Outliers Eatery (I'm dropping the "eatery" from here on as I don't think anyone will use it anyway) has finally opened in the West End near the Casco Bay bridge on York Street a few blocks west of El Reyo. It is located where Popeye's Tavern used to be. You remember Popeye's don't you? The place with the airplane sticking out of the roof which happened to be the only redeeming thing about the place. Notice I said it's located where Popeye's used to be instead of saying it's located in the old Popeye's space. This is deliberate as this is not the former space. This was a complete gut job inside and out. The only things that remains from the former place is the address at 231 York St.
Brought to you by the same people who designed Grace, the space itself is very hip, modern and comfortable at the same time. Like Grace, it is well worth the trip just to see the build-out. Approaching from the outside, the initial feeling is of a New England cape with shingled siding but a closer look belies what awaits inside. There's lot's of glass for those Casco Bay Bridge, harbor and park across the street, views. There's the front deck with the stainless steel and cable railing. Yeah, this is not going to be a run of the mill cape. You walk inside and have the dining room to the right with a banquette running the length of the far wall. Great colors and a cool sculpture on the wall above. You only see this part of the inside if you didn't first look left toward the bar. If you did, you naturally want to walk that way to check out just how high the carved wavy wood paneling actually goes up - my guess is about 25 feet. With it's lighting, it's quite dramatic.
On our first visit TA and I sat along the wall in the dining room. Very comfortable although we did think it was a little loud - to be fair, at my age every place is starting to sound a little loud. As she had already eaten, I was going to sample a couple of apps. The menu comes to you as sheets on a clipboard. Only a very small section (maybe a 4 inch by 6 inch square) on page 1 is devoted to food with apps on one side and entrees on the other (many sheets devoted to drinks). There's really no description of the food, just words like "pig ears" or "oysters" so if you want more details like how something is prepared or what comes with it, you have to ask. I hope they change this as, even though the servers have all been knowledgeable and friendly, I think it wastes time. Not that I want to be rushed but I could easily see a four top requiring a description of every single item on the menu and not because they're jerks but because they want to know what they're ordering. Anyway, I had the pig ears which are served with a hoisin sauce. These are tasty and, well, kinda fun, as where else in Portland are they serving pig ears? I also had a crab salad served over white asparagus. This was so good that I was thinking about it days later. It had a ton of crab and the asparagus was perfectly cooked. A beer from one of the, I think, 12 taps and I was satisfied. TA had a nice glass of wine - there are many to chose from by the glass.
On our next visit we sat on the deck with NP, one of our sons. Great spot until TA took my light jacket as the sun set and it got chilly. We again got the pig ears. Again, they were very good. Nice oysters - I forget where they were from but definitely Maine. Grilled squid, charcuterie plate, a soup, a salad, and a salmon cake/croquette type dish filled our table to overflowing. The crab salad wasn't there this time - the menu changes regularly. The biggest hit of the evening was a chocolate dessert recommended highly by our server. I forget what it was called but it was like two slices of a firm mousse with raspberries and whipped cream. It was light enough be make me feel OK about myself in the morning. Overall, some dishes were better than others but the place is new and well on their way to working out those inevitable new place kinks of which there were very few. The beer list is a good one and although I didn't look too closely at the wines, that particular list was fairly extensive. There are some interesting house cocktails which the table next to us was enjoying. There are also some beer cocktails which I plan on trying once I build up the nerve. On a nice night, outside on the deck will be the place to be.
And then there's the restrooms. That's right, the restrooms. TA used the ladies room and came back to the table saying what a wonderful experience it was, especially having individual towels to dry up with after washing ones hands. NP returns after using the men's room with a smile on his face saying "you've got to check it out". Where the ladies room is very lady-like, the men's room is a tribute to all things Hunter S. Thompson complete with a "pay phone" that you need to pick up and listen to the recording. A fun restroom that's worth visiting (many women were "peeking" inside), go figure.
Overall, I think this will be another hit on the Portland food scene. I also think it will attract more locals who are willing to dare to cross State Street from the Old Port as well as us walkers from the West End. A very cool place in an outlying location. Hey, maybe that's how they came up with the name! Go ahead, risk it and go the few blocks past El Reyo on York St. You'll be glad you did.
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