eye, that was more than twice the price of an even larger steak at a national chain, without the extra side, buttered rolls, and all the peanuts you can eat. Although we can afford it, my practical genes kicked in and decided it cannot be twice as good, so I went with the Fish and Chips (fried battered haddock and french fries), which I had had there a couple of months ago. As I said the menu changed. A few months ago, it was presented as is most commonly served in Maine, as chunks of fried fish, scattered about on a bed of fries.

Last time, it was a 5 star meat; this time, I would give it a 2. As you can see from the picture, it appears as a single piece and is shaped in that of a crescent shaped moon. If you are into oodles of crispy and delicious batter, and your cardiologist doesn't object, this is for you. However, I discovered, this time, that I will wait for a menu change to order it again. Without the benefit of a large serrated bread knife, I found the hard shell difficult to penetrate. In the end, I picked it up in both hands and snapped it in half as you would when eating a lobster, or breaking a stick to put in the wood stove. I then scooped the small amounts of haddock out of the hard breaded shell. I am not sure what they were going for, here, the unusual look or a way to make a small amount of haddock look big, but both worked. We had a few neighboring tables inquire as to what it was, and, as noted, the fish portion ended up being much smaller than it recently was. With similar feedback as this, I am confident that they will go back to what worked.

Overall, a pleasant visit early in the week and a 'happening' on the weekends, and always, good,...

Just had a very disappointing experience at RiRa. We had a party of 9 split into 2 tables to comply with COVID guidelines (a table of 5 and a table of 4). We ordered drinks first and all were fine but one, which tasted way too strongly of sour mix. We requested to change to another drink as this drink was not palatable. The food was fine. When we received the bill the poor tasting drink was on the bill. We brought this to the waiters attention and he reluctantly took it off the bill telling us he made the drink himself and was sure it was good (it was not). When he returns with a new bill it is now more expensive because he forgot to tell us that parties larger than 6 receive an automatic 20% gratuity. This information is not on any menu nor was it mentioned at any point during the evening except when we said we did not want to pay for a drink that was not drinkable... this seens suspicious... We ask to speak to the manager who telks us it was "nice" of them to take off the disgusting drink. She says the policy is a 20% gratuity for large parties even though this can not be found anywhere in the establis. When we ask a few other questions about the bill, one of which included why are we paying gratuity on the subtotal bill which includes a drink that was returned and removed from the bill, she tells us to have a nice night and throws the bill on the table leaving us unsure how much we are supposed to pay/what is happening. I have to leave my table and stand by the server station with the bill and credit cards in my hand only to be blown past and ignored by said manager. Eventually I see our server and apologize that I dont know what we are supposed to pay since the manager walked off without any resolution. In the end the server takes $2 off the bill and I am so appalled by what has transpired that I just want out of this establishment. I understand COVID is difficult for everyone and people are on edge but a manager that throws the bill on your table and storms off without a resolution when our complaints were reasonable is unacceptable no matter what the circumstance. I really enjoy the food and ambiance of this facility and have had great service in the past but this was so disappointing and off putting that I will not...

Frist time we've been to Portland. Loved it the shops ,the bars ,the beautifully Vistas .until we went to leave. The public parking WHICH IS FREE ON SUNDAYS gave me a parking ticket. I made sure where we were parking. But someone gave us a ticket anyway $43 dollars and another towed my friends car. To god knows where..and to get it out only cash would be excepted. No reciept, no nothing and how much did they want 250 dollars .Which made our good impression of the city sour so much so we will not be going back. Now to RI Ra irsh pub review. We came there to see the Irish singer . He told us when we got there to come on in and take a seat any where. Because every table but one in that area WAS open. So we did. Then we sat there for an hour before we could flag down the waiter. No one told us we can not seat our selves. he had to ask if he could wait on us. Really, I have never ever heard of such a thing . And I am a big-time traveler. We were there with the singer. But I guess this pub doesn't need money. But he finally got the OK. Well we shouldn't have bothered. We ordered 3 chowders and fries for the table, fis, and fries sandwich plates. Liquor drinks all around. Then he was gone an hour later he was back with 2 chowders. We thought the rest was coming, we were wrong 20 mins later came the tables fries, he's gone again then 20mins later 1 fish and fries .he's gone fish and fries cold. 20 mins later he's back with a couple drinks . We ask him where is the 3rd chowder he for about it. We told him forget it. Everyone else had eaten and the person who ordered before everyone else was over it. It had been hours .now we wanted the bill that WAS another adventure. The people I came with would have bought much more had we had any kind of consistent service. And mind you in our area there WAS only 5 tables for 3 of the 4 hours we were there alone ,no one was sitting in them .it WAS crazy . As I said not going back back. I will be contacting the major to get answers about this if you are going to Portland...