Some additional FAQ and tips to help maximize your Monktoberfest enjoyment/Real Portland visit.  To point you in the right direction, we’ve compiled a small list of our favourite haunts, conveniences, and closest amenities.

FOOD

Get breakfast?  Monktoberfest will serve breakfast items both days beginning at 10am.  If you require sustenance before 10am, and you want to venture beyond the confines of your hotel’s kitchen, we recommend the following:

• Bintliff’s Cafe:  A Portland favourite, Bintliff’s serves up a mean breakfast.  In particular, it’s known for two things: creative egg benedicts and decadent french toasts. It is open for breakfast/brunch everyday from 7am-2pm and located an easy .4 mile walk to/from the Portland Public Library (the conference venue).
• Crooked Mile:  Conveniently located between the Hampton Inn/Residence Inn and the Library, the Crooked Mile serves up coffee, breakfast sandwiches, and bagels for take-away or eat-in.  (The Crooked Mile also serves lunch.)

Get lunch?  Monktoberfest will provide lunch with local beers on Thursday. If you’re looking for lunch options on Wednesday or Friday, Portland is not short on places to eat.  To help narrow your choices, may we recommend:

• Sushi: Miyake on Fore Street is hands-down the best sushi in Portland, if not the northeast.  Try Oxbow Beer’s tasty Sasuga Saison, a rice ale fermented with brettanomyes and saison yeast, brewed especially for Miyake.  Tasty alternatives include Sapporo on Commercial Street or Yosaku on Danforth.
• Dine-in with bar service: Walter’s is a quick walk from the Library.  Another popular Portland eatery, Walter’s has an eat-in bar and full dining.  If you’re burnt out on beer, try one of Walter’s specialty cocktails.
• Quick & easy:  The Portland Public Market is located across the street from the Library.  It offers a la carte dining from a variety of vendors with take-away or dine-in options.

Get a Cuppa Joe?  Like Fake Portland, we are partial to our locally-owned coffee shops and we support them heartily.  Coffee By Design will be served on Thursday and Friday.  We also highly recommend the excellent Bard Coffee and Arabica Coffee Company, both conveniently located within quick walking distance from the Library.  Both Bard and Arabica offer WiFi to customers.

Food late night?  Need a post-Monktoberfest snack?  Brave the late-night coeds, if you dare: find Portland’s best late night options here.  Notably missing from this compilation is local favourite greasy pizza joint—and alleged hangover panacea—Bill’s Pizza.

BEER

Buy beer?

• We love Bier Cellar.  Take a cab from the Portland Public Library to browse Greg’s stellar selection of local, US, Canadian, and European beers.
• Downeast Beverage is walkable from all Old Port locations.  It’s next door to the corner the Hilton Garden Inn and a short walk from the Hampton Inn and the Residence Inn.

Get a pint or three?

• LFK:  Portland’s newest offering to the ever-growing Portland beer scene, LFK is serves up a small, but mighty tap/bottle list.  Friendly service, good eats.
• Novare Res:  Impressive bottle list, we recommend pairing your beverage with the local cheese and meats.
• Portland is proud of its Irish heritage.  The city boasts several Irish pubs.  And if you’re an expertly pulled pint of Guinness you’re in the mood for, Brian Boru and the Snug are two of the best places to go.

Hit Up A Brewery?  Portland is home to several excellent, small-scale breweries, several of which have tasting rooms and tours on Fridays.  To name a few: Allagash Brewing (short taxi ride outside the city); RIsing Tide Brewing, Maine Beer Company.  The wonderful Oxbow Beer is a 45 minute ride outside Portland, but well-worth the trip up the coast.

MISCELLANEOUS

Find a taxi and transportation?  Portland is a very walkable city but in the event the New England weather conspires against us—and while we wait for Uber to make its Real Portland debut—here are a few ways to get around:

Taxis*

• ASAP Taxi: (207) 791-2727
• ABC Taxi: (207) 772-8685
• Jetport Cab: (207) 807-9797

*Please note: not unlike San Francisco, cabs are not as frequent in Portland as they may be in other cities.  If you plan to travel by taxi, we advise calling 10 or more minutes ahead for a cab.

Other

• Portland METRO:  Not having used the city’s bus system, we can’t vouch for its reliability, but we can tell you it is quite popular and widely used by Portland’s denizens.
• Car Service: Mermaid Transportation provides car service to the Portland International Jetport (PWM) and Boston/Logan Airport (BOS).
• Concord Trailways:  Regular bus service to Logan Airport and Boston’s South Station.  Free WiFi.
• Downeaster Amtrak (Anyone else singing Billy Joel? No? Just me?): Daily service between Portland and Boston’s North Station.  Free WiFi.

Get office supplies/ship things/send a fax/etc.?  There is a Fedex/Kinkos located directly across the street from the Library and next door to the Portland Public Market.

Go for a run?  Portland has some of the prettiest running trails/paths in the country.  Find your ideal run here.

Find a pharmacy?  There is a CVS pharmacy located one-tenth of a mile from the Library.