Maine Restaurant Week, now in its 17th year, runs from Saturday through March 12, giving local businesses a boost during the post-holiday, pre-tourist months when locals sometimes spend more time hunkering down than chowing down at the state’s many dining establishments.

“There’s this long stretch where it’s still winter, people are hiding in their homes, restaurants have cut back on their staff because there’s not enough business and yet they still need to keep their doors open,” said Gillian Britt, who co-founded Maine Restaurant Week with her husband Jim Britt.

Maine Restaurant Week includes participating establishments from all over the state. While many are in the Greater Portland area, there are also participating restaurants in places like Arundel, Wells, Lisbon Falls, Spruce Head, Hallowell and Presque Isle.

Britt said the feedback is consistently positive.

“I hear from restaurants that we turned a week that otherwise was really dead into a week that some restaurants have compared to a summer week, and that’s amazing,” she said.

The meatloaf from David’s Restaurant in downtown Portland. The signature dish will be part of the Maine Restaurant Week menu. Photo by Matt Cosby

David Turin, chef/owner of David’s Restaurant and David’s Opus Ten in Portland’s Monument Square and Davids 333 in South Portland, is a longtime Maine Restaurant Week participant and he looks forward to it every year.

While his restaurants do well in the summer, fall and holiday seasons, once the post-holidays hit, the number of diners also takes a hit.

“In the past,  you would sort of hold your breath from Valentine’s Day all the way until about the end of June, and that was a long breath hold,” said Turin.

Turin will be spending most of Maine Restaurant Week at David’s Opus Ten, where the offering is a seven-course dinner that always sells out.

At David’s Restaurant, Turin said diners can count on being able to order the meatloaf during Maine Restaurant Week. Several years ago he decided to take it off the menu and fielded many complaints from customers.

Oysters from Regards in Portland. Photo by Rachel Darke

Regards, on Congress Street not far from Monument Square in Portland, opened in 2022. This is the second year the globally inspired small plates spot has participated in Maine Restaurant Week, and will be offering three- and four-course set meal options.

Regards is co-owned by Kimberly Lund and chef Neil Zabriskie.

Lund said that Maine Restaurant Week last year brought a lot of first-time visitors to Regards, some of whom are now regulars.

“These are multi-tiered courses, and if you come in as a couple, you get a tour of the entire menu without breaking the bank,” she said.

Regards’ Maine Restaurant Week menu includes oysters, ceviche and lamb barbacoa among other items, as well as a vegetarian option.

Rigatoni Bolognese from MK Kitchen in Gorham. Photo by Douglas Merriam

MK Kitchen in Gorham, owned by Lisa and Mitch Kaldrovich, is celebrating its 10th anniversary in April.

Lisa Kaldrovich agreed that Maine Restaurant Week brings out patrons during a time of year that would otherwise be more quiet.

She also talked about MK Kitchen’s Maine Restaurant Week three-course meal menu, which includes the rigatoni Bolognese, a signature dish. Other offerings include panko-crusted haddock, braised short ribs, organic quinoa bowl (vegan) and house-made ricotta gnocchi pesto.

MK Kitchen’s dessert temptations include caramelized bread pudding, tiramisu, chocolate mousse and house-made sorbet.

The “Classy Chip” cookie at LB Kitchen, 249 Congress St., Portland. Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald

LB Kitchen, owned by Bryna Gootkind and chef Lee Farrington, opened in 2017 at the base of Portland’s Munjoy Hill on Congress Street.

This will be their first year participating in Maine Restaurant Week.

“It’s cold and the snow is just everywhere, so the intention is getting people out during the day,” said Gootkind.

To that end, LB Kitchen’s Maine Restaurant Week special combines the LB Bowl (brown rice, house pickled vegetables, kimchi, avocado, miso slaw, organic greens, sweet chili sauce, vegan sriracha mayo and hemp seeds) with either chicken or tofu, paired with the Classy Chip (vegan, gluten-free chocolate chip cookie) for $20.25.

“It’s a nice time to have a little something special and to have an offering that is exciting and can get people out to eat a healthy lunch,” said Gootkind.

A TRIO OF CULINARY EVENTS

The annual Incredible Breakfast Cook-Off is on Feb. 28 at Sea Dog Brewing Company on 125 Western Ave. in South Portland. Local chefs compete for the title of Maine’s best breakfast and all proceeds benefit the social services agency Preble Street. Tickets are $25.

Crave is another element of Maine Restaurant Week, and runs concurrently. Participants include David’s Restaurant and Dean’s Sweets in Portland, Davids 388 in South Portland, Blueberries in Topsham and Verbena in South Portland. They’ll all be selling treats and special beverages crafted with coffee from Coffee By Design. Two examples include chocolate amaretto coffee ice cream affogato at David’s and chocolate chip cookie lattes at Blueberries.

Spirit Quest, the self-guided cocktail tour of Portland, is already sold out.

For a complete list of Maine Restaurant Week participants along with menu samples and details about culinary events, head to mainerestaurantweek.com.