El Camino

Thousands of miles from the Mexican border, in a residential neighborhood two blocks from Brunswick’s main drag, this funky cantina belies every cliché about dining in Maine. Easily mistaken from the outside for a biker bar, the restaurant’s interior—once described by one of its owners, Eloise Humphrey, as looking like “the inside of a lowrider car”—has a colorful tongue-in-cheek motif: hubcap-lined tangerine walls, ticky-tacky southwestern art, vinyl-covered seats, and strands of ‘60s-style plastic-molded lights. Former caterer Humphrey owns the 52-seat restaurant and bar with her twin sister, Daphne Comaskey, and Daphne's husband, Paul. Together they opened El Camino in 2004, and it’s been one big fiesta ever since. The mostly local crowd packs in nightly for fresh fish tacos, duck quesadillas, pork-heavy Cuban specialties, and Meyer lemon flan. But all good Mexican restaurants are judged by their staples—and here the house-fried chips, hand-chopped salsa cruda, and superb pomegranate margaritas are first-rate. If you dare, try the latter with a jalapeño-salt “Ring of Fire” mixture on the rim.

Insider Tip: During the holidays, ask the bartender to pour from the restaurant’s secret stash of wonderful (and super-rich) Mexican eggnog, made with heavy cream and cinnamon.

Closed Sunday and Monday