Excellent evening! We are tourists and heard Twelve was the best place in town. We certainly agree! (Though Scales, Fore Street, Minato and Chaval were also great.) We can't wait to return and recommend Twelve to others without hesitation. Food was outstanding. Service was great -- nice to have touches from both the head chef and GM too. Gazpacho, tuna tartare, tomatoes, were all perfect and memorable. Cod was very good. Pork loin and succotash were an amazing match taste-wise (though presentation of the loin as a giant cube was slightly uninspired). Ice cream sandwiches were innovative, tasty and subtle. We would have preferred to have had more non-frozen options, though. Only hiccup was when we tried to get a modified cocktail, and our server told us that cocktails were batched and could not be modified. We were surprised that Twelve would use batching. However, the server and bartender worked on alternatives until we got something fantastic. What a great evening! read more

We had a fantastic experience at Twelve sitting at the chef's table! The food was delicious and our server was amazing! He was extremely knowledgeable about each dish and accommodated any changes due to allergies. Great ambiance as well. It was definitely a 5 star experience! read more

See all

Twelve is such a special spot in Portland, Maine. The location is right on the bay and very scenic. When you walk in, the high end decor sets the mood for the meal you are about to receive. You MUST get the mussels! So delicious, we asked for some of their freshly baked rolls to soak up every bit of the broth. The wait staff takes time to explain every ingredient in each dish. The ice cream sandwich....YUM!!! We were there at the end of the night and got an extra treat as well that was delicious!!! read more

See all

Twelve is an upscale dining experience located right on the water in downtown Portland. The location is prime, but the fare for the price is not really it. My friend and I were doing a tasting of all the different highly rated lobster places in Portland. While the ambience and atmosphere were top tier, the food seemed to fall short. We tried their croissant lobster roll, which we were told was "really special" by our waiter. We had also heard from other reviewers online as well that this roll was amazing. We were excited and eager to taste it, but when it came out we thought we were being pranked. I'm not kidding. This lobster roll was smaller than a children's cheeseburger on a kids menu. It was a 2 bites and you're done with it kind of meal. We split one roll and they had separated it onto two plates. While yes it was delicious, the price for how small it was, was a bit absurd. $40 and it's done in 4 bites or less if you get it for yourself and 2 bites or less if it's split. There are many other restaurants in the area that have equal or better rolls that are less pricey and you are given more lobster. While I cannot comment on any other food at this establishment, I would definitely return in the future to try other items, but I just won't be recommending the roll or coming back for it in the future. read more

Twelve - The tiniest lobster roll in existence - New American Near Me - Portland, Maine

See all

Dishes were all awesome, the best being the mussels (the sauce wow) and the cod (again the sauce!) and the parsnip. The only flavor that was a little less savory in my opinion was the nettle sauce with the halibut, a little too harsh to match the delicate fish. Overall, an outstanding service, meal, wine pairing and beautiful kitchen to look at. You are up to your reputation :) read more

This place is amazing. The service is out of this world. Literally every bite you take is like the best bite you've ever experienced in your life. I've been here for my birthday two years in a row and it's been the best part! I've never had anything I've disliked - not even close. One of my friends didn't like the starter; I believe it was made with beets and the server was quick to offer an alternative. Just an example of how they cater to their customers. Get the lobster roll - a must. This last time I got the cod and it was so good I thought I might cry. Love this place! read more

Im not a fan of calling a restaurant the best before it has even opened or of places owned by big groups. In general preferring restaurants where food is made by people not companies. However Twelve is an exception to that rule, everything is just so well done. From the beautifully rebuilt building, the ample professional staffing and the impressive food they are producing in their kitchens. Who would think a dish of kohlrabi could be so tasty?! Or the simple loaf of sweet potato bread divine! Other dishes that you might expect to be good like the upgrade to the lobster roll or the steak also more than exceeded expectations through the use of perfect ingredients and beautiful execution. I have had a lobster roll on a croissant before, but never one like the one at Twelve. Truly delightful and unforgettable in its execution. Wow! Similar with the NY Strip, I have had similar looking presentations but none with the richness of flavors and tenderness of the beef. In fact everything we tried was excellent and surprising in that it all looked delightful but tasted even better! read more

