Maria’s second act is like Johnny Depp waiting in the wings for several decades to segue into Alice In Wonderland’s turf where Italian-American cuisine is reinvented for the cognoscenti waiting to devour red sauce. But instead, lift your napkin because nothing of consequence is going to drip on your bib.
If only it was as moderately good as the way it was years ago, the new Maria’s revived in the old Espo’s space bumps and grinds in drips and drabs. One professional food maven in town said, “Give them a chance.”
Otherwise an excellent pick for an appetizer, this version was not great
I accepted the invitation immediately to join friends at Maria’s outpost on Congress Street. The setting is far better than the terrifyingly disheveled space in its old building on Cumberland Avenue.
My last review was in 2014 (see link) in Maine Today. Some key observations at the time included these comments:
“…the interior of Maria’s is awash in Neapolitan kitsch that even a fat purse couldn’t change easily. The same old dusty chandeliers hang like crusty baubles in a prop closet with the backdrop of ancient brocade on the walls that even Mrs. Fisk would have deemed passé.”
On the chicken Parm, I noted: “The chicken breasts had a very flavorful bread coating and were cooked correctly and properly – luxuriously dressed in piles of tomato sauce and mozzarella. But the breasts were so huge and thick they might have come from condors. A little pounding thin would have done wonders!”
Finally I concluded, “…In the final analysis, is Maria’s just a memento of the past? No, it’s more than that – a primeval forest that Portlanders are not ready to give up, a dining shibboleth that still struts along without the help of a striving chef or plates of vertical food and foam. Instead go for the rivers of saltimbocca and scaloppini and other comfy relics from a kitchen that we secretly adore.”
The new place is bright without all the frou-frou décor of its prior incarnation.
The room is bright and cheerful in the new space
We couldn’t tell if the crowd (the room was packed and getting a table is not easy) were regulars of the old Espo’s or devotees of the old Maria’s. It might have been both. Though there were far too many baseball caps on men too old to wear them dining there last Wednesday night. And the parking lot is a minefield of accidents waiting to happen as elderly drivers try to pull in like bumper cars into narrow, limited parking spaces . Go next door to the empty lot in front of the Social Security Administration building.
Our waitress was wonderful: attentive, friendly and very knowledgeable about the menu. Unfortunately her enthusiasm for each dish was a far cry from reality.
Perhaps the biggest travesty was Maria’s famous mozzarella fritter. It was served with a carving knife set astride. A meat cleaver would have been more useful to cut it into serving sizes. What’s more, the cheese filling was brittle, having become mortified in the breading. It didn’t even ooze when you cut into it.
Clockwise from top: the mozzarella fritter; vitello salsicce cacciatore and piatto Italiano
Maria’s is known for its marinara, which is available at supermarkets. At the restaurant its richness was as thin as flat seltzer water without benefitting from a slow simmer for hours to concentrate the flavor.
We ordered eggplant Parmigiana, passable but a mess on the plate.
We ordered Chicken Parm. Same thing as the eggplant
A dish of house made sausage with peppers, Vitello salsicce cacciatore, was barely edible.
I was intrigued by the Piatto Italiano, a plate of all of the kitchen’s parm dishes: chicken, veal, and embellished with sausage lasagna and veal meatballs marinara. The lasagna held ricotta but nothing else. The meatballs were dry even under all that sauce. The piece of chicken parm was huge and tough to cut.
One of the old statues (left)l calamari fra diavolo and a small, neat green salad with fresh greens served with each meal
Other dishes like calamari fra diavolo and a special of crostini with tomatoes and onions were equally dreadful, the former a hodgepodge of squid transmogrified from overcooking, and the crostini weighed heavily with too much garlic and undercooked onions.
Perhaps it was too soon to assess Maria’s. But haven’t they had a half-century to perfect their kitchen? I don’t think we’ll ever go back unless we hear that the restaurant has undergone an epiphany.
Maria’s Ristorante, 1335 Congress, Portland, ME 207-772-9232 www.mariasrestaurant.com
Rating: We had high hopes that their new space would inspire a more modern Maria’s. No such luck
Seating: Spacious tables in a room that’s light and bright, nothing like the old dungeonlike setting of its Cumberland Avenue space
$$$: Moderately expensive
Service: Excellent, with a wait staff that’s energetic and enthusiastic
Parking: On site for just a few cars; on snow-banked roads, it’s tricky parking
