Winter spots to eat outdoors in southern Maine and stay warm

The dining igloos at Alto Terrace Bar + Kitchen in Portland. Photo courtesy of Colwen Hotels

Not all Maine ice fishing shacks are the same.

Inside the ones at Batson River Brewing in Kennebunk, for example, you can enjoy pan-seared salmon, lobster mac and cheese, red-wine braised short rib, or anything else on the menu.

But you can’t actually catch your own dinner.

Lots of Southern Maine restaurants and breweries are continuing to offer creative types of heated, outdoor dining in the winter, ranging from heated porches, decks and patios, to little enclosed dining structures like shacks, igloos or snow globes.

It’s a trend that began during the pandemic, and has continued to be popular. Some people want to be away from the crowds, others just want the experience of eating in a shack, or an igloo or snow globe.

Here then are some places where going out to eat in winter really means going out to eat.

Dine in a ski gondola in Kennebunk. Photo courtesy of Kennebunkport Inn

COVER ME

Yosaku, a popular sushi spot on Danforth Street in Portland, has a heated, covered patio area just behind the statue of movie director John Ford. There are electric heaters plus some heated seat cushions, plus blinds on the street side that can be lowered to keep wind, rain or snow out while keeping the heat in. The roof panels are translucent, so the sun shines through. It seats 20-25 and is open year-round.

Also on Danforth Street, there’s a covered and colorful heated patio at Ocotillo, a Mexican-inspired place specializing in brunch. The space has a covered clear roof, heaters, and lots of plants framing coral/salmon colored walls and blue furniture. Ocotillo opened in April 2024 and its breakfast mushroom tacos were listed recently in the New York Times’ “Best 26 Dishes We Ate Across the U.S. in 2024.”

The covered and heated patio at Ocotillo, in Portland. Photo courtesy of Ocotillo

BEEN THERE, DOME THAT

Alto Terrace Bar + Kitchen, on the fourth floor of the Cambria Hotel in Portland’s Old Port, lets diners eat in their own plastic bubbles on the terrace. More specifically, the eatery has two so-called igloos, constructed of PVC piping, covered with see-through plastic and furnished with space heaters.

Harbor Bistro + Terrace in the Portland Harbor Hotel, on Fore Street, is owned by the same company as the Cambria, and so has two of the same igloos. The igloos come with blankets, too, and are typically open through March, weather permitting. The igloos, which have room for four people at Alto and six at Harbor Bistro, can be reserved and there’s a $100 rental fee.

Inside one of the igloos at Harbor Bistro + Terrace in Portland. Photo courtesy of Colwen Hotels

Pineland Farms in New Gloucester has four heated plastic structures — they call them snow globes — for rent as picnic spots all winter long. So if you’re at Pineland to use the cross country skiing trails, sledding hill or skating pond, you can warm up in one of the snow globes. The four snow globes range in capacity from four to eight, with chairs and tables, and they cost $25 an hour.

SHACK ATTACK

Batson River Brewing in Kennebunk offers dining in heated “fish shacks” on the patio. The little cottage-like structures seat a maximum of six and are a tribute to Maine’s ice fishing tradition. The shacks can be reserved for $25.

Several other places in Southern Maine offer little houses, sheds or cottages in various shapes and sizes. The Boathouse Restaurant in Kennebunkport has four lighthouse structures for heated dining, creating a village near the water. Each structure seats four, six or eight. The Burleigh, a restaurant and pub at the Kennebunkport Inn, has three ski gondolas, with heaters and pillows.