Maine
10 Maine bars that keep board games on hand
Board game-themed bar Another Round in Portland. Photo by Amanda Huebner Photography
All over Maine, many bars and pubs have started offering more than just pool or darts to keep you entertained. Some have pinball or arcade games. Some host a cornhole league.
But if you want to bring back childhood memories of having to pay your sister $500 when you land on her property, here are the spots that keep board games on hand, so you can compliment your Old Fashioned with some old-school competition.
Whatever your favorite classic game, these places in southern, Midcoast and central Maine will likely have it.
SOUTHERN MAINE
Another Round
This board game bar and cafe on Congress Street in Portland opened in June. It offers over 200 board games of every genre, from nostalgic favorites like Monopoly, Scrabble or Trouble to lesser-known titles like Exploding Kittens, Pandemic and Squid Game. Some of the other titles listed on their website are backgammon, chess, Boggle, Chutes and Ladders, Guess Who?, Trivial Pursuit and Yahtzee.
It’s $3 per person for an hour of play. There are coffee drinks, local beers, cocktails and snacks, including Portland’s HiFi Donuts.
Amigo’s Mexican Restaurant
The Mexican restaurant on Dana Street in Portland offers board games to play for free every Monday. Head in for a margarita and chips and test your skills at Sorry, Battleship, Trivial Pursuit and more.
Buck’s Naked BBQ
The barbecue joint on Route 1 in Freeport offers a selection of board games in its Studio Bar. Come in for some ribs, wings and fried pickles and stay for the free board games and cribbage. Be sure to ask about drink and food specials.
Andy’s Old Port Pub
This bar and restaurant on Commercial Street in Portland offers an array of pub food and drinks and a place to bring friends for games of cribbage, Jenga, chess, Connect Four and more.
Stockhouse Restaurant & Sports Pub
With locations in Windham and Westbrook, this sports bar offers playing cards and cribbage boards to patrons. So you can watch a game and play a game at the same time.
MIDCOAST
Ada’s Kitchen
While you wait for your meal or you sip your drink at this Italian restaurant on Main Street in Rockland, head over to the back corner lounge. Dimly lit with a large bookshelf filled with boxes, chairs and a table in the middle, you can challenge your friends and family to various classic board games.
Social Goose
This bar on Main Street in Brunswick offers game night almost every night of the week: Cribbage is on Tuesdays, bingo on Wednesdays. There’s also an array of other board games all the time.
CENTRAL MAINE
Quarry Tap Room
Located on Water Street in Hallowell, this “modern-day saloon” with rustic and rugged features serves classic pub fare that you can enjoy while challenging your bar mate to a game of the classic cribbage any night of the week.
The Liberal Cup
This pub on Water Street in Hallowell offers patrons cribbage, but you are also welcome to bring in their own game to play or share.
The Gin Mill
This bar on Water Street in Augusta not only has live music and drink specials, but also has a Monopoly game with all your favorite Augusta stops, including the Gin Mill. In addition to Monopoly, it offers many other classics upon request.