Sheri M.

A place like The Alna Store really does need to be located in rural Maine, a solid hour from Portland. Everything about The Alna Store is so special--it's possibly the best meal you will ever have, while inside the most unpretentious building, an actual store that sells produce and specialty gift items. A place like this should be experienced as a planned outing, not just a restaurant that's happened upon. A James Beard Award winning restaurant inside what could have been my grandparents' barn, along with beautifully mismatched silverware and repurposed green wine bottle water glasses--what could be more Maine? On both visits we were so excited that we arrived about a half hour early for our reservation, yet were welcomed and promptly seated. The service is excellent, and the food is next level out of this world. I couldn't help but want the person I was with to try what I was eating so we could try to parse out the complex flavors in each dish. Is that a tomato base? Chives? Ginger? Cucumber? We enjoyed every bite of every plate. Both times we started with the gazpacho, at dinner it was served with a grilled/toaster piece of sourdough focaccia. Fantastic! My dinner entree was the grilled squash with roasted peppers and delicious, flavorful breadcrumbs, and fresh mint leaves--it was our favorite plate of the meal. We both had desserts (pictured), the cake looked impressive as it tasted, yet the berry crisp was our favorite. Everything at dinner was so fabulous that I had to return, this time for brunch. We started with a couple of cups of our favorite Tandem coffee, again the gazpacho, and this time tried the ratatouille. Again, the flavors! How do they do it? Everything looked and tasted as if it was prepared with care. One more observation, how mistakes are handled: the person I had brunch with was vegan and the ratatouille came out with cheese. Our server promptly recognized the error, brought a remade dish, and at the end of the meal brought a complimentary vegan sorbet and said that "mistakes are celebrated", which we appreciated. Because of all of the much deserved accolades The Alna Store has recently received (James Beard, New York Times), the parking lot was full of out of state plates from Massachusetts, Maryland, Oregon, so be sure to make a reservation, and enjoy the people watching while you eat possibly the best meal of your life. We are so fortunate to live within an hour of this very special place. A solid five stars, please don't change a thing. I can't wait to try the fall menu!

Sarah W.

We recently visited the Alna Store, which we were really excited for given all the recent hype, but after visiting we are a little confused why there is as much hype as there is. To begin with, the atmosphere is a little strange. The tables are very close and we did really feel like we were sitting in a small corner, kind of on top of each other. Which is totally fine in casual contexts, but it didn't match some of the other aspects of the establishment. The menu and prices were much more elevated than what seemed to fit the atmosphere. And that may have worked had the service been good, but sadly it was not. Our waitress was quite forgetful especially when it came to remembering who ordered what. On one rare occasion when she did get a table's order correct, she actually congratulated herself. Which again, would have been totally fine if we were at a diner or another casual atmosphere, but that did not seem to be the intent here. So ultimately it was just confusing (and drastically different than any other James Beard Nominee restaurant I've been to!). On to the food: We ordered the potatoes to start. Then we got the scallops and the sausage as entrees. And finished with Boston Cream Cake for dessert. For drinks, we ordered a signature cocktail and a mojito mocktail. The cocktail was nice but the mocktail was very one-note, like it was poured straight from a can. It was quite minty, but was missing the acidity of lime to freshen it up. The potatoes were the best part. They were really delicious and nicely paired with a creamy sauce and fun little flakes on top that moved in the steam of the dish. The mushrooms in this dish were also fried nicely and paired very well with the potatoes and sauce. The entrees is where things started to go downhill. Nothing was truly bad, but there were definitely odd and unbalanced combinations. The sausage was a local sausage with pine nut "pudding," radicchio, and sunchokes. The sausage was very under-seasoned (and to be clear, my family raises our own sausage so my standard is already farm raised, I am not comparing to an overly processed/overly salted store-bought product). The pine nut "pudding" as it was called on the menu ended up being a runny, bitter sauce. The radicchio was also extremely bitter (which is typical, unfortunately there was just too much of it and it was not balanced out with other flavors). The sunchokes were the highlight as they were crisp and delicious. Unfortunately there just weren't enough of them to save this dish from overall being kind of bitter and bland. The scallops were cooked perfectly, although also slightly under-seasoned. Mostly though, they were just overpowered by the boiled peanuts they were paired with. Even the chili oil, jalapeño, and serrano peppers were overpowered by the slightly burnt peanuts. The carrots were well cooked and added some freshness, but was again not enough to save the balance of the dish. Especially as I continued eating, all the flavors started to disappear behind the charred boiled peanut flavor. Ultimately, this dish was just disappointing because it had the makings of something great but was just so off-balance. When it came time for dessert we were still hungry and hoping to redeem the entree section of our meal so we ordered a slice of the Boston Cream Pie to share. Luckily, this was quite good. It was a fun take on flavors I've only seen in donuts. The cakes were light but then soaked in creamy deliciousness, all paired with a lovely layer of chocolate on top. We really enjoyed it and were happy to end on a happy note. All in all, the experience was fine, but overall confusing. There were some great parts and some very lackluster parts. I might give this place another chance for brunch in the summer or something, but not a place I'm itching to go back to.

