Like other restaurateurs around Maine, Ogunquit’s Scott Vogel has his mind on the coming tourist season.

Later this month, Vogel will reopen The Front Porch Piano Bar & Restaurant, the newly renovated downtown landmark he’s owned for nine years. His 2-year-old restaurant, Coastal Alchemist at The Trident Inn, is slated to reopen in March after its own winter renovations. His third venue, the all-day casual bar and restaurant CREW, has stayed open to serve the town’s winter visitors and its roughly 1,200 year-round residents.

But in the summertime, Ogunquit’s population swells to about 18,000, as it hosts, feeds and entertains about 500,000 tourists between the Memorial and Labor Day holidays.

For Vogel and other newer restaurateurs in town, the focus isn’t just on the sheer number of guests they’ll serve. It’s on offering quality food and service that can compete with top restaurants in Portland or even Boston.

It’s been more than 13 years since 98 Provence and the farm-to-table pioneer Arrows closed, both celebrated restaurants that helped put Ogunquit on the national culinary map. Now a new generation of local restaurateurs are looking to re-establish (or grow, depending on whom you talk to) Ogunquit’s reputation as a dining destination.

“We’re trying to compete as if we were in a Portland or a Boston — that’s the level of care a lot of places here show,” Vogel said. “We want to wow people who are coming from Boston.”

“We work really hard to make sure someone from Boston can say, ‘I had a meal I could have at a renowned restaurant in Boston or Portland,'” said Javier Nava, who has owned M.C. Perkins Cove since 2022 with his partner, Dana Gregory. “We want guests to leave and be like, ‘Wow, I didn’t think I was going to find such an amazing meal in such a little town.'”

TRADITION, BUT ALSO INNOVATION

Vogel, 35, is on Ogunquit’s Select Board and was a board chair for the Chamber of Commerce. He estimates there are 55 restaurants in the roughly 4-square-mile town. (For comparison, Freeport, with almost eight times the population and six times the tourist traffic, had fewer than 30 restaurants in 2023.) In the past several years, he’s seen an influx of more “elevated” restaurants.

“There are places that have opened that are hitting the mark on the more casual family place, too, which there is a big need for here as well,” Vogel said. “But that elevated food scene and craft cocktail scene, there are more places that have opened in the last five to seven years in that space.”

He doesn’t mean “elevated” as in fancier or more formal, but rather top-quality contemporary cuisine that reflects current tastes and the desire to have special experiences while dining out. Even the town’s best-regarded restaurants need to be accessible to a broad spectrum of visitors — including less adventurous non-foodies — so they still serve plenty of stalwart classics like lobster, pan-seared salmon or beef tenderloin.

Jonathan West, owner of Jonathan’s, which marks its 50th anniversary this year, offers a variety seasonal specials. Still, he makes sure to keep several core dishes like caramelized salmon and jaeger schnitzel on his menu every year to keep returning visitors satisfied. “You better have the same thing on the menu this year as last year, because that’s what they want,” West said.

But many menus are starting to weave in more global flavorings and on-trend influences.

“Ten years ago, there were a couple of good restaurants, but many of the menus weren’t exciting or changing with what was in season,” Nava said. “The old guard set up the scene for people to come and enjoy some high-end dining. As the old guard steps away and people like Scottie (Vogel) and us come in and take over, we start with new innovations while still keeping hold of that tradition.”

“Ogunquit has always been a destination and had great food places,” said Norman Hebert, a longtime local chef and former owner of Bintliff’s. “The younger generation coming in is raising the bar for quality. They’re bringing in bits and pieces out of the cities and putting it with Maine products and Maine flair. And to the consumer, that raises the value.”

Hebert pointed to Vogel’s Coastal Alchemist as an example, as well as the The Crooked Pine and the Old Village Inn, which was renovated and modernized last year.

“That could be a restaurant in any metropolitan city now,” West said of Old Village Inn. “It has a different upscale look to it.”

A VARIETY OF CULINARY EXPERIENCES

Jake Kirsch, who launched The Crooked Pine on Shore Road in 2019, said he hasn’t noticed much change to the town’s food offerings in recent years. “But I will say that awareness of Ogunquit as a dining destination has improved,” he said.

Indeed, the town has been included in a slew of travel roundups from regional and national newspapers and magazines. Forbes magazine ranked it among the world’s most beautiful villages in 2025 (and the only one from the United States), while Food & Wine named M.C. Perkins Cove the most romantic restaurant in Maine.

“We’re definitely getting noticed, that’s for sure. I think a lot of it has to do with how we’re evolving in the food scene,” said Gregory. “People aren’t really familiar with what Ogunquit restaurants have to offer. We aren’t just fried clams and lobster rolls.”

“We’re fortunate that we have the best of a number of different styles of cuisine and dining,” said Ogunquit Playhouse Executive Artistic Director Bradford Kenney. There are breakfast spots, pubs, pizza and plenty of seafood, all staples of beachside resort towns. But you’ve also got places like Angelina’s for Italian, Nikanos for Greek, Bonissoni Brazilian Steakhouse and Black Sushi House, along with more than 20 spots Vogel would put in the “elevated” category.

“You can park your car and have a wide variety of different culinary experiences with different energies, and it’s not just the same-old, same-old,” Kirsch said.

Vogel said industry professionals have also come to recognize Ogunquit’s worth as a dining destination. He said he believes the town may be “on the cusp” of some regional star chef — he used Boston’s Ken Oringer as an example — opening a satellite venue here.

“The town is getting more attention as a place to put high-level food and drinks, and that’s only going to continue to grow,” Vogel said.

‘GROWING THE PIE’

Jake Cryan of York, a foodie influencer (@eatingthroughtheseacoast), lauds Vogel for helping make Ogunquit more of a year-round attraction. Barring this year’s renovations, Vogel has strived to keep his restaurants open throughout the winter; The Front Porch used to be closed for two months in the off-season.

“There’s enough of a year-round community that it’s appreciated by the people who live here,” Cryan said. “And that’ll encourage more people to want to open businesses here.”

Vogel said more Ogunquit restaurants started staying open year-round (or mostly year-round) about 10 years ago. Some places close for a few weeks or month in the winter, but the closings are usually staggered so visitors still have ample dining options whenever they arrive.

“The town has gotten a whole lot more year-round, and it’s created much more of a winter crowd,” said Vogel. “Presidents Day Weekend, which was a time that most places would be closed, is now a very busy weekend for us.”

Ogunquit restaurateurs said their camaraderie helps them work toward common goals. They’re always happy to lend ingredients, equipment or even staff to anyone who’s short.

“We’re all friends with each other. We eat at each others’ places, just to be that community and support each other,” said Nava.

“The mindset is, ‘We’re all in this together,'” Vogel said.

While Ogunquit has dining variety for a small town, there’s still room for more options, particularly in certain niches. Vogel said he’d like to open an pan-Asian restaurant at some point in the future, though he’ll keep his attention entirely on his three current restaurants this season. Renovations at The Front Porch include a new tiki bar and outdoor seating for 60 more guests.

Ogunquit visitors will have even more options this this season, as Oarweed and Five-O — two well-regarded restaurants that had been closed because of fire damage — both aim to reopen this spring.

“I think what makes the town’s food scene special is that it’s still small, locally owned restaurants with hands-on owners,” Kirsch said. “Ogunquit is really about growing the pie and everybody getting their slice.”