Back Bay Grill

This place is near our home, so we were delighted to try it soon after we moved in. We’ve been back several times since then.
I can not say enough positive things about this place. First, the location, while being in Bayside (my neighborhood), it still feels romantic and clean and comfortable. The staff is magnificent. We usually sit at the bar for dinner and drinks and Evie (spelling?) is a terrific bartender, very helpful and friendly.
Everything I’ve had has been fantastic, from the bread, the soups, the main courses and of course desserts. The scallops are tremendously flavored and everything feels as if it were painstakingly cared for. A definite go to!

I don’t live in fancy town. I can’t afford to live in fancy town, but every once in a while I like to visit there. When I take the trip, I pack my bags and head to the Back Bay Grill (if I’m going to fancy town, I’m gonna go to the right place, okay!?!)
When you enter you are immediately greeted by Adrian, who is friendly, energetic, and makes your initial interaction so positive you won’t be able to turn and walk away. The atmosphere is classic, white table clothes, servers dressed in white button ups with black pants, place settings… It’s all there, and it looks beautiful.
The cocktails are made to perfection and the bartender, Evie, has a quick wit and gives a great recommendation. I had a cocktail called the Queequog (I have no idea how to spell this) which was smokey and strong.
Appetizers are all about presentation and flavor. I think the chef must have sold his soul to the devil because the beef tartare is something from another realm. I lived in Montana, where I swear they must have slaughtered the cows behind the restaurants, the meat was so fresh. But, the Back Bay Grill has the most incredible beef tartare I’ve ever tasted. It’s smooth, perfectly seasoned, simple and elegant. I dream about this. I’m not kidding.
I was there with two friends and we all ordered different entrees. Each one was delicious. Everything was delicious, from the cocktails to the dessert. We sat there for 3 hours, enjoyed a three course meal, and had a great time. Next trip I take to fancy town, you better watch out BBG, I’m coming for you!

great ambience and such service with friendly really great staff. they love their job. You know it. They bend over backwards for you and accommodate your every want without being stuffy or pretentious. We went here before going to a play. Hubby had 2 ways of lamb. One, was a sausage and one was a boneless lamb chop. With yummy potatoes and spinach. I had 3 appetizers. Now, the place is super expensive and the appetizers were tiny, but so worth it. I wasn’t stuffed I was so satisfied. My first appetizer was gnocchi and spinach. Then I had a warm squash salad with goat cheese. Last, foie gras. They gave us a sample of a new recipe at the start and end of the meal. Beats and basil with goat cheese and hazelnut chocolate mint truffle. Tasty. We still had dessert. Hubby, the Crème Brulee and I had Bread Pudding. Fantastic!!! the owner is great and I loved our waiters cause my husband loves to kind of tease folks, sort of, and the waiter played along nicely!

From the moment you walk in the door, you know that you have come to the right place. Beginning with the warm welcome all the way through the meal to dessert, the food is delicious and the service is impeccable!
They pay careful attention to detail and offer great accommodations for allergies.
We visited the restaurant to celebrate a birthday last year (visiting from Boston) and eagerly returned a second time. Both times each and every dish was absolutely delicious!
Don’t leave without enjoying the desserts!
Great place for special occasions! Great place for celebrations! Fantastic service!

This is clearly one of Portland’s best restaurants. Food, service and ambiance all hit high marks. I did want to try everything on the menu, but since I was a part of one, I was restricted.

The experience was amazing all around. Prior to arriving, they had moved our table to be more accommodating for our infant. This level of he service continued all night. Water glasses were always full, menu option were well explained and food was always brought out on time, without being rushed.
My wife and I split a crab cake and romaine salad (essentially a caesar) for apps and the kitchen was happy to spit both on to separate plates to make sharing easier. Both were well done. The kitchen also sent out a pepper stuffed with a cream sauce, which was a very interesting and tasty unexpected bonus.
For dinner I had the duck with gnocchi and my wife had the halibut with corn risotto. I’m always nervous to order duck, because it’s so hard to get done right, but the chef’s rendered the fat perfectly. The gnocchi was well proportion and was some of the best gnocchi I’ve ever had. I only had a couple of bite of the halibut, but it was done very well and my wife was equally happy with her dish.
For dinner I got the bread pudding, which was epically good. It was in a bowl with lemon curd and assorted berries. Again, everything was perfectly well proportioned, so I got to get through all three courses, without feeling overly full. As a dessert bonus, the kitchen brought out complimentary fried vanilla balls (not sure what else to call them). They were insanely rich, but very good.
Lastly, I got a flight of scotch to close out the evening, which is an awesome way to be able to compare a few different types of scotch, without breaking the bank or ending up under the table.
Overall, and amazing experience. The restaurant has a lot of hype on Unilocal,but it lived up to the expectation. Definitely a special place. It’s a must visit if you’re Portland.

