Forbes Seafood and Take Out, Wells Beach, Maine

Forbes Seafood Restaurant and Take Out is a popular place to eat for beachgoers in Wells, Maine - the dining room is always busy, and there is usually a line at the takeout window regardless of the time of day. This situation is not, however, an indicator of their superior food or service; it's because they are the only restaurant within walking distance of the beach.

The family and I had spent the better part of the day roaming the Maine coast from Kittery to Portland, and had finished off the afternoon with a long walk down Wells beach. We were sitting on the seawall benches overlooking the water, and feeling a little hungry. Supper was only a few hours away, so we didn't really want a meal, but we wanted something to carry us over until the evening. Over our shoulder, Forbes beckoned.

I strolled over to the window and stood in line. My dog was with me, leashed, and the wait to place an order wasn't intolerable - orders were being taken promptly and everyone wanted to play with and pet the dog, so the time went by quickly. I placed my order - fish and chips, and fried chicken with fries - and stood aside to wait.

And wait.

And wait...

And wait some more.

Finally, after about 40 minutes, the cheerful girl at the window called my number and handed me two small greasy boxes of food, which I brought back to the benches to share with my wife and daughter.

I tasted some of the fries which had come with both the chicken and the fish. Eww. They were sufficiently cooked, if on the limp side. No matter, what really put us off was the taste. They reeked of rancid frying oil, as though the Fry-O-Lators hadn't been cleaned in months. We tossed most of them to the seagulls.

Surprisingly, the fish wasn't bad. There were two smallish fillets of flounder, firm and lightly breaded, though salty and insufficiently drained. We set them on paper napkins for a moment before divvying them up, and then went for the chicken.

The fried chicken was actually a rather fair deal for the money; there were two wings, a small thigh and small drumstick, and a sparrow-sized breast portion. There was no rancid oil taste, which was fortunate: it literally dripped with oil. Not a bite could be taken without rivulets of orange liquid fat running from the skin and coating. As if this wasn't strange enough, the coating was sugary sweet, like eating candy! None of us knew what to make of that, but we fixed both problems by simply peeling off the skin and breading and giving it to the gulls and the dog.

Forbes Restaurant
Wells Beach
Wells, Maine 04090
(207)646-7620

Link to their website.