Three Dollar Deweys

Cheap eats, lots of beer choices, burgers were good size, great value. Place was packed when we went and our waitress worked so hard! She was attentive, kind, smiled even though 2 other large tables were clearly running her hard. I’d go back!

Normally we get the same thing when we have lunch here: haddock sandwich and a Reuben. Today we ordered the specials, and it was a huge mistake. The chicken teriyaki roll up with pineapple salsa sounded delicious, but arrived in a soggy wrap. Gross. The Blue Cheese Burger should have been cooked medium, but arrived as a hockey puck. Not a busy lunchtime, so that’s no excuse. If we hadn’t been in a time crunch, both meals would have been sent back.
Both lunches seemed like they would have been great if they weren’t screwed up.
In addition, the server never came over to check on us after the food arrived.
On a positive note, the salt and vinegar fries were awesome!

This place is definitely «A-​OK». Free Popcorn. Bar food. Some drink specials here and there.
Excellent place for large groups. A good place to start the night off before wondering through Old Port.

This is a great Portland dive that’s great for the whole family.
The staff is really knowledgeable on their product offering (gluten free options, etc) and their $ 3 special continually rotates. Their unique story behind their name really cements them in your memory. As someone from out of town, I was excited to stumble across this local favorite located right by the docks and downtown Portland.

Walked in on a friday night and it was not really busy. My sisters and I just wanted some good beers and hang out. There weren’t that many people at the bar yet the bartenders still weren’t attentive to us. Gave this place a try cuz of the recommendation but it was just okay.

Great service! Bartenders were so very friendly.
My only suggestion is that the lime should be cut a little thicker, similar to the lemons. :)

Please note that this review is only for their service that we received when we visited. Dewey’s is a household dive bar that’s been in Portland for a very long time. I’ve visited this place on and off for years. It’s a place where you feel at home with free popcorn, relaxed atmosphere, and people are unpretentious and judgement free zone (like Planet Fitness). For some reason last night was different (maybe different or new staff?). We walked in and the bouncer checked our ID (nice guy). 2 female waitresses were at the center service station where the popcorn machine is. They both saw us but no acknowledgment or greeting of any sort. A «hi» or «welcome» or «simply a feel free to seat anywhere you like «would be good but nothing! We took the initiative to sit ourselves. The waitress was literally 5 feet from us just playing on her iPhone for a few minutes before coming over to give us our menu (again no greeting of any sort). We ordered wings and dessert. She walked away. I was wearing crocs that night and they were the slip on kind so the high bar seat was easy for them to slip off. The other waitress walks by and says «sir can u put on your shoes.» To say that she was yelling may not be fair but her aggressive tone and facial expressions were rude and disrespectful. If she’s reading this or her manager a better approach would be to come up to the customer, smile, and just simply explain that your establishment requires shoes to be on customers feet or for safety reasons or whatever reason it is and then thank the customer for doing it. Instead she went the opposite direction which left a very uncomfortable long time customer. Anyways the food comes from the first waitress and we said thank you very much. No you’re welcome back and walks away. She brings napkins back and again we both politely say thank you and nothing back or even a smile. No one checked back during our dining there to see if things were ok or is the food okay or do we need anything else. We finished quickly and the waitress was again on her iPhone the entire time and we had to approach her to get our check. Maybe they are new and needed a 101 on customer service etc but the entire experience was very uncomfortable and really rude. We gave her a 20% tip anyways because who knows maybe someone is having a very bad day and you never know. Imagine what the tip could have been if service was exceptional or even average???

Walked in felt so unwelcome… Bartender was rude and cold. I was so excited to try this recommended place and she ruined it for us. Let me drink this beer quickly and run!

I have been to this restaurant sporadically on and off season for more than 20 years. It has been fairly good off season. I met family for lunch there last week and it was very dissappointing. The server was not trained — the food took an hour to come out. All of the fried food tasted like the rancid oil it was cooked in and my lobster roll was sparse on the meat and the bun was stale. I’d probably still go sit at the bar and order a
Sandwich– but, wont take a full meal there.

Classic dive with wide beer selection!

Free popcorn. Everything is made in house… from the salad dressing to the pizza dough.
This is a great place to go if your group can’t decide what they want. Everything from lobster rolls to pizza to burgers.

Short. Sweet. Popped in around happy hour on a Friday for one beer. I loved the expansive beer menu and the free popcorn smelled awesome. It had a fun atmosphere and the waitresses were super quick (which I love).
Check it out.

Just stopped in for a pit stop… But have been here before and like it… FREE POPCORN,

So after sitting in the restaurant for 1.5 hrs waiting for our lunch, the server comes by and tells us they haven’t started our meals yet and would we like to be cashed out. The manager hid in the kitchen and didn’t say a word to us. Never coming back. Avoid at all costs.

I arrived with a group, we sat ourselves as per the instructions on the sign. Twenty or so minutes later, they finally came and took our drink order, and because we’d had so much time to ponder the choices, our food order. An hour later, we inquired into the status of our food, and were told that not only had they not started cooking it yet, but that they were out of what at least three of the six of us had ordered. Since the bus we had arrived on was leaving 30 minutes later, we couldn’t wait any longer. The waitress said she would bring the check for our drinks, but after waiting another five minutes with no help in sight, we took the initiative again to find them — complained — at which point they agreed to comp the two beers.
Would not recommend.

The food here is subpar. The drinks are good in a pint glass. Service is very slow. One waitress for the whole place. Not her fault. The ribs were burnt. Pizza was not good. Fish and chips overdone. Took forever to pay.

«$ 1 Lookie, $ 2 Feelie, $ 3 Dewey»… Yep, that’s the tagline of this historic bar along the water in Portland!
We stopped here for a few drinks on our exploration of downtown and I was thrilled to find free popcorn available at the bar. The beer menu is extensive and the prices are pretty decent. A snakebite with angry orchard is heavenly on a hot summer day.
The interior is dark and cool with lots of interesting memorabilia. T-​shirts are available with their famous tagline
We didn’t try the food on our visit but it appeared that there were many locals that frequent the place. That’s definitely a good sign. Our server was nice but obviously overwhelmed. As the rush died down, she apologized to us for the earlier wait and shared that there was one table she just couldn’t get to and they walked out. Based on some of the earlier reviews, I’m pretty sure they need to bring in more help.
You might want to try Deweys at off-​hours. Once the lunch rush was over, the dining room was basically cleared out. Good time to visit I think.
My husband and his friends frequented Deweys in the early years of their residency back in the 1980’s and still get a kick out of going now. It’s a Portland staple!

I can’t rate them. We got there, hardly anyone there. Waited 15 mins. No one ever came over and even said hello. Finally waitress comes over and asked us to move because «she doesn’t have time to clean the table»??? Left and spent our money a cross the street. Better beer anyway

Chili dogs-​ok
Seadog Blueberry beer-​excellent
Fish and Chips-​good
Philly Cheessteak and Cheeseburger Wrap-​good
This is a cool little place with some decent daily drink specials.

I really like Three Dollar Deweys. How can you hate on free popcorn, cheap drinks, and good pub fare? It’s all in the heart of all of the OP action too!
I hadn’t been here in awhile, but I always remembered the service being good. When I went, there was only one waitress one, but she was handling the Monday night crowd well. She was very attentive and patient.
The popcorn (that yes, is free) is deliciously buttery and salty. I ordered a steak and cheese. I was really surprised at how good it was (sorry Dewey’s, but come on). I would go back just for the steak and cheese. Seriously.
The atmosphere is great and seems like a hot spot for after work bar hopping. They have a great selection of beers and a few ciders.