Vote for Maine's Restaurant of the Year

On Monday, November 16, Eater will present the 2015 Eater Awards, our sixth annual celebration of all that's made the Maine restaurant world run — and run wild — in the past 12 months. Winners will be selected on both the local and national levels in five major categories, and the voting begins right now. First up: Restaurant of the Year. These are spots that have opened or changed majorly in the past year.

Here's the lowdown on the nominees. Adding "non-denominational noodles" to the local lexicon, The Honey Paw's flair for Asian twists and fermented goods proved that the owners of Eventide and Hugo's have still got it. Though Mark and Clark dropped out last minute, Union at the boutique Press Hotel showed Portland that hotel restaurants can hang with the greats. The notion of Biddeford as "the next Portland" grows less absurd each day, particularly with the arrival of Custom Deluxe, whose French New England cuisine has fans throughout the state planning road trips. It was almost too much to hope for in our frigid northern hearts, but Figgy's Takeout and Catering introduced fried chicken even a southerner couldn't pass up. And with Dudley's Refresher, the owners of beloved El El Frijoles took a seasonal classic, the seafood snack shack, to new heights of scratch-made greatness. Enjoy a photo gallery of the nominees, then cast your vote below.

Here's how the voting works: Eater editors have named nominees in five major categories. Eater readers will vote, narrowing the nominees to three finalists. From those three finalists, the Eater editorial team will select a winner. Ready to play your part? This poll will be open for 24 hours; voting irregularities will be strictly policed.