See all

A really great dining experience in Maine! The attention to detail and the service provided by the staff is top notch. Highlights of the menu for me was the lobster roll, the new york strip, and the gingerbread. The lobster roll truly melts in your mouth and the half lobster is cooked to perfection. I can honestly say that the new york strip was one of the best tasting steaks I had in 2022 - also cooked to perfection. The gingerbread was definitely unique but also comforting. I thought that dish to be the best dessert on the menu. If you have the chance, I do recommend trying the cured fluke. The fluke was fresh and had a great taste to it. The halibut was interesting because it was with a red wine sauce, but I wasn't blown away with the flavor. The dessert that disappointed me was the chocolate sundae. I was hoping for more miso flavor but the caramel overpowers and the chocolate is super rich. Overall, Twelve is a place worth trying! Next time, I think I'll try to grab a spot at the bar! read more

See all

Absolutely worth the hype! What an incredible dining experience. The service and attention to detail were impeccable. Staff are extremely well trained, which sets this apart from most other Portland restaurants. Both of the friends I went with had allergies--one to tree nuts and one to gluten. The server was so accommodating and was able to suggest modifications to the dishes. When (other) waitstaff brought the dishes, they knew exactly who had which allergy and the corresponding modifications. One friend remarked, "I have never felt more safe eating in a restaurant." The gin martini with lemon oil was the best martini I've ever had. Wine list is excellent as well. All the dishes were fantastic, with the favorite being the sunchoke dish. I was slightly underwhelmed with the pumpkin ice cream bar--my friend's desserts were definitely the "winners". Overall, Twelve tops the list of best fine-dining restaurants in Portland. We have already booked our next reservation! read more

Twelve - Gin martini - New American Near Me - Portland, Maine

The only thing I can say about this place was WOW! The food and service was outstanding.

Beautiful space & decor ~ the staff was nice & attentive. The menu was extraordinarily small and limited. We are used to high quality food & restaurants. We were not expecting casual or cheap. But the cost of everything for the portions (which are minuscule) is too expensive. In fact we wonder how they will remain profitable or in business. We are local and having been dining in Portland since 1998. It feels like this restaurant and it's owners are trying too hard; the dishes we did have were hit and miss and the portions were ALL ridiculously small. Not worth the money. We were very much looking forward to this restaurant's opening and to the experience, but there are much better restaurants with better food overall and not nearly as expensive. The menu would need to be expanded and modified (along with the portions) for us to consider going back. read more

A wonderful, upscale, dining experience. We made our reservation well in advance to snag a prime dining time. On a weekday night they were fully booked until after eight. The food was elegant, and the service was spot on, friendly attentive, but not obtrusive. A knowledgeable sommelier made recommendations from an extensive wine list. It will set your finances back some but even for the price they don't disappoint. read more

Amazing food, service and cocktails! The cod was incredible and can't wait to visit again.

Went in skeptical: website is gorgeous, but not much there about the food and drink, and - given boat prices - $48 for a lobster roll is just outrageous. Full disclosure: we did not order the lobster roll. Finished the evening thinking they are Michelin-worthy, and wanting very much to return. Pricey, worth every penny. High energy. Friendly: not an ounce of pretense. Chef's table, prix fixe: one of the best meals we've had in decades. Like watching a cohesive, well-choreographed ballet. Ample portions, reliable, consistent prep of each dish. A special anniversary celebration and every staff member we met congratulated us. Full moon over Portland harbor was a nice touch, too! read more

See all

We missed Twelve in our last visit to Portland. Not this time!!! Dined on the tasting menu at the counter and it was great from start to finish. Whatever you order, include the bread. Baked fresh to order with the tastiest butter. Cocktails were great also. Service on point and great ambiance seeing the chef cook up each dish, and then engage you in describing the particular dish. Will definitely return when we unplug from the matrix in our Portland retreats... read more

Chef Colin Wyatt and the Magnificent Twelve Team have created an amazing restaurant that would have this New Yorker drive 5 hrs back to Maine to see what else they have in store. Try and snag a table now before they become Michelin! My lovely wife made this reservation weeks in advance before our trip because she knows how long I've been trying to get to eleven Madison park and since they're not serving meat anymore, we followed the chef! My wife and I both did the tasting menu and then we of course had to get the the rest of the menu a la carte! I don't think I should describe each dish. You're just going to have to find out for yourself. I'm just going to say get everything if you can! The only one dish we didn't get was the mushrooms, which I wanted to, but I had to save room for the dessert! But next time! Congratulations Maine, you've stolen an amazing chef from Nyc! Chef said he's contemplating on putting the famed duck from Eleven Madison. My closing suggestion, get everything! #trustinmack read more

See all

Amazing food!! We couldn't even decide on a winner for the course options, everything was so good. Beautiful location, delicious food, and super nice staff! Very impressed, will definitely be back! read more

Twelve - New American Near Me - Portland, Maine

Best I've ever had! Jen at the bar was fabulous and a great guide! Her wine, dinner and dessert, port suggestions were perfection!

