Thistles Restaurant

By far my favorite restaurant in Bangor. Some of the best latin food I’ve had in the mainland US. Must try the mofongo, ceviche and their chimichurri sauce.
Don’t let their location put you off, it is a little out of the way but in return parking is a breeze.
Keep an eye out on their specials, as they offer many great surprises.

I have never been disappointed by Thistles. Unfortunately, I fear it is often overlooked as it is pocketed away on Exchange Street. Maybe some eye-​catching signage could help get the word out about this diamond in the rough.
Each time I’ve been to Thistles, I’ve started with the Cuban Black Bean Soup… and each time, I’ve somehow forgotten since my last visit how delicious it is. It’s one of those things you wish you could replicate at home, but know you’ll never be able to.
We also always get the Queso Fresco with Guava: Mexican white cheese, pan fried with a light breading. That in itself is delicious, but what sends it to sublime territory is the guava purée. It is a perfect pairing of sweet and savory.
Last time, I got the Gaucho Style Rack of Lamb. The contest is over — Thistles has easily the best lamb in town. You’ll pay a premium price, but the quality is outstanding (and nowhere near as pricey as you’d pay for a lesser meal in a larger city).
The service has always been fantastic — each time we’ve been, our waitstaff has made informed recommendations about board specials and regular menu items, drink options, the whole nine.
I must admit, the first time I walked in, I was worried when I saw a three-​piece band playing at the front of the house. Usually, that means I’ll spend the meal straining to hear what my companions are saying. Not so at Thistles — the band played at a comfortable level. I was able to appreciate the music without yelling over it. It definitely added to the ambiance.
Attire is anywhere along the continuum between casual and dressy. You may get some looks if you wear overalls or a formal gown, but if you find something between those two points, you should feel comfortable enough.

Let me begin by saying that Thistles is one of my favorite restaurants in Bangor. Is it pricey? Yes. In my opinion, is it worth it? Absolutely! I usually come here at least once or twice a month. Common dress when dining here seems to be business casual. Most nights they have a wonderful band on site, playing for the diners. I highly recommend the empanadas, queso fresco, cashew chicken, and any /​all desserts! The staff is extremely accommodating and friendly, and I honestly wish I could dine here more often!

Love the décor, the bar and there’s a private dining room. Now on to the star: the fabulous cuisine. Chef Alejandro came by to tell us about his specials and we ordered. The ceviche and crab cakes were to die for – super fresh and flavorful. But then, I don’t wish to overlook other items on the menu. I could go on and on about every dish; but then I’d be suffering because there’s no finding anything like those dishes locally.
Suffice it to say that we gave serious consideration to returning to Thistles another night of our vacation. We even had dessert – something very unusual for us; but that was delicious, too. Can’t forget our server who was helpful and attentive. A very pleasant dining experience and worth your time.

The impression on arriving and entering this office building is a bit of a shock –are you going to traffic school? There was a somewhat torn up leather arm chair with it’s back facing the door as you entered. If I were them I’d put a small awning outside the front door and a Parisian style velvet curtain area just inside.
The rest of the place looked ok but it is all just funny. They could use a feng shui consult for sure. Bonus points for a tango mix playing at a nice level.
The rack of lamb is great, no doubt about it. But the overcooked fungi pasta served with some of the worst bread I have encountered balanced it out.
I don’t understand why Bangor is such a food wasteland. I have had better food and certainly better coffee in smaller, more remote, more rural towns.

For those of you wanting to dine and get all fancy dressed… don’t. I was dressed in my White House Black Market evening dress and coat, I was definitely out of place with the other diners. The other diners looked at me as if I was over dressed. The atmosphere is set up for a fancy night out but the diners were in nice clothes. Very small restaurant.
Dress lovely if you want to dine here, NOT in a cocktail dress!
Food was great.
One bad thing — hard to find. It is tucked in a business building.
I might go here again.