My new favorite restaurant in Portland. Exceptionally beautiful, tasty food and thoughtful service.
They were able to modify a scallop appetizer to omit bacon for me; and we left with the overall impression the waiter would give us his first born child if it would make our dining experience more pleasant. Yeah– they’re just that good.
The small touches (their logo carved into the butter, the small amouse before and after dinner were charming) really sets this place apart from other fine dining restaurants.
And the food? Oh, the food. The crab cake was bright and clean– the fennel slaw on top was a great touch; the salmon entrée was cooked perfectly and was a nice reminder how the simple things (like salmon and dill) sometimes are just the best.
Can’t wait to return again next year.

To echo the other reviews here, I had the beef tartare and it was incredible. My girlfriend had the crab cake and she was also quite happy. The crab cake is a good size with a lot of crab meat. There is also a light panko crust. However, despite those things, the sauce to go with it was a little bland.
For cocktails, I had the burnt orange rye something or other which was amazing. She literally burnt the orange in front of us. My girlfriend had the Spring prosecco (with gin, cucumber and lemon juice) which was also good but if you don’t like gin that much the flavor does come through. It was quite refreshing though.
We sat at the bar and the bartender was extremely friendly and professional. The only reason we didn’t give 5 stars was that the crab cake wasn’t out of this world. We would very easily go back though, especially for the service.

Flew in from the west coast, hosed off and headed over. I had high expectations… they were far exceeded. Foie, tartar, scallops, duck… all spot on. Hands down the best duck and scallops we have had in the past few years. Definitely the best tartar I’ve ever had. Huge egg yolk, anchovies, and great pickles with the tartar.
Now for the service. Absolutely the best we have had in recent memory… Or ever. Honest opinions on dishes, friendly, not rushed, charming and knowledgeable. It was as good as it gets from the greeter, servers to the excellent bar tender. The bartender even came over and talked us through some wines with a no nonsense tasting. The waitress was not only efficient, attentive and knowledgable, but extremely friendly and engaging. The staff even put together a list of a must eats for the rest of our stay. I don’t recommend restaurants often, but when I do…

This place was amazing! Having just moved to Maine we decided to settle in with a celebratory dinner, Craig’s selection was Back Bay, great choice!
We arrived a bit early because we wanted to grab a drink at the bar. Our table was not quite ready, which obviously was fine because we showed up early. We stayed at the bar for a little bit, bartender was awesome, very sweet and made great recommendations. I don’t totally remember what I started with (writing this review, way late!) I do know it was a whiskey drink that was really clever and tasty. I think Craig had a beer.
When we moved to our table we started with scallops, they were incredible. Craig ordered a chicken dish, which made ordering chicken out worth it. And I had a tuna dish, it was amazing. Sorry I don’t have more details, I started this review months ago and just never finished it.
Its awesome, you should go. It is a romantic little place, cool ambiance, great service.

Went there for a special dinner last night, and were not disappointed, tho not the best food we had in Portland. The staff were very attentive ! And the food was «good» but not «great «.
The wines were reasonably priced and good value which we enjoyed
The steak tartare was fantastic, as was the foisgras., the lamb not the best I’ve had, and the duck also wanting a little.
Overall a unique dining experience in Portland, and one of the best you will have.
Highly recommended

One of the best restaurants in Portland, by far. Adrian is the best owner I have ever met and he is a wonderful business person, dad, and always makes you feel welcome. He remembers your name and so do all of the waitstaff (they’re really great too). My family and I come here for every big celebration because they always make you feel special and welcome.
The food is FANTASTIC. My grandmother has a lot of allergies and they are always willing and excited to make something catered to her needs. The crab cake is one of my favorite dishes and the salads are always delicious. The menu is constantly changing, but I always go for the pasta and am never disappointed. You need to come here. ¹⁰⁄₁₀ would recommend. You really can’t go wrong coming here if you want an upscale dinner that will not disappoint you. Everything is delicious.

Food was fantastic! Crab cake was lite and flavorful. I had the grilled rack of lamb for dinner and it was excellent. Melted. Service was a little ehh, but I would definitely recommend it. We’ll be back.

Took my boyfriend here for his birthday dinner. It’s such an intimate and romantic atmosphere which was perfect. The décor is not trendy by any means though. It was snowing quite a bit and a Thursday evening so the restaurant was pretty much dead. I really enjoyed our food and probably in top 10 meals of portland so far. Im writing this obviously a month or so later so I apologize for the lack of food descriptions but I do remember being pleased (but nothing so memorable that it’s sticking out now.) It’s one of the more upscale establishments in portland it seems and intended for a nice night out. The service is nice and errs on the fine dining side as opposed to the more casual service that you see some of the newer and trendier restaurants doing.

Thank you Restaurant Week!
With a $ 45 prix fixe menu, Back Bay Grill was an opportunity too good to miss. What made it even better was that neither one of us had ever been to the Back Bay Grill — despite having lived in Portland for years.
The décor was somewhat dated… With artwork that looked like it may have been hung when Bill Cosby was still the king of Thursday nights. But that’s really the only criticism that we could come up with.
The staff was friendly and attentive. Our waitress was familiar with both the regular menu and the Restaurant Week menu and was able to make recommendations to us from both. The wine list was quite extensive but again, we were able to rely on our waitress to provide suggestions that really hit the mark.
We both opted for selections from the three course Restaurant Week menu. I got the pork belly for my first course, potato leek soup for my second and seafood sausage for my entrée. My date got the local skate for her first course, hearts of romaine salad second and the pork shoulder with polenta for her third course.
Everything was amazing! We shared each dish but couldn’t agree which of the first course we preferred. We liked the skate and pork belly equally. The hearts of romaine was the clear winner of the second round… And based solely on its originality, the seafood sausage nudged out the pork shoulder (barely) for the win in the third round.
We both agreed that based on the creativity shown in the prix fixe menu, we’ll be back to try the regular menu. Soon.