We came in on a Saturday night at 6pm without a reservation and were sat at the bar right away. The atmosphere was warm & organized. The open kitchen was beautiful to watch, it looks like a stage. We decided to do a la carte. We started with the caesar salad which was really good; the dressing was light, the herbs were refreshing and flavorful, great texture as well with the nuts. Then we had the Lobster roll & the cauliflower au gratin (w/uni). The Lobster roll was by far the best lobster roll we've both ever had. The pastry was so buttery and crunchy and the lobster was cooked perfectly. One of those things that leaves you like wow. The cauliflower au gratin was a really good surprise, it had a lot of different flavors and each bite was different from another which was pretty cool. We then had the Oyster mushrooms, we were not as impressed by this one but it was still really delicious. We finished with the chocolate pudding, the serving was really big but it was a light consistency which made it easy to finish it. It was also such a fun dessert to eat. One thing that I think would be cool to add is more mocktails options. We tried the one mocktail on the menu and didn't think much of it. Overall a really great experience, looking forward to come back again. read more

See all

This is our favorite restaurant in Portland, and we are local foodies who have been to most of the competition in the area (which is a high bar). We've been to Twelve many times with many different menus and have almost never been disappointed by anything we've had. Service is great (attentive but not stuffy), ambiance is nice with the open kitchen, and, most importantly, food is A+. The only problem is that you can't ever get too attached to specific menu items because the menu rotates so frequently. read more

The food is amazing the drinks are special the service is top notch the ambiance is nice.

I went here with family and everything was amazing! Their cocktails are insanely delicious as well! Definitely get the rolls which are extra but worth it. I was stuffed by the time I left, so good! read more

Twelve - New American Near Me - Portland, Maine

SO GOOD! A new gem in Portland. Beautiful interior, attentive staff, and amazing food. We opted for the prefix menu and I'm so glad we did because we got to try so many delicious items. Highlights include the Lobster Roll on a buttery, flakey croissant, strawberry financier, and the show stopping steak. Definitely worth stopping by, your tastebuds will thank you! read more

This place is absolutely amazing! The food is prepared with a lot of love and depth of flavors! The staff were very attentive and the service was spot on. Haley, the bar manager was so nice, she kept checking in with us. Very knowledgeable about the menu and was so nice! The customer service in this place is top shelf! The atmosphere was really great, nice energy and ambiance. We will definitely be going back. There are a lot of choices in Portland, this should be at the top of your list. read more

This was truly an amazing experience! There were five of us, dining, and the service was so personalized and professional. Each one of us received full and meaningful explanations of each each dish and each wine that we enjoyed. I had the prefix meal paired with various wines. Rather than bore you with my explanations of our meals, suffice it to say our server gave us a much more meaningful one. The intimate setting of the room allowed us to watch the kitchen crew work. They were truly a well oiled machine. I will finish with saying that at the end of the meal when our server said, will there be anything else? I wanted to say, can we start over? This was amazing! read more

Fantastic dinner. Would definitely revisit on our next trip. Highly recommend sitting at the open kitchen

Loved it. So good. Everything was delicious and creative. Space and ambiance is awesome too.

The food was good. Not great. The service was excellent. The restaurant looks great. Very pricey. Not a great value for the price paid. The food was simply not that great. read more

Great experience. Lovely restaurant space, very professional and well trained staff and, best of all, excellent cocktails and delicious, creative food. Sat at the bar and we weren't very hungry so we only ordered Parker House rolls, Grilled Zucchini and a Lobster Roll. Everything was delicious. We were served by 2 excellent bartenders who were very friendly and could not have cared less that we weren't ordering a lot of food. read more

Twelve is modern and hip, if a bit pretentious. The mixed drinks were expertly mixed and excellent. The menu is quite small, with not many choices, particularly if you're not willing to experiment. I can't see returning on a regular basis as there aren't any "specials" and you would run out of options quickly -- but what we did order was very well prepared and good. The Yukon gold chips with an onion crema topped with trout roe was a wonderful starter and highly recommended. My partner's cod over a carrot bisque was tasty, light and fresh. The lions mane mushroom dish that I sampled was earthy and good, but I found the buckwheat porridge heavy and I wouldn't order it again. Our suggested wine selections were very good and complimentary to our meals. We don't often order dessert but tonight we did: an ice cream bar with coffee ice cream sandwiched with a thin biscuit, toasted sugar, lemon zest and a sprinkle of course salt. It was crazy delicious. We would return for a special occasion but not soon -- we'll keep our eye on the menu. You will most likely need a reservation as the bar reserved as well and there's not too much room for walk ins. read more

