Probably the most divey lobster roll you're ever going to consider.
Ruski’s Tavern in the West End neighborhood of Portland, Maine, is so-named thanks to founder Frank Navarro, who borrowed a previous name for the space that originated as the nickname of the space’s former owner, Robert Russo, as part of the term “brewskis at Ruski’s” now immortalized in the dive bar’s name. But today’s Ruski’s Tavern exists as only the most recent chapter of a long story written by the Portland dive bar’s location, a structure dating back to the 1860s.
Originally built as a personal home, records show that as early as the 1890s the space operated as an apothecary dubbed the Fickett & Thompson Apothecary. According to the Ruski’s Tavern menu, the space was converted into a beer parlor circa 1900 by Jessey McLinchy, owner of a brewery in Portland. The structure rode out Prohibition as Spiller’s Bakery & Lunch, a business reported to operate as a speakeasy in addition to its front-of-house bakery business.
After a Prohibition-era stint as a general store and a conversion to a bakery during the 1930s, alcohol finally entered the picture in 1935 when the space was reimagined as the Elsmac Cafe. After only two years of operation, Eslmac Cafe gave way to Slane’s Cafe, then to White Eagle Cafe, The Red Eye, Beacon II, Green & Gold and actually two stints as Ruski’s Tavern before taking on the name permanently in 1981.
Portland’s true neighborhood bar inventory isn’t as deep as may be expected given the city’s status as a Northeast destination and largest population center in the state. But Ruski’s is certainly the exception, as classic a corner pub as it gets down to the brick facade and thin blue awning that runs along the dive bar’s exterior. The footprint is snug, a single room housing only a small selection of tables and a long bar counter that takes up most of the bar’s square footage. Ruski’s Tavern is often cited as one of if not the best dive bar in Maine, a reasonable interpretation of what is a cozy, classically divey interior.
As the sign above the door suggests (“Ruski’s Restaurant & Pub”), Ruski’s Tavern is home to a shockingly robust food menu that features a long list of rotating specials scrawled along a chalkboard inside. The lobster roll, of course, makes an appearance, but the menu is a diverse one, ranging not only through different genres of foods but also different meals entirely, the space opened for breakfast early each morning in a tradition that dates back to serving third-shifters in the area. Typical hours at Ruski’s Tavern run 8 AM to midnight, the morning tradition punctuated by an early Thanksgiving meal served each year.
Keeping in line with a theme seen in bars & restaurants throughout the city, Ruski’s Tavern does have a bit of a nautical vibe thanks to the rich wood interior and polished tap handle rail. The classic dive bar touches can be found throughout Ruski’s Tavern, including a heavily stickered bathroom door, collection of oddities along the tap of the structure behind the bar and an array of signed pictures from locals justifiably enamored with the Ruski’s Tavern experience.
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