My wife and I have been to Chaval a few times in our lives, twice in recent memory. One of our most…read morerecent trips was for a cooking class, the other was for dinner. In the Paella cooking class, we really enjoyed the intimate instruction that Chef Damien and Bartender Asher. The class was informative and very fun - and the food & cocktails were delightful! When we returned a few weeks later for dinner, our impression of Chaval (the staff and the food) didn't skip a beat. We sat at the bar and had a really enjoyable evening. This is a great place for date-night, a celebration or just an excuse to go out and enjoy what Portland's local cuisine has to offer!

We celebrated our 50th anniversary at Chaval, a party of 10. The entire family style menu was…read moreterrific, start to finish. The special cake order did not disappoint. It was delicious. The staff was wonderful and attentive. We had small children in the party and they were very patient with them. My only negative is their private room. There's little about it that says inviting. I felt like we were in a storage room in the basement. Chaval waitstaff were up and down the stairs constantly replenishing wine and whatever it is that's stored down stairs. The room is very narrow and unappealing. If you are booking a special occasional , pray for a nice day and sit on their patio. Aside from lack of ambiance the cocktails/appetizers/dinner and dessert were spot on! Thanks to the staff for a memorable evening. Oh and thanks to our kids for this special treat.

Tried this for the first time the other week for restaurant week. Super cute spot with only a few…read moretables and a couple seats at the bar. The service was very well done. We got the wine pairing too and it was great. The food was tasty. I will be back to try not during restaurant week.

Stopped by on a Wednesday for Restaurant Week. Firstly, they actually had a bargain priced special…read moremenu, unlike most others that amount to a free cup of miso soup. Respect! Now for the food. Excellent! Fresh and nutty beet salad, fork soft short rib, and best heavenly flan in Maine. The homemade fococcia was deprived of enough olive oil, but they were quick to supply more. It's a tiny but welcoming, romantic space with a 4 seater bar and sweet service. A nice thing about the well-curated, expensive, not extensive, wine list is that half bottles are available at exactly half the price of a bottle, not marked up. The only downside is that all the prices are above average for restaurants of similar stature. Took too long to discover this oasis!

We ordered many of the tapas items on the main menu. The cucumber salad and the scallops were the…read moretables favorite. I would recommend ordering two scallops if you have a group of 5, as the serving was small. For 5 of us we ordered about 10 dishes and felt like we got a good sample of each menu item.

We came in near kitchen closing time, our apologies. We ordered quickly, atmosphere, service and…read morethe bartender was all impeccable. I found my bucatini dry, and lacking the advertised lump crab, considering it was a $34 plate it was disappointing but not something to mention at the end of the night

The service was amazing. And the food I will go back for on the regular!…read more I had an Olive brine martini, that was perfectly balanced. Followed by delicious Tuna curdo. With dinner I enjoyed an orange wine - not usually my thing but the server said it worked well with the swordfish -- and it did. The swordfish was one of my favorite meals in Portland. For dessert I tried the crème brûlée and as I ate it I kept saying I'd save some for my husband to take home - it never made it home. I sat alone and everyone was welcoming, warm and helpful. Can't wait to go back with friends!

I've been dying to check out Cherie! this new French bistro took over the beautiful space that has…read morea huge oven and counter seating right in front. I sat at the counter and had a delightful time conversing with the chef putting together the appetizers and desserts as well as having the wonderful bar tender help me pick a wine to go with my meal. everyone here is so courteous and kind. The energy is wonderful and the place was full right when they open at 5! I first opted for the escargot that comes with a wonderful baguette. these were cooked perfectly, I've heard they can be chewy but these are soft and melt in your mouth. they cooked them in the big oven and have them simmering in a pesto olive oil. It was perfect. For dinner I opted for the steak frites with a glass of Cabernet. one thing to note is this place really did well with the wine list, I'm very impressed at the thoughtfulness of it. Now the steak frites were absolutely perfect. Perfect medium rare and wonderful flavor. The frites were crispy and fluffy. You can also get a side of house made aioli which I recommend. I will be back because as I watched from the kitchen, everything that they brought out looked incredible so I need to try more!

Evo was recommended to us, and we were not disappointed during our recent trip to Portland. Our…read moreserver was friendly and knowledgeable. We chose to sit at a table upstairs (mezzanine). There was also an option to sit at the counter downstairs. We started with the chickpea fries, which were spiced well with a crispy exterior and creamy texture inside. It was a unique way of serving chickpeas. I had the NY strip steak, which I enjoyed, but a tip if you're going. The medium rare was closer to rare in my opinion. If you like medium rare, I'd ask for medium. My wife had the mushroom shawarma, which she enjoyed thoroughly and raved about the unique spices.