See all

Had a really wonderful dining experience for my son's 13th birthday. We sometimes have a hard time finding restaurants that offer incredible food and service without pretentiousness. We have a 15 year old with autism that we also brought with us (this is always a stressful experience for us in nicer restaurants). Our kids are well-behaved, but sometimes don't know the exact right way to act in a fine-dining restaurant. We were made to feel welcome and comfortable from the moment we walked in. We were allowed to do one prefixe and three a la cartes, which I've never seen offered before at any other restaurant (usually if one person in a party does prefixe, all others must also do prefixe... Twelve's flexibility in ordering was a huge plus for a family of varying appetites). The food was fresh and exciting, with delightful combinations of flavors that were fun to experience. A standout was the cod (and I don't even like fish). While the food was excellent, the true standout was the service. The perfect combination of attentiveness, precision, and easy familiarity that you'd hope to find in a neighborhood joint. Would recommend Twelve to anyone looking for not just good food, but a true dining experience. read more

Our party of 5 reserved an outside table, which was thankfully covered with the looming storm pending. It is a very unique high end restaurant for Portland with excellent food, beautiful ambiance and stellar service. The prefix dinner was nicely curated with perfect portions. Our main gripe was the pricey bottle wine list. The selection of Wines were overly marked up and didn't meet our expectations compared to similar types of restaurants. The final bill came out to $200 a head. I'd probably return for special celebrations and hope the wine selection will improve. It's definitely a memorable, albeit pricey dining experience. read more

Enjoyable evening at Twelve. Small but beautiful space. Service was attentive. Food was well prepared & serving sizes were not overly generous but we left totally satisfied. The ending dessert that is the pastry chef's specialty ice cream 'sandwich' was our favorite!! read more

Good meal, wildly overpriced. Cod was highlight. Mussels quite good as well. Cool venue too

Our waiter and kitchen were extremely accommodating with our food allergies. Service was great as was the somellier. Food and wine was divine. Would absolutely recommend. read more

Oh so delicious -- every morsel of each of the 4 courses was delicious and exciting. Particularly noteworthy was the cod in a carrot crab sauce and the gazpacho that came out first. Wow! My husband enjoyed the zucchini for his second course. Service was excellent, as were the cocktails. read more

I think this was the best meal of my life. The combination of the food, its presentation, talking with the chefs and waitstaff at the Chef's Counter, and the friends we ate dinner with was fantastic. read more

I went here for my birthday and the whole experience was wonderful. The staff was so helpful and kind, the space is beautiful and the FOOD was AMAZING! This place is not overhyped, it's delicious, and honestly the price for the prix fixe is a great deal for high end restaurant. read more

My partner and I ate at Twelve earlier this year, and among some of our wonderful, wonderful experiences during a long weekend in Portland (we ate at Eventide, Honey Paw, and Central Provisions), nothing tops what we experienced there. The evening started on a bit of a mortifying note. We had a 9:30 reservation (the only one available), and when we rolled up to the restaurant, it was peculiarly empty. We got to the door and all the chairs were stacked on tables. No guests were there, and it seemed all the chefs were in the back finishing up cleaning. We were confused: did we get our reservation wrong? We stepped up to the door, which was actually locked, before the host came to greet us. I told them my name and a flash of recognition entered their eyes. "Oh, yes, we've been calling you. We were trying to see if you would be able to come in earlier in the evening as you were our final reservation of the night." (Of course, in true millennial fashion, I never answered my phone.) My partner and I looked at each other in disbelief, embarrassed that we'd missed the presumably multiple calls and uncomfortable that we were in an empty restaurant with people who clearly were ready to go home. I said that I must have missed the calls and pulled up my phone in a bit of a daze, slowly saying something about calling a car and figuring something else out. The host stopped me, though, and said that yes, the restaurant was closing up, but if we wouldn't mind putting ourselves in their hands and letting them just fire up our meals, they were sure they could accommodate us. Of course, we jumped at the chance for, um, a private dinner. We sat at the bar, chatting with the bartender, apologizing profusely while he made us cocktails. (He couldn't have been nicer, saying he got paid anyway.) The food was stunning -- I'll forever remember that chips and dip -- but what I'll remember forever is the restaurant's graciousness. You forget the food, but you don't forget how people treat you. The GM Daniel Gorlas came over and gave us the warmest welcome, actually apologizing to us for the misunderstanding, while of course we did the same. What could have been soured by the start turned out to be the most memorable dining experience we had all year. I have to go back. read more

Amazing food, staff and ambiance. Loved it. I wasn't completely happy with my dish and they took it off the bill. Really apps f I have already recommended to a few people read more