Thistle’s is one of the nicer restaurants in Bangor which serves up quite delicious food, other than lobster.
Ambiance was intimate but the lighting weren’t too dim to a point where you need a flashlight. Staff was friendly, our waiter was very attentive and nice. Price was reasonable.
The appetizers were delicious, the best was the Queso Fresco with Guava which was fried Mexican white cheese; second was the Shrimp Ceviche. I can honestly just have these for the whole night with some bread and I’ll be happy. The mains weren’t as mind-​blowing as the appetizers were but still fairly good. Paella was enormous and it’s honestly quite impossible to finish without feeling stuffed. The Mofongo de Camarones, sauteed shrimps over mashed plantains were light if you didn’t want anything heavy and meaty. The Argentinean Pork Chop were thick cuts with a nice balsamic reduction sauce.
Overall, it was a nice meal especially in Bangor. I’d definitely come again for the fried cheese.

First… I have to remind myself that this is Bangor, Maine. Standards are different here.
With that said… maybe this place could push 4 stars. But I’m not from Maine.
This place is very strangely tucked amongst a bunch of corporate buildings. It was hard to find at night while raining, especially when their sign was a small foldout that had gold letters on a white background. Contrast much?
We walked up to a door that was locked, even though we could see the restaurant inside. Then we noticed a small note pointing towards the real entrance. Why not just cover up this door with curtains or something? I saw many others make this same mistake, which is awkward for the intruders and the diners.
The real entrance was part of another building. It was weird to say the least. But when we finally entered the restaurant (correctly), I was somewhat impressed with the dining room. Dim lighting, some nice red/​black interior decorating, and a live band! That was surprising. Finding our reservation took a couple minutes because whoever took my call didn’t write down the right time.
When we finally got seated… it had a good view of the band, and I enjoyed their music. Up until in between songs, the band would talk loudly amongst themselves, which I thought was really unprofessional. They were louder than the diners.
We had been seated at a booth, and I could feel every movement of the people sitting in the adjoining booth behind me. Cheap furniture. At least the candle on the table was real.
Nice waitress. Gave me good recommendations. Uploaded pictures to Unilocal,ordered the clam chowder, french onion soup, salmon fillet, steak, and cheesecake for dessert. Food was just okay… but for the price it’s definitely not worth it. Boyfriend and I only came here because we found a groupon, $ 15 for $ 30. Guess it’s one of the only places in Bangor to go on a romantic date.

Food was good and well prepared but was not exceptional or innovative. Service was also good. Most unfortunate is that Thistles is in major need of a makeover. The décor is dingy and has an old banquet hall look. Overall an OK place for dinner, but neither special nor memorable.

This is one of the best in the Bangor area. The vibe is very classy and sexy with white, black and red décor. On weekends they have live music — tonight was a flutist, guitar and a bass cello. The food is exquisite and decadent with a varied menu for all tastes. The service is friendly and first class. The owners are in the house making sure the details and everyone’s experience is outstanding. If you are in the area and want a touch of class and great food, this is the place!

Small but in a good way. I ordered steak well done and had to send it back twice to still be disAppointed. But they do have a very good variety of foods.

My wife and I travel and were stopping in Bangor for the evening and found online that Thistle’s was voted Best in Dining Excellence for several years so had to try the food.
We were pleasantly surprised to find that it was one of the best places we ate on our trip to Canada. The location caused us to pause but the food was well worth it. Don’t be put off with the location… but a better location and décor would have warranted a five star review.

The crab was wonderful, location was OK and Heidi is a doll.
We will be going back.

Great place. Location fine with easy parking. Décor very modern and pleasant. Staff friendly and appropriately attentive. Food was great. Our group of four had Caesar salads, cashew chicken (2), risotto, and the duck. All were well prepared and tasty. The fresh green beans were perfectly prepared — just the right amount of crisp. We all agreed the place was well worth going to again.

This was the first time I had been to Thistle’s since it moved to this location. It is kind of in a weird place. I think it would benefit more if it were directly in downtown. The service was nice. I made a reservation for a Thursday night, but when I got there, it was pretty empty, so I am sure that a reservation is not necessary during the week. The weekend may be a different story. I ordered the duck and was pretty impressed. It was prepared well and was the perfect amount. The only thing I have to say is that the prices are expensive for the quality of food. I give them a pass because, I’ll be honest, I don’t think a lot of Bangor restaurants have duck on their menu. I’ll be back again to try it out.

