2 days Ago
Abby Welbourn and her 3-year-old son, Lewis Welbourn, head home on a Wednesday in April after having had a bite to eat at Noble Pizzeria & Barbecue in Deering Center, Portland. Noble, background, has become a family-oriented neighborhood restaurant. Daryn Slover/Portland Press Herald It’s been open in Deering Center only five months, but Noble Pizzeria & Barbecue already has the vibe of a go-to neighborhood hang.
A recent Friday night saw it packed with young families and groups of cheery, chatty friends tucked into booths and picnic-style tables, while regulars wisecracked with staff at the bar and others posted up on counter seats to enjoy the theater of the open kitchen. It’s no secret that this was owner Ryan Carey’s vision for his restaurant when he moved Noble Barbecue over from outer Forest Avenue last year. In fact, the writing is quite literally on the wall.
“Neighborhood” — appearing almost subliminally in sky blue and yolk yellow 3-D geometric lettering — is the central message of a mural at the far end of the restaurant, by local artist Ryan Adams. “We’re appealing to the neighborhood, which is a lot of families,” said Carey, who has lived with his own young family in Deering Center for 11 years. “There are a lot of children, a lot of people in their 30s and 40s.
I’m proud of Noble Pizzeria & Barbecue so far, because I feel like teenagers can come in and get a bite to eat, and at the opposite end, someone can bring their parents who are in their 60s or even 80s. I really tried to make sure it was a mass-appeal restaurant.” He needed the masses for sure, since the move to Stevens Avenue was also a major expansion for Noble: The restaurant suddenly went from 18 seats to 88, a six- to a 16-seat bar, seven employees to 25.
To that end, Carey’s masterstroke may turn out to be rebranding Noble to give pizza top billing alongside his already acclaimed barbecue. He recognized that most folks hanker for smoked meat only every so often (after all, Elsmere’s four-year-old second location closed in 2022 in the same building he owns now). Pizza though? You need that on the regular.
Murder Hornet pizza gets its sting from hot honey, pepperoncini and red chili flakes. Daryn Slover/Portland Press Herald Pizza didn’t just come to him out of the blue. Carey has been slinging wood-fired pies for 14 years now with his catering and events concessions businesses.
But he couldn’t fit a wood-fired oven into his new kitchen, so he outfitted Noble Pizzeria with an electric oven. He credits two staffers (former dough specialists from the now closed Slab Sicilian Street Food) for consistently producing Noble’s recipe for medium-high hydration dough, cold-fermented for 48 hours. Blasted by 700-degree heat, the dough produces pizza akin to New Haven-style: airy crust with golf ball-sized char blisters and the satisfying chew of a good baguette.
Noble’s pies are a quality addition to Portland’s pizza scene, and well worth your attention. The toppings on Noble’s house specialty pizzas are appropriately simple, letting the few components — and that scrumptious crust — shine. The Burrata & Basil pizza ($27) is a surefire crowd-pleaser that’s best enjoyed immediately out of the oven, while it’s piping hot and crisp.
Bartender Charles Jones chats with customers. Daryn Slover/Portland Press Herald After a while, the bottom crust grew soggy, maybe from the burrata cream, though the Caprese-like interplay of flavors among the lush cheese, fragrant basil leaves and bright, tangy house tomato sauce (itself infused with fresh basil and basil oil) remained delightful. The house sausage (an added $5) I ordered on half of this pie was a letdown, though.
It’s essentially ground brisket seasoned with a house rub, but not enough to make it flavorful, and definitely not the kind of sausage-y sage-fennel hit I’d hoped for. The Murder Hornet pizza stayed crisp far longer. And don’t let the hyperbolic name scare you off — there are no ghost peppers or other daredevil toppings.
The moderate sting comes from red chili flakes, briny pepperoncini and a judicious drizzle of hot honey, along with an ample scattering of cup-and-char pepperoni. It’s still a bracing, pleasurable burn, and a must-order for fans of spicy pies. When we arrived, my group dodged a half-hour wait for a table by pure luck, finding four corner seats at the bar just as they were opening up.
Carey told me he trains his floor staff to be “welcoming, engaging and appreciative.” Our bartender-server, Charles Jones, was all that, plus funny and patient to boot — especially impressive considering how much of his time we took with menu questions on the busiest night of the week. Scrappy fries at Noble Pizzeria Barbecue.
Daryn Slover/Portland Press Herald When Noble is jamming, you need to speak up to be heard. After some back-and-forth, Jones talked us into the Smoked & Fried Wings ($16), a new appetizer since the move, and we were glad he did. A 24-hour brine keeps the lightly smoked chicken moist and seasoned throughout, while the Cajun dry rub we chose left the deep-fried skin with some delicate crunch.
Scrappy Fries ($13), a longtime Noble signature dish that Carey likens to “barbecue poutine,” is a fun, meaty hodgepodge built for sharing. Noble’s beef tallow-fried Green Thumb Farms spuds form the base of the heap (really a meal in itself), mounded with baked beans, scraps of smoked brisket, pork and pastrami, a sprinkle of cotija cheese, a squeeze of mild poblano crema and pickled red onion. The beans are also on the menu as a gluten-free side, Grandma’s beans ($7), a saucy and not-too-sweet recipe with chunks of barbecue mixed in.
