Great food and environment for sea food in Portland, we liked the scallops and mussels, plus heirloom tomato and solid octopus dish

Good wine, great food. The interior is beautiful. We sat outside and it was lovely. Highly recommend!

Let's start with Natalie, our amazing server. What a girl! Happy, positive and she knew her specials and offered great adivine! Food: the bread is to die for! It melts in your mouth with the rich butter. I ordered fish and chips and the plate was big and lots of food. Ask for the fried green beans. That was Natalie suggestion. Great place, nice people. Exquisite food and we got a table with a view! Just fantastic. Can't wait to come back!

I stumbled across Scales when researching restaurants to check out in Portland that I hadn't been to before. The fact that the restaurant is owned by the same people that own Standard Baking (one of my favorites bakeries in Portland), really piqued my interest. That, combined with the great reviews and pics here on Yelp pretty much sealed the deal - so we made plans to to try this place for dinner. Scales is located on the wharf - I have admittedly not tried many spots on the water but there are a ton of them so I'm making a mental note for future trips. Anyway, the entrance is somewhat miniscule, however once you go inside you're greeted by a grand space - it's loud and long with high ceilings and large open kitchen. Color scheme is mostly earth tones - lots of neutral browns with light wood tables/chairs; my brother said the decor was very 90s and I would tend to agree. The menu has a lot of seafood (indicative the name), but there were a couple of land options and a decent selection of apps and a raw bar section. I noticed they had a selection of bread services, so we went with two: the cloverleaf rolls and the brown bread. While both were good (I love carbs), the former was out of this world - warm and buttery and seasoned with salt and herbs; I could eat like 10 of them. We then all decided to get the NE clam chowder - this was pretty good, I wouldn't call it anything mind-blowing but a solid offering. For my main I went with the halibut which was prepared with brown butter, hazelnuts, and lemon. This was good - the fish was super flaky and the layers of flavor made it a noteworthy dish. We opted for dessert and I went with the butterscotch sundae - this tasted more caramel than butterscotch but was good regardless and paired with caramel popcorn which kept it fun. Service was pretty good - everyone was friendly but our entrees did not all come out at once which is a pet peeve of mine. It was a good 5 minutes or so after our initial dishes were served that we were waiting for a main for one person in our party. Seems like a small amount of time but when you're sitting there it's like an eternity and just isn't good service in my opinion. Overall, Scales is a solid seafood restaurant - the food is high quality and despite one service hiccup, it was a good experience. I would personally want to try other seafood restaurants in the area before returning here, but I would have no qualms recommending Scales to others.

As huge seafood fans in Portland for one night, we asked a friend who'd lived here where we HAD to go, and he said Scales. We don't regret following his advice! The space itself is found behind an unassuming door on one of the piers and inside is expansive but warm and inviting -- feeling upscale but not pretentious or "fancy" per se. Our meal began with excellent cocktails (the Cliffside Rose for my mezcal-loving husband; a reeeally well done dirty martini for me) along with the addictive cloverleaf rolls and the andama bread, a really unique blend of thick crunchy multigrain with good butter and a drizzle of molasses. Among starters the fried clam bellies were standouts, among the best we have ever had -- light and nongreasy and not overly breaded. (The Maine clam chowder was the only dish of the night that was somewhat underwhelming; more potato than I'd like, and accustomed to clams in shell in this variety of the soup). We ordered the halibut, haddock and steamed lobster as entrees; the latter two were favorites. The lobster had sizeable claws and perfectly cooked, sweet meat. The haddock was in a delish, creamy yet not heavy sauce with morels. Overall, a great meal for any seafood lover looking for inventive and super fresh fish.

Crab fritters, oysters, scallops and seafood stew. Delicious. Seafood stew was the highlight and the plating in cast iron was an awesome touch. We went with a white wine which was nice and decent price point. Very open and bright with the windows and close to the water being on the pier --- I'm being a bit too harsh it's on the water but you can be seated pretty far back. Tables pretty close to one another on outside patio and server came across with a bit too much forced energy, but was nice.

Came into town on business and came in with a co-worker. We didn't have any reservations, however we were able to get in only waiting 30 minutes. We waited in the bar area and had a drink and some appetizers. I had the little neck clams which were excellent. So fresh and so tasty. My coworker had the cod, fritters and some bread, which was kind of like a dessert. After we sat, dinner entrees were ordered. We both had the steamed lobster, which was huge and fresh! The lemon butter sauce was the perfect complement, enhancing the natural sweetness of the lobster without overpowering it. The presentation was top-notch, and the atmosphere of the restaurant made the experience even more memorable. If you're a seafood lover, you absolutely have to check this place out. It's a true gem!

Slightly less impressed with my revisit a good year later. The service from Ben was impeccable, I can't say enough great things about him. I was there with a group of friends (from away), and one member of their party also had Scales recommended to them as well, so they were excited to try. Lavish spenders, promising to cover my part of the bill, I took advantage and tried a few different things. The oysters were okay. Neither here nor there, though I feel like I've tasted better. The cod fritters were pretty good, though maybe not a million miles from something I could get from Trader Joe's. The ceviche was one of the better items, I feel like that's the sort of thing I wouldn't be comfortable with trying to do at home. The scallops... I love scallops and maybe it's just that I know I could have cooked this at home, I felt a bit disappointed. Even the sauce was just "meh" well cooked dish, but kind of basic. Wish I'd chosen something else. Worth noting that the group tried all the breads, and I can attest, they were all really good. Maybe I chose poorly this time, maybe the menu didn't speak to me. I know they got the goods, so of course I'll come back again and hopefully get my socks blown off like I have in the past.

My family was in visiting from New Jersey and certainly wanted some Maine seafood! I don't eat seafood so I usually just take them to Luke's Lobster. But this time, my husband and I remembered that everyone always recommends Scales! So we walked over there. First off, I thought for sure we would have to wait to get a table. That's generally always expected in Portland around this time. This wasn't the case at all. The host was very kind. He greeted us right away and mentioned that someone had just canceled their reservation and that we could have their table! The table was literally right by the water, the best view in the house. I couldn't even believe it. Our server came right away and shared with us some of the best starters and offered us some water. Soon after she took our drink and appetizer order. The greens with the Mackerel (special) was out of this world good and I don't even eat fish. I couldn't even believe it was fish since it tasted so good. I don't even know what else to say but whatever I tasted in that moment was delicious and delightful! I tried a little of everyone's fish at our table. I ordered the hamburger and surely missed out because all the seafood was great! The Fish and Chips were great. The Pan Roasted Halibut was great. The Seared Scallops were good. Everything was amazing! The Butterscotch Sundae was unreal! The Cappuccinos and Espresso were very good too!