Visit MaineMaine residents and visitors have never let cold, snow, and ice keep them from enjoying the adventures winter provides. Traditionally, a day of skiing, sledding, and skating was followed by warming up indoors over food and conversation, but that changed in 2020, when restaurants and bars responded to pandemic restrictions with heated outdoor seating. Winter alfresco dining proved so popular that the trend continues to grow across the state.
BATSON RIVER BREWING & DISTILLING, KENNEBUNK
Batson River opens the Fish Shacks on its outdoor patio in Kennebunk’s Lower Village in time for December’s Christmas Prelude festival. The six tiny heated sheds pay homage to Maine’s ice-fishing history and accommodate small groups, who enjoy full-service dining with a seafood-centric menu and Batson River beer flights and signature cocktails crafted with the distillery’s own vodka, bourbon, rum, and gin. Reservations are accepted from Black Friday through March.
TERLINGUA, PORTLAND
In Portland’s East End, Terlingua serves up small-batch Texas-style BBQ in a variety of indoor and outdoor seating areas year-round. The Deck, with tables for up to six guests, and the partially enclosed Corral, with high- and low-top tables and a six-seat bar, are both fully covered and heated. Two of the eight picnic tables in The Margarita Garden are also covered and heated. The Sunset Patio, with Adirondack chairs and small tables, is open for drinks only.
TIMBER KITCHEN & BAR, BANGOR
Timber Kitchen & Bar puts a contemporary spin on Bangor’s lumbering history with rough-wood walls and red-flannel upholstery. During winter, it extends that décor to the patio, where heated igloo-style domes have wood vestibules trimmed in fir garlands. Diners snuggle under plaid throw blankets as they enjoy a New American menu of soups, salads, wood-fired pizzas, and artisan burgers.
OXBOW BEER GARDEN, OXFORD
Oxbow Brewing Company’s western Maine outpost features a restaurant, bar, and event space in a renovated 1820 barn. The adjacent, extensive multi-use trail network is free to use for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and fat-tire biking. Equipment rentals are available on-site through the Portland Gear Hub. Visitors enjoy Oxbow’s signa- ture farmhouse ales and wood-fired pizzas around an outdoor firepit or in one of the first-come, first-served heated A-frames.
QUARRY TAP ROOM, HALLOWELL
Located on the bank of the Kennebec River, the Quarry Tap Room has an outdoor beer garden and a large deck outfitted with heaters. The rustic restaurant offers 38 microbrews and domestic beers on tap and a menu that includes slow-simmered French onion soup, fresh-dough pizzas, and grass-fed burgers.