Denise A.

This farm to table restaurant with a seasonal menu is located in Alna, ME, pretty much in the middle of no where that one would expect a restaurant to be found. That is just part of its charm. It also boasts a small market with local and unique grocery and other items along with freshly baked breads to take away. We made reservations for a Friday night and sat at the gorgeous counter/bar area. My son and I started off with the pickle board: picked vegetables, ham and a most delicious beet mustard. The aaompanying sourdough bread served was amazing. So amazing that we ran over to the market right in the restaurant to snag a sourdough baguette to take home. We wished we would have bought 2!!! We both choose the Steak Diane style steak with chanterelle mushrooms (I do believe) and it was out of this world fantastic! The steak (I cannot recall the cut) was tender, so flavorful and the sauce was so rich and delicious that we simply could not stop eating it. Although full, I could not resist trying the zucchini tiramisu like cake, which was moist and full of so many flavor profiles that each bite tasted a bit different than the one before. We enjoyed our glasses of wine and beer and the relaxed yet sophisticated dining atmosphere. Service was attentive, the entire place, including the restroom, was clean and orderly. We both agreed that this was one of the best meals we have ever had and we would certainly recommend and will return.

Jay M.

Spectacular. Never better. Wine list esoteric and clever, frozen slushies bomb, chocolate chip cookie iconic (and the best in New England), burger still flawless in every way, and clever and innovative condiments, flavors, and textures. The pickled zucchini made me swoon, the cucumber pavlova was distilled late summer in a bowl, and I'm a little sad I missed the August lobster special! They could open a separate bakery alone with their sourdough doughnuts and I'd be in line at 6am. Their loaves are easily the best I've ever had. Some things have changed since last year -- the market is a little smaller and the seating is more expansive, and it's clear that there's a lot of demand and excitement from the recent incredible accolades! Be prepared for a little wait -- it's well worth it, and depending on the time, they might be out of some items. Staff is so friendly and warm. It's a beautifully curated menu and they put so much care in.

We went here on the recommendation of a man we met on a ship tour. The restaurant is in the middle of nowhere in the countryside, but fairly close to Wiscasset. We were intrigued by the fact that they were a finalist for the 2024 James Beard Award for best new restaurant. We made a reservation for Sunday brunch (reservations required). Wow was it crowded! The staff was lovely, especially our waitress Bobbi who brought us free French fries and a piece of cake, both amazing, for having to wait. I had the chicken and waffles - so delicious. My friends had scrambled eggs with grits. My friend said it was the best scrambled eggs she'd ever had! We all agreed it was the best meal of our entire Maine vacation!

Creative dishes with so much flavor. Everything we had was great and the service was welcoming and professional. We started with the vanilla glazed doughnut and coffees. Then moved on to the seasonal asparagus with poached egg and salsa verde, my favorite dish of the day. The bacon burger and fries was one of the best I've ever had. We also had the fried chicken which was really good too. This was one of the most memorably delicious meals we have had in a while and we will absolutely be back!

Tessa R.

Wow. The deliciously hip food and cocktails will make you feel like you just got lucky and found the next Michelin star in rural Maine!

Bill M.

Cozy welcoming store/restaurant. A bit out of the way but well worth the drive. You' really get a chance to see the other Maine as you drive along. Plenty of beautiful farmland and views on the way. The menu while small seemed to have a bit of something for everyone. The schnitzel was wonderfully flavorful and perfectly fried, so good! In fact everything we eat was carefully made and both beautiful and super tasty. Holy wow, I've never had a donut with such a tasty crunch on the outside that was also so light and deliciously chewy inside. As an aside I was shocked by how good the fried tofu looked when a nearby diner ordered it. We wl definitely have to go back to try it sometime!

Valerie E.

I went to an early dinner with two friends. We ordered two appetizers (I had the Japanese milk bread and it was just okay) my dinner was the pork chop and it was sadly dry and fatty. My friends enjoyed their fish dinner and the specialty drinks. This was my first visit to the Alna Store and I had great expectations. We felt extremely rushed from our table (shockingly) and overall I was disappointed. I thought the vibe was nice and I loved the real candles on the tables.

Liz G.

Amazing this little restaurant is in the country. Loved the ride from Brunswick for Sunday brunch. It was a warming feeling once we stepped inside. We had to start with the sourdough donut and banana bread. The donut was warm!!!! It was so delicious, chewy and the right amount of sweetness, I'd get that again. The banana bread was yummy as well with the dark chocolate. I had the Alna burger and russet french fries. The caramelized onions were burnt, other than that the burger was perfect! The fries were fluffy inside and a perfect crispy outside. My husband had the pancakes with pecans both the bacon and homemade sausage patty. The pancakes were very filling and one would have been enough with the other things to got. The hostess and waitress were both very pleasant.