South Portland, Maine, is Home to the State’s Largest Buffet

Once upon a time, Maine had a deep love affair with buffet restaurants. Some of the state's most popular places to gather were restaurants that offered up lots of options of lots of different tastes.

Over the years, the popularity of buffet restaurants in Maine has waned. Even prior to the pandemic, many local and national buffet restaurants in the state had shuttered. But if you're still all about all-you-can-eat and variety, there's a restaurant in South Portland that's keeping the tradition going.

That would be Umi Sushi & Seafood, which promises a series of authentic Japanese dishes and more. It's located in the same shopping plaza as Guitar Center and Planet Fitness. The buffet is large-scale, offering more than 100 items to patrons during both their lunch and dinner service.

The lunch service is less expensive, but still offers a variety of vegetarian options, soups, salad, and different hot food options from meat skewers to a selection of sushi and seafood items.

Dinner service brings in a few more premium items including crab and lobster, with some select sushi specialities as well. Many of the reviews of Umi Sushi & Seafood on Google rave over the wide selection of items for even the pickiest of eaters.

Most in and around the Portland area remember this restaurant space as another longtime buffet. That would be the Super Great Wall Chinese buffet. That remained one of the most popular buffets in Maine for nearly two decades. That run ended after a series of labor lawsuits in 2019.