The crew and I ended up here as part of our monthly Superdate ritual. That is, six of us came on Saturday evening for dinner (in a limo, after finishing ballroom dancing lessons; don’t ask — it’s a Superdate thing).
The awesome:
— FOIE. This get its own line in the list, and must absolutely be tried.
— Service, service, service. Polite, prompt and courteous wait staff who ask questions like «do you have a bourbon preference in your old-​fashioned?»
— All the other food. I had lamb two ways, but the rest of the table had a wide variety of stuff — including the filet, pork, scallops, duck two ways, and other stuff I can’t remember. But the three courses were absolutely brilliant, all around.
— Drinks. Clever selection of cocktails, and an intimidating wine list.
The could be better (and I’m reaching here):
— Beers in bottles.
— One-​at-​a-​time bathrooms.
You’re gonna pay for the experience, but I think it should be on your list of must-​try spots in Portland.

My favorite restaurant in Portland, hands down. I enjoyed every second of this experience starting from making the initial reservation, to the host putting on my coat when we left.
To start, we walked in and were surprised at the small space, but not too small that we were turned away. The distance from the tables to the kitchen was just close enough that we still felt like we were in our own space. The host was extremely welcoming. He even called me twice to confirm our reservation because of the fluctuating weather we had been having. I found that to be very gracious and not annoying.
I was pleasantly surprised at the price of their drink menu as well. Their meals are a little bit higher than the norm for Portland (AND WORTH IT, but I’ll get to that next), but the drinks were a pleasant 8 – 15 dollar range.
We started with the mussels as an app (SURPRISE!). They were wonderful. They even split the app into two dishes for us. The homemade bread and butter was also just enough. One more slice I probably would have said it was too much, but then again, it was melt in your mouth bread, so too much is still ok. I ordered the scallops with risotto and roasted beets and my bf ordered the stuffed chicken leg. MIne couldn’t have been better, so simple, yet incredibly sophisticated to taste. His chicken was stuffed with an herb sausage that he said was also delicous. We opted out of dessert, as we normally do, but we did notice the aray of sweets that were offered; from cakes, to brule, to several hot toddys.
The service was top notch. Not once were we greeted without a smile, whether it was to take our order, ask how our meal was or take our plates.
I can’t wait to return, which I hope, is ASAP, like tonight, or tomorrow, or maybe they’ll open to make me breakfast.

We have been wanting to get here for some time on one of our trips to Portland, glad we finally did! The reviews were pretty good, so it sets the expectations pretty high. Enjoyed our dinner very much, and very good service! Nice wine list as well, and beers from Maine Brewing Co!

My friends and I had reservations for Back Bay on Friday night. We picked this place because of Unilocaler’s recommendations. When you enter, there’s a feel of old school cigar lounge. I ordered the saffron and white wine mussels which were SO good. That sauce was ridonkulas! We had to request extra bread so we could mop up that sauce! I ordered the salmon. It was okay… it sat on a bed of pasta with roasted red pepper and a white sauce. The salmon itself was a bit dry and bland. We decided to skip dessert but they still gave us complimentary shortbread cookies with a dollop of chocolate ganache which were pretty yummy. I might come back and order a different entrée.

After a weeklong trip that included some of the best restaurants in Montréal and Quebec City, I never thought I’d say my single best meal was in Portland. But, as all the other reviewers have noted, Back Bay Grill is absolutely amazing. The menu is compact but diverse, with at least one selection each covering beef, fish, chicken, lamb and duck.
After much debate, I settled on an incredible corn chowder with potato, bacon, red pepper and lobster. I’m kind of a corn chowder junkie, but this was definitely in my Top 3. For my entrée I ordered the homemade pappardelle with veal meatballs and pancetta. The waitress brought a spoon as part of my set-​up, which seemed strange for a flat, non-​twirly pasta like pappardelle. But one taste of this dish, and it all made sense: When the pasta and meatballs were gone, I shamelessly tipped my bowl and spooned up every drop of the dark, rich jus. (Sometimes good flavor trumps good manners.)
Three courses + two drinks = $ 90 per person, all in. Worth every penny.
Strictly in terms of food and service, Back Bay Grill would earn 5+ stars from me. But the setting definitely affects the overall experience, and not in a good way. The street is dark and kind of desolate, with dark storefronts everywhere, save for a couple of sketchy bars, where patrons slumped in the doorway kept asking for a buck «to catch the bus.»
Would I run the gauntlet again to see what Back Bay Grill has on the menu? Um, yeah, in a heartbeat.