Smoked Prime Brisket Sandwich is a fine vehicle for Noble’s barbecue. Daryn Slover/Portland Press Herald Noble’s barbecue game remains on point in more ways than one, evidenced by its top-selling Smoked Prime Brisket sandwich ($18; the restaurant also offers smoked meats by the pound, $14-$35). It’s a mix of thick slices from both the leaner flat cut and the fattier point end of their prime-grade brisket, topped with house slaw and crunchy fried onions, all piled onto a brioche bun.
On their own, the flat-cut slices benefitted from the moisture of the slaw and the molassesy red BBQ sauce. But the best, most succulent bites of this sandwich are loaded with collagen-bathed point end and plenty of rub-seasoned crust or “bark,” a combo so yummy it’ll roll your eyes back in your head. Less successful was the Meatloaf Cheeseburger ($17).
It’s possible I’ve been spoiled by the divine brisket and bacon meatloaf sandwich at Finestkind in Saco . But Noble’s mild pork and beef meatloaf seemed upstaged by the bold, slightly disparate toppings of truffle ketchup; sugary bacon jam; and bread and butter pickles spiced with coriander and turmeric, which gave them a simultaneously alluring and distracting Indian curry-ish flavor. The East Coach Ranch Water, one of several specialty cocktails at Noble.
Daryn Slover/Portland Press Herald Noble’s bar program, which Carey said was merely an “afterthought” at the previous location, now features six house specialty cocktails. East Coast Ranch Water ($12) riffs on the classic Ranch Water of blanco tequila/soda water/lime by adding lemon and mint. It’s crisp and highly refreshing, though it could use more mint flavor.
The Liberated Handshake ($12) puts locally produced Handshake Persian digestif bitters to excellent use. My friend aptly described it as a “cold toddy” — lemon and honey syrup lend it that comforting feel — while the bitters’ complex mix of botanicals and spices adds intrigue. A digestif was certainly in order by the end of the meal.
We’d all eaten “a gracious plenty,” as my friends down South like to say. But regular rotating desserts are another new menu feature at Noble — naturally we had to try the house-made pecan pie. Someone next to us at the bar declared we’d be fools not to get it with ice cream.
So: one slice, à la mode, four spoons. The pie’s faintly savory short crust offsets the rich, gooey, nutty filling, touched with a hint of Allen’s Coffee Brandy. Vanilla ice cream makes the tempting dish practically irresistible, and though we were stuffed to the gills, we all felt compelled to at least take one bite.
Then another. In no time, we’d hoovered every last crumb. At the end of the evening, I found myself just a little envious of the regulars from Deering Center who were next to us at the bar.
I don’t live in Deering Center, or even Portland, yet it felt odd when I left to make the 20-minute drive home. Maybe, because like all good neighborhood restaurants, Noble Pizzeria & Barbecue makes you feel like you’re home already. Server Kaylee Slack chats with customers Wednesday at Noble.
Daryn Slover/Portland Press Herald RATING: ***1/2 WHERE: 476 Stevens Ave., Portland. 207-536-1395.
noblepizzaandbbq.com SERVING: 11 a.m.
to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday PRICE RANGE: Starters: $13-$16.
Pizza: $22-$27. Sandwiches $14-$18. NOISE LEVEL: High VEGETARIAN: Some dishes GLUTEN-FREE: Some dishes RESERVATIONS: No BAR: Yes WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: Yes BOTTOM LINE: Noble Barbecue moved from outer Forest Avenue to Deering Center last November, taking over a much larger space (formerly Elsmere BBQ’s second location) and rebranding to become Noble Pizzeria & Barbecue.
Adding pizza was a smart business move for owner Ryan Carey, and his new restaurant seems to have ingratiated itself to the neighborhood already with family-friendly meals and fast, cheerful service. Noble’s pizza features airy, char-blistered crust with pleasing chew, reminiscent of New Haven-style pies. The Murder Hornet pizza, with cup-and-char pepperoni, pepperoncini, hot honey and red chili flakes, is a must if you like some heat.
The Burrata & Basil pie is a winner too, especially if eaten right away — our bottom crust sogged out before long. Noble’s barbecue remains as tasty as ever. The Smoked Brisket Sandwich is a top-seller for good reason, though the meat in the Meatloaf Cheeseburger was masked rather than enhanced by its toppings, particularly a sweet bacon jam.
Smoked & Fried Wings (with Cajun dry rub) are juicy, crisp and boldly flavored, while the Scrappy Fries are a highly sharable heap of “barbecue poutine” featuring beef tallow-cooked fries and a variety of smoked meats. For cocktails, the East Coast Ranch Water refreshes, while the Liberated Handshake soothes. If the pecan pie is on offer when you visit, do yourself a favor and order a slice, even if you feel full: You’ll surely make room.
Ratings follow this scale and take into consideration food, atmosphere, service and value and type of restaurant (a casual bistro will be judged as a casual bistro, an expensive upscale restaurant as such): * Poor ** Fair *** Good **** Excellent ***** Extraordinary The Maine Sunday Telegram visits each restaurant once; if the first meal was unsatisfactory, the reviewer returns for a second. Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
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