My wife and I popped in here last night for dinner and a first round of drinks. It was 7pm on a…read moreWednesday and it was at about half capacity, so we had no trouble walking in and being seated right away, though the upstairs seating (which looked really cool) was sadly full. No matter - we got prime seating at the bar with full view of the kitchen and watching everyone prepare everything! Right out of the gate, we were impressed with the friendliness and professionalism of the staff and the vibe of the place. Even though it was relatively small, it never felt cramped at all and the decor and look just felt so sleek and modern but also warm and just a place you wanted to be. We started with drinks - an Emerald Oasis for me and a Desert Rose for the lady. The Emerald Oasis was tasty, refreshing, slightly minty with a hint of cucumber, and relatively mild in flavor. The Desert Rose was also equally refreshing with a good amount of smoke flavor and some pleasant floral notes. What's weird to me though is that it's a tequila drink with smoke added... why not just use mezcal and call it a day? I actually mistakenly thought it was mezcal when I tried it as it had a very similar flavor profile. Overall, both solid but not necessarily earth-shattering flavor bombs. For an app, we ordered some seared halloumi to start. It was a pretty small portion (two pieces for each of us equated to about 4 normal size bites each) but the flavor was really nice with a touch of heat from the peppers and a little crunch from the sunflowers. I'm definitely glad we got it and I know halloumi is expensive, but I feel like I could've used just a little more oomph somehow. Next up was the whipped feta. My wife is celiac so they got me some pita on the side and her some crudites in the form of sliced carrots and cucumbers. The pita was warm, slightly chewy, slightly crispy in some spots, and a good amount of fluffiness. The whipped feta was tasty with the pomegranate molasses giving it some depth and character but the whole thing started getting a little soupy and hard to really scoop up without a spoon towards the end. Again, another solid dish but maybe would try the hummus next time. Lastly - entrees. I started with the paprika shrimp. It was a good amount of sauce to cover the whole dish though I feel like it relied a lot on the spiciness instead of depth of flavor. Also, and maybe this is a personal thing, any dish that has shrimp with tails still on but covered in sauce is kind of annoying to get the tails off without getting your hands super messy. I get the presentation of it but still. Also, the chickpeas were slightly dry and crunchy, but that may very well be the intention and design of the dish. I didn't mind it and the sauce balanced it out nicely, but it was a bit unexpected. My wife got the Moroccan mushroom (after an oopsie that sent what was supposed to be hers to another table by mistake first and then fired up a new one right away in about 10 minutes). It was a really nice dish with lots of flavor and locally foraged mushrooms. I'm not a mushroom fan and I even thought it was pretty tasty! All in all, a really solid experience but at the same time just about every item feels like it could have been just a little bit more - whether it was flavor or amount or something. The presentation on everything was full-blown Michelin star quality too (as it was on all the other dishes we saw floating around too), though I question why the large amount random space on the plate on our two entrees. The shrimp I guess you could get away with but half an empty plate on the mushrooms just felt like it was being a little too artsy. I'm not a chef or even a professional food critic though, so what do I know? :) I wouldn't mind going back here but I wouldn't go out of my way to go back either.

Very special and unique experience to dine privately in the gazebos with friends. We were served…read morepaella, potatoes au gratin, salad, bread, roasted vegetable and a brioche blueberry donut. Service is quick, but the staff are servicing the other gazebos as well as the indoor portion of the restaurant. This overall vibe of dinner service felt intentionally slow but in a good way to me. We didn't feel rushed, the servers were funny and it was cool to see them tending to parts of the garden in between. Would recommend for a summer evening when you want to do something different with friends!

No longer BYOB nicer when it was Byob according to friends who have gone there from the beginning.read more

We came in to grab a quick drink and sat at the bar. The bartender made our drinks well and quick,…read moreand they were delicious. The vibe of the restaurant was neat and would consider going back there to eat.

Came here while on a trip to Portland! Saw mixed ratings on Yelp but decided to stop in anyway…read more So glad we did! We had a lovely time with the sweetest server. Food was so good, I took it back to our hotel to save for a midnight snack. Between two, we each enjoyed a cocktail, shared the house foccacia (so pillowy and soo good), and ordered the bolognese and the spaghetti with meatball. We can confidently say, we had more than enough food. The bolognese was so meaty and hearty but I'd have to say the spaghetti was my favorite. I really enjoyed the flavors and it had the right balance of salty and sweet for my palate.

I rarely write reviews, but I had to after our dining experience last night. Everything was perfect…read morefrom the location to the decor, and the FOOD and SERVICE was top notch as well. We are a foodie family who have been to hundreds of restaurants all around the world! The FOOD We ordered 75% of their amazing menu and every bite from the house made cornbread, pork belly, burrata salad, Swordfish, Tuna, Haddock, Sirloin, smash burger, and all [3] desserts we tried were truly amazing. Stephanie [Owner/Chef] was our server and her personality and huge smile made the meal even better. Our family has had a home in OOB for over 30yrs and we have eaten at many different restaurants in that time. We all agreed this was one of our top 5 restaurant experiences here and at home in Connecticut. The portions are huge, and the prices were shockingly reasonable for the menu and location. 10

We were here for a private work gathering…read more What a lovely place, it's not a huge space, so for the 60ish of us, it can get a little crowded and loud. The service was incredible. The team of servers and bartenders were great. The were on the move the whole night. Offering up food, refiling drinks and passing around appetizers the whole night. All with a smile and recognizing you might not want to hold the toothpick and napkin the whole time and taking it from you before you realize you have been holding it for 10 minutes LOL The food was delicious, the views were lovely. Parking can get a little tight with the big crowds, especially in the summer. Always check ahead, or make reservations, as they do cater to a lot of private events. I hope to return at some point without work people LOL