Gill’s Neighborhood Bar
133 Spring St., Portland
536-4150
gillsbarmaine.com
Since selling my West End home I’ve been living in rural short-term housing without internet, cable or good cell service. Books, hikes and painting keep me busy, but the loneliness is nagging. Not being one to wallow, I’ve implemented a plan to combat this feeling. I’m luring friends — not into my woodland lair, but into meeting me for dinner for these reviews!
Guess where I usually end up? The West End.
A few trips into town this winter led me to the spot where it seems a lot of the cool kids are hanging: Gill’s Neighborhood Bar, on Spring Street. Operated into the 1970s as a corner store and sub shop called Gill’s Handy Store, and most recently occupied by Bao Bao Dumping House, the place has been updated by interior designer Molly Miller (of the firm Meter Haus) into a warm, inviting, moodily lit space. It’s patch-worked with Gen X memorabilia but invites all generations to sit back and savor some top-notch bar food and drinks without breaking the bank.
Classic New England snacks like Fried Squid ($16; not calamari!) with cherry peppers, lemon slices and fennel aioli (not mayonnaise!) and quahog Stuffies ($8 each) with ‘nduja pork salami and Ritz cracker stuffing will remind you we’re in a working port city. Another offering, the slow-cooked, gelatinous Lamb Neck Shawarma ($34, portioned to share)with pita, fries and fixin’s, will satisfy your cravings but make you feel craven to be in a nation actively destroying the civilization whence the dish came.
Back in the U.S.A., you can order a Patty Melt ($17) or a Tuna Melt ($18). Both come on crisp, buttered toast that keeps the messy insides together just long enough to meet your mouth. The latter made me a little less disappointed that Ruski’s no longer has their open-faced Mariner Melt on the regular menu.
Wash ’em all down with a non-alcoholic brew (Guinness or Kit for $6), Gill’s Pale Ale ($8; brewed by Oxbow) or a $5 High Life. Alternately, get fancy with one of their cocktails, many of which arrive with tiny umbrellas and Luxardo candied sour cherries! Spicy Margaritas with green chili, Piña Coladas with cherry whipped cream, and classic Mojitos are all just $13. Or skip the alcohol and order their delicious Herby Mocktail ($10) with ginger and lemon, or the Nojito ($9). I love this for me.
If you’re looking for a light appetizer, definitely don’t get the Moxie Pork Ribs ($15), which were so tender that I managed to eat them only an hour after getting two dental crowns. Or do, and bring home the other half of your turkey sandwich ($15) with aged gouda, banana peppers and club sauce as “second dinner,” like I did.
Gill’s also has a couple salads (both $15). The Wedge has iceberg, bacon, tomatoes, red onion and blue cheese dressing. The Righteous Gem Salad, my fave, has pickled celery, snowy piles of aged gouda, radishes, green goddess dressing and crunchy rye breadcrumbs.
Sommelier Siobhán Sindoni and her husband, Michael, co-own Gill’s and Wayside Tavern on Congress Street, so this “dive bar” also has a small but smartly selected wine list. Chef Rian Wyllie (formerly of Lenora and Little Giant) is also a partner, thus extending this neighborhood bar’s West End roots. The staff is genuinely kind, savvy, and appear to love the work they do.
That’s what really makes a neighborhood place like Gill’s endure. That, and a great tuna melt.
Gill’s Neighborhood Bar is open Monday and Thursday from 4 to 10 p.m., Friday from 4 to 11 p.m., Saturday from noon to 11 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 10 p.m.
