Portland's floating landmark — dining on a former car ferry with harbour panoramas that make any birthday feel like an adventure.
In 1982, Tony DiMillo converted a retired car ferry and moored it permanently at Long Wharf, creating the only floating restaurant on the upper East Coast. He coined the slogan 'The clams you eat here today slept last night in Casco Bay' — and that slogan remains true. DiMillo's has been feeding Portland from the water ever since, across multiple generations of the same family, and the institution has accumulated the kind of weight that cannot be manufactured or rushed.
The ferry spans 206 feet and weighs 701 tons. It accommodates over 600 guests across multiple decks, dining rooms, and three outdoor decks with panoramic harbour views. The First Deck Dining Room, the Port Side Lounge, the Second Deck Dining Rooms — each offers a different relationship with the water. On a clear evening, the view across Portland Harbour is simply one of the best from any table in New England.
The menu is New England seafood done straightforwardly and well. Maine lobster arrives steamed or baked stuffed. The lobster roll uses chilled Maine lobster on brioche with a brown butter aioli that improves on the classic without undermining it. The lobster mac and cheese — fresh lobster with campanelle in a lobster mascarpone sauce, finished with cognac — is the kind of dish that a floating restaurant on Portland Harbour has earned the right to put on its menu. The wine list and cocktail programme are built for celebration.
DiMillo's does not compete with Portland's newer fine dining. It offers something those restaurants cannot: the specific pleasure of eating excellent seafood on a converted ferry, in a harbour that is still a working harbour, in a city that has not forgotten what it is. The ambience score is a 9 because the setting is genuinely extraordinary. The food is very good. Together, they make something memorable.
A birthday dinner at DiMillo's has built-in theatre that most restaurants spend decades trying to create. You arrive at a floating restaurant on a former car ferry. The harbour view from the outer decks makes the occasion feel genuinely special before the first glass arrives. The menu is broad enough to accommodate everyone the birthday person wants there — the seafood lover, the meat-and-potatoes person, the person who will photograph everything. The space is large but the views from each level create an intimate sense of occasion. And the sheer architectural improbability of the setting — 206 feet of converted ferry, permanently moored at Long Wharf — gives every birthday dinner here a story worth telling.
Address
25 Long Wharf, Portland, ME 04101
Neighbourhood
Old Port / Long Wharf
Price Per Person
$55–$90 with drinks
Cuisine
Seafood & American
Dress Code
Business casual
Reservations
Call (207) 772-2216 or website; free parking at Long Wharf
Hours
Mon–Sat 12pm–9pm
Phone
(207) 772-2216
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