The décor at Thistles looks cheap and «make-​shift.» The chairs are office chairs and the hostess stand is also some sort of office organizer/​stand. The food is over priced for the quality and quantity offered. Everything was lacking in our visit. Slow service too — we were one of three tables on a Thursday night and it was extremely slow. Old school cooking — nothing exciting. Will not try again :(

Very nice atmosphere & food very good. Very diverse menu.

This restaurant was quite amazing! It is a very sexy place with a great atmosphere. The lighting was perfect and the overall look and décor of the place is sublime.
For the price of around 40 dollars which includes: appetizer, entrée, alcohol and a dessert, I was sold on everything! The food here is amazing! My family ate salmon which they said was quite literally the best salmon they ever had! I had the Roasted Duck which blew me away. My Mother had the steak and said that it lived up to all of her expectations.
Even though I read one of the reviews which gave quite a negative blow to the place, I recommend you ignore that review and come try it for yourself! I know you will love it! :-)
This place is great for groups of people or even for a very romantic date!

The décor and atmosphere were very nice, although the location was not too appealing. The service was also good, however, the food was no more than adequate. It all started with their homemade bread, which tasted like it was «day old» and lacked flavor…
I then ordered all of their signature items, starting with the Crab Cakes. Cold and mushy inside– could not taste crab. The Mesculin salad was very nice. Nice greens with a variety of tasty toppings and good dressing. For an entrée — The Paella. The presentation was very nice however, it was amateurish at best. Just a thin layer of rice with 4 dried out slices of pork, 4 slices of sausage. Overcooked (4) chunks of chicken, 2 scallops, 4 shrimp and 6 small mussels. The rice tasted like it was out of a package — no homemade or restaurant quality taste whatsoever! Then for desert a solid chunk of cold fudge cake topped with frozen raspberry topping.
I would not recommend nor will I ever go back. Way over priced for the quality and quantity of food. I was very dissapointed as I had been really looking forward to discovering fine dining in Bangor. This was not it.

Gourmet food at amazing prices!!!
I wanted to try Thistle’s for a while now and boy am I glad that I did! I couldn’t believe the quality of the food for the very reasonable prices! I had an appetizer, a main course, wine and a dessert, all for $ 42. Extremely reasonable for gourmet quality food!!!
I went with a group of friends and we all sampled each other’s dishes: For appetizers, we split the fried cheese slices with Guava sauce. Now I’m not sure what a guava is exactly lol but the sweet/​tart sauce was in-​cre-​di-​ble. If they bottled the stuff I’d put it on EVERYthing!!! We also had a risotto which was delicious.
For the main course, I had the seafood pesto over pasta and it was simply delicious. The seafood was cooked perfectly. Another person had the Argentinian steak and it was a treat: cooked to order with a chile and lime sauce and vegetables that gave it an unusual zing. Just delicious. But the best meal of all was the cranberry duck: roasted duck breast with a cranberry sauce over it. All I can say is WOW!!! The duck simply melted in your mouth!!!
One of my friends also ordered a Tango martini. I’m not usually into hard liquor but the drink was so pretty I had to sample it and I have to say it was about the most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted. All those who tasted it could find to say was «Oh my GOD!» So if drinks are your thing, you should definitely try one!
For dessert, the waiter brought a tray to the table to show us our options. We tried the chocolate rasperry cake and it was amazing, Even my friend’s husband who doesn’t have a sweet tooth and claimed he was too full for dessert couldn’t put down his spoon!
All in all it was an incredibly pleasant evening with amazing food! My only complaint at all would be the ambiance: Thistles strives for elegance but the chairs and décor are just a bit too shabby to make it. Also there was dead silence in the restaurant until about halfway though our meal when they finally turned on some music. On the other hand, the service was exceptional. But hey, who cares if the chair you are sitting on is a bit shabby if you’re enjoying top cuisine for a great price! :)