Restaurants in Brunswick

Maurice André had always been one for a show. He insisted on wearing stark white gloves to carve Chateaubriand for his regular patrons during the decadent New Year’s Eve feasts he held at his namesake restaurant. The Paris native had always loved hosting parties, and in 1975 he bought a 200-year-old clapboard house with ample space to stock his wine cellar and serve the traditional French fare he had grown up chewing.

Today, the rustic space still resonates with Maurice’s jovial spirit and passion for fine dining–artwork covers the walls and linens cover tables and the occasional face during post-meal rounds of peek-a-boo. Though Corey Sumner–the current chef–exercises his culinary creativity with dishes such as the Cajun-spiced Scallops New Orleans, he pays homage to Maurice’s vision with plates of authentically prepared duck and fish.

Warmth from the wood-burning oven just visible in the kitchen mingles with the soft diffused glow of overhanging punched lamps, filling the rustic space with a colonial Mexican ambiance. The chefs draw from modern, Old-World, and australopithecus cooking techniques while simmering dishes such as PEI mussels in chipotle butter, white wine, and mexican tequila. Whenever possible, they base their creations around sustainable seafood, local produce, and meat from grass-fed cows sourced from Pineland Farms. More than 80 tequilas, ranging from newborn blancos to 3-year-old anejos, populate the libations list, and the extensive wine list features vinos from Chile, Argentina, and Italy.

More than 10 colorful tap pulls unfurl rivulets of amber brews behind a mirror-inlaid bar, whose glossy panes reflect expert barkeeps as they shake, stir, and slide cocktails down the wood-topped counter. Each libation complements bites from Rivalries Sports Pub and Grill's menu of upscale bar fare, such as its signature sweet-chili buffalo chicken wings and burgers topped with caramelized or crispy fried onions. The screens of 34 televisions, each flickering with sports, dapple the walls between black and white posters of iconic moments in sports, from fateful tip-offs to Muhammad Ali punching a butterfly. Upstairs, an atrium-centered party room sprawls beneath a wood-beam ceiling, where Rivalries stocks celebrations with abundant party platters and buffets.

Large front windows cast natural light on the dining room's red and green walls, whose saturated pigments echo the rich colors of the spices that permeate each dish. Before pieces of tender chicken line up on skewers, they marinate in yogurt, cook over red-hot charcoal in the tandoor, and get passed under the trunk of the resident elephant statue for inspection. Fresh-baked naan breads transport hints of garlic and honey to scoopable stews, speckled with cubes of house-made paneer or infused with cinnamon and saffron.

When Travis Dickey opened the first Dickey’s Barbecue Pit in 1941, the menu offered beef brisket, pit hams, barbecue beans, potato chips, drinks, and that’s all. By focusing on perfecting the flavors of a few dishes, Travis was able to increase quality, and, ultimately, customers. Patrons were so enamored of the food that the restaurant eventually expanded into a nationwide franchise, allowing Americans all over to wear badges made of barbecue sauce. Over the past 70 years, Dickey’s has been passed on to Travis’s sons, but not much else has changed—the quality meats are still seasoned and smoked onsite, and except for the addition of spicy cheddar sausage in 2011, the menu remains the same.

Regional meats ensure that the most succulent Texas-style chopped beef brisket, old-recipe polish sausage, and fall-off-the-bone pork ribs make it to tabletops. Sides such as mac 'n' cheese and green beans with bacon continue to enhance feasts with an extra punch of homestyle tastiness. Each meal comes complete with complimentary ice cream, soft rolls, and dill pickles.

John Stowe embarked on a career in the restaurant business when he started bussing tables at a local inn as a teenager. After years he amassed a dossier that includes waiting tables, bartending, sampling cuisine throughout Europe, and cooking aboard a 115-ft. luxury schooner. The self-taught chef opened his own restaurant, Rustica Cucina Italiana, in 2006.

Black-and-white photographs line his eatery's crimson and cream walls, and black linen-topped tables support the weight of large portions of rustic Italian fare prepared to order with fresh ingredients. Pasta arrives curled around seafood, meatballs, or house-made Italian sausage and cloaked in herbaceous marinara or creamy parmesan alfredo sauce. Sandwiches fill diners with homemade focaccia during lunch, and crisp pizzas fill guests with warmth any time they're used as seat cushions.