Street & Co.

About Street & Co.

There are restaurants built for occasions and restaurants that are themselves the occasion. Street & Co. belongs to the second, rarer category. Located on Wharf Street — a narrow, pedestrian-only cobblestone passage tucked between Commercial and Fore Streets in the Old Port — the restaurant occupies the kind of setting that European cities spend centuries developing and Portland somehow has, right here. The alley is gas-lit. The building dates from the 1800s. Inside, the room is all exposed brick, dark wood, copper pots hanging from the ceiling, and candlelight that behaves as candlelight should.

Dana Street opened Street & Co. in 1989, when Portland's restaurant scene was still largely an afterthought. The concept was then and remains today fundamentally Mediterranean: seafood, simply and lovingly cooked, with olive oil, garlic, herbs, and the confidence of technique over spectacle. The Sole Française — dredged in flour, sautéed in clarified butter until the skin crisps — is a dish from another era that remains entirely perfect. The Lobster Diavolo, a whole lobster with mussels, calamari, and clams in a spiced tomato broth, is Portland on a plate. The moules marinières are pulled from the Damariscotta River and arrive with enough baguette to make the broth disappear. The pasta dishes are made in-house and carry the weight of decades of refinement.

The room seats approximately 65 guests at closely spaced tables that encourage the kind of conversation that makes an evening feel important. The kitchen is partially visible from the dining room, a reminder that what you are eating is being cooked, not assembled. Service is formal without being stiff — the staff have long institutional memories and handle the rhythm of a full room with the ease of professionals who have done this thousands of times. Reservations are essential and routinely required several days in advance. On summer weekends, plan further ahead.

Street & Co. has survived long enough to become a Portland institution, and it has done so without revision. The menu changes with the seasons and the market; the fundamentals never change. That is the kind of restaurant this is.

Why Street & Co. is Perfect for a First Date

The room does the heavy lifting. Walk a first date down that gas-lit alley and you have already communicated something important about your taste and your intentions. Inside, the candlelight is close and flattering, the tables are private enough for real conversation, and the wine list is long enough to make good decisions without becoming a project. The Lobster Diavolo for Two is one of the great shared dishes in Maine — ordering it signals confidence and appetite in equal measure. Street & Co. is the restaurant where Portland's best first dates have been happening for over thirty years.

Practical Information

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Back to all restaurants in Portland, Maine — See the First Date occasion guide — Explore Proposal restaurants — Read our New England dining blog