3 Portland, Maine, Dinner Spots for a Memorable First Date

Dating is such a wild ride, especially the older you get. It's every meaning of awkward, and quite honestly it's exhausting (unless you get it right).

We live in this generation where "grabbing a drink" is the default plan for a first date, and while that's cool and all, you still need to buy her dinner first. This is where the hard part comes in: which dinner spot in Portland, Maine, is the perfect combination of atmosphere & volume?

I got you. If it means you men will take more ladies out on proper first dates before you hit em' with the "let's go grab a drink" line, then I'll do the work for you.

Let's check out three places that will be great for a first date and avoid a lot of the awkward.

1. Fore Street Restaurant. One of my personal favorites since the atmosphere absolutely nails the intimacy. They also ranked as the 4th most romantic restaurant on a list of the top 10 in Portland from TripAdvisor.

2. DiMillo's On The Water. Another personal favorite because who doesn't love boarding a big "floating boat restaurant" in the atmosphere category? Chicks dig boats, so bring her to eat on one.

3. Via Vecchia. I hate to be biased, but yet again, this is another one of my personal favorites in Portland. It doesn't get any more romantic than an entire brick wall filled with beautiful vines as you enter. The bartenders are always super knowledgeable in their craft, and the atmosphere just writes itself.

Where do you think is the best place to go on a first date?