Grace.

Grace opened in Portland a few weeks ago, and we went last night.

I was expecting it to feel overly swank or overly hip -- it is, after all, a restaurant and bar in a church -- but it didn't.  At all.  The entrees are pricey (for us), but the drinks and bar food are reasonable, and I just felt comfortable there.

We sat at the bar, which I thought would feel exposed and weird, but it didn't -- it felt cozy.  We didn't get a chance to walk along the balconies to get a different view of the space, but we'll have to next time.  Oh yes, there'll be a next time. 

Definitely worth a visit when you're in town, even if only to see how beautifully the owners have restored the building and how they've integrated the restaurant into it.

Thumbs up.

Comments

[Elizabeth]

Lobster tacos! I will surely have to check that out during my Sept. overnight in Portland (part of my of-course-I-can-get-to-Nova-Scotia-from-Maryland-by-public-ground/sea-transportation experiment.)

[Leila]

NICE!

[tanita]

It's gorgeous. It's a big UK thing to refunction churches into other spaces; I lived in one for a year, and it was very cozy. The weirdest refunctioning, though, I saw a couple of weekends ago -- a grocery store. With stained-glass windows. Um. This is a much better idea; the refunctioning I like best in town is a pub/playhouse. They have a big sign that advertises lunchtime theater, or "Play and a Pie!" They have short plays that are forty-five minutes long, just long enough to eat, watch, and return to work. Which is cool.

Now I have another reason to visit Maine!

[Sarah I.]

I have been thinking about a day trip to Portland - I'll have to add this to my list of places to visit. It looks really cool! :)