Jason P.
Yelp
There are only a handful of places to eat and drink at for apres ski, and The Bag & Kettle is probably your best choice. It's a small cozy establishment, with the dining room on the left consisting of about 15-20 tables, and a small bar area on the right with several LCD TV's playing sports games. When you walk in, don't wait for a hostess to seat you as this is a seat yourself establishment.
During happy hour (around 3-4 PM), they serve you slightly less than a pint of microbrew draft beers for $2.50. The beers are not the best, somewhat muddled but will get the job done, plus you will get to taste some of Maine's brews. I tried the Bag Brown Ale, one of the favorites, a traditional English style ale that is slightly malty and lightly hopped. And I mean lightly!
For starters, our party of 4 ordered the Super Nachos. I believe it is normally $10.95 but was charged $9.99, possibly because it was during happy hour. This dish was tiny in size, averaging about 20 round tortilla chips topped with spicy chili and red kidney beans. Complimented on the side were a container each of salsa, sour cream, and pickled jalapenos. We each only got to eat a few chips, before we realized it was gone. It could easily be eaten by 1 person or shared by 2 people. If you're a nachos fan, don't expect much, as it was a bit drab and boring without much going on. They didn't even top it with nacho cheese, which I consider a must for nachos.
While looking through the menu, I saw that a lot of dishes had crispy pepperoni, so I figured that was one of their specialties that I had to try. For my entree, I ordered the Gucci ($11.25) which is a cheeseburger with strips of crispy spicy pepperoni on both sides of the bun!!! Served on the side was lettuce, a slice of fresh tomato, raw onions, and a bed of curly fries. This burger was delicious, well-marinaded and full of flavor. The bacon took it over the top, crispy and salty with a subtle spice. Mmmmm, it is definitely a burger worth getting and all of us agreed that it was quite juicy and tasty. The bed of curly fries were crispy and slightly potatoey inside, but they screamed for salt as they were unseasoned and bland alone.
Table service was somewhat kind of lackluster. When we had asked about the drinks, not all of us were able to hear the waitress, so we had to ask her to repeat it twice. She responded uncaringly and as if we were a bit slow and brutish. But overall, The Bag & Kettle definitely serves some delicious burgers and cheap drinks. The quality of their appetizers and fries were subpar and could use improvement though. I found this place to be a good go-to stop for apres skiing. It's cozy and relaxing, but I wouldn't expect much beyond that.