The Corner Room

110 Exchange Street, Portland, Maine

Sometimes a place has a happy hour offering so good, you can’t believe it took you so long to get there. The Corner Room on Exchange Street is just such a place.

Occupying the space on the corner of Exchange and Federal Streets the aptly named Corner Room offers up rustic Italian fare in a beautiful setting. Happy hour runs from 4-6pm Monday through Friday and features some great deals like $3 house wines including Prosecco and $3 drafts too. They also have free food! Yes, you read that right free food during happy hour. See great deals!

All these great deals plus it’s Old Port location do make it a popular spot so be prepared. Happy hour is also only available in the bar and drink rail area.

When we went it was threatening to rain so we weren’t too disappointed to be inside. Though we got there by 4:30 the place was hopping. Luckily we were able to squeeze some space at the drink rail and the bartender was nice and efficient. We ordered up a couple glasses of Pinot Grigio and decided to check out the food offerings.

Many places have limited offerings when they put out a free food spread. Not so at The Corner Room. We enjoyed two different types of salad, herbed frites, crispy fried onions, house made pizza, and a delicious ricotta tart. They also kept the food coming throughout happy hour so latecomers did not miss out.

Overall happy hour at The Corner Room was a great deal. Excellent prices on drinks and delicious, plentiful free food make it a great place to go for any occasion, though if you are going to be a larger group make sure to get there early or you may not have space for you. You’ll leave having enjoyed a great evening without shelling out much cash at all.

 

 

David’s KPT and Hurricane Restaurant

21 Ocean Avenue, Kennebunkport, ME

One of our favorite happy hour spots in Portland is David’s in Congress Square so when we heard that there was a David’s in Kennebunkport we knew we had to include it on our KPT itinerary to see if it lived up to the original.

Located in The Boathouse Waterfront Hotel, David’s KPT provides stunning water views and features indoor and outdoor dining.  While it was a gorgeous day when we went, we opted to stay indoors. Happy hour runs from 3-6 everyday.  Which is great for anyone in the area on a weekend. There was some discrepancy as to whether happy hour was just in the bar area or also in the bar area outside.  It was fairly busy when we got there but we found two seats at the bar without too much difficulty

The view from the bar.

We were excited to see that the same happy hour specials that we loved in Portland were available in Kennebunkport.  These include $4 drafts, $5 wines, and $6 house martinis.  They also offer a large number of food specials.  (View the entire happy hour menu here.)  We were pretty hungry at this point in our adventure so we decided to split an order of the potstickers, hoping that the same generous portions applied.  Much to our delight they did!

10 potstickers for $5!

For drinks we ordered a Peak Organic Fresh Cut IPA on draft and a Pinot Grigio.  These were delicious.  The IPA especially was light and crisp, and even had some slight grassy tones.  It wasn’t overly hoppy and was perfect for the afternoon and atmosphere.  Very drinkable.

 

Overall we were very happy with our experience at David’s KPT.  It does the original David’s proud and definitely earns a spot on our favorites list.  With excellent drink and food specials, generous portions, happy hour every day, and awesome views David’s KPT is a can’t miss happy hour spot.

 

After David’s KPT we headed down the street to Hurricane Restaurant .  We had heard rumors of free food and the restaurant had glowing recommendations from some family members.

 

We had saved this place for last on our Kennebunkport adventure and we were glad we did. They do not offer any drink specials.  While they have an extensive wine list, the prices start at $7 per glass and go up from there.  It’s not too bad for regular dining, just not the pricing we are looking for in a happy hour.  Also the promise of free food seemed to be fleeting.  Happy hour runs from 4-7pm and by 6 the food was pretty much all gone.  Also for a restaurant with such a reputation for seafood, the choice to serve picnic items was interesting.  We determined that there had been some sort of spicy wings, ribs, and macaroni and potato salads.  What we managed to get was good, but nothing to write home about.  The macaroni salad tasted like my Nana’s, which is to say good, but nothing I can’t make myself easily at home.  With no drink special to pair it with, the food was not something that would get us to show up on it’s own.  We enjoyed our wines and perusing the menu, but as a happy hour this one fell short.  They have a what is called a “giant tower of seafood” on the small plates menu for $50!  Small plate! Maybe sometime when we’re feeling flush, we’ll return for dinner.

Really, this was just about all that was left.