SOUTH PORTLAND – Sometimes, finding a new place for takeout food means just taking a closer look at places you pass by every day.
I’m talking specifically about all the little neighborhood markets and corner stores in southern Maine with active kitchens, home-style food and a big menu.
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One such place is Campbell’s Market, located on a busy stretch of Broadway between the Casco Bay Bridge and the Route 1 area, amid a mix of homes and businesses. From the outside, it looks like a lot of other markets.
But inside, the place offers an extensive menu that includes hot breakfast items, Italians and other cold sandwiches, chicken and fish sandwiches, salads, pizza and calzones, fried food and comfort-food entrees such as American chop suey, macaroni and cheese, beef stew, chili, soups and clam cakes.
Because of the wide variety of items on the menu — and the low prices — it’s a great option for getting a quick dinner for your family on the way home from work.
I tried out my theory by calling the restaurant after work the other day and ordering four dishes. I picked them up about 20 minutes later.
My order included a small Supertuna sub for $4.99; a bacon Italian with double the bacon for $5.89; a macaroni-and-cheese dinner with two grilled hot dogs, coleslaw and toasted Italian bread for $7.79; and a chop-suey dinner featuring American chop suey with two meatballs, grilled sausage, coleslaw and toasted Italian bread for $7.29.
The Supertuna was a hot oven sub with melted cheese, onions and tomatoes — sort of a larger tuna melt.
The bacon Italian had perfectly crisp bacon and lots of American cheese. Both subs were on nice soft rolls.
The macaroni-and-cheese dinner was great, with a homemade taste. While some macaroni-and-cheese dishes are more like macaroni in a cheese sauce, this one had thick, baked-on cheese. It was very rich and satisfying. The two hot dogs were a nice complement.
The chop-suey dinner was also above average, with a very nice red sauce, two plump meatballs and some tangy Italian sausage split and grilled. It was plenty of food, even for a large appetite.
For family-style dining, Campbell’s offers several dishes in 12-ounce containers, pints or quarts. For instance, a pint of beef stew with biscuits is $5.59, while a quart is $10.29. You can get chili, chop suey, macaroni and cheese, and soup in these sizes.
Two other dinner items are chicken nuggets ($6.79) and clam cakes ($9.19).
The breakfast menu has a dozen or so hot items, from sausage and cheese on an English muffin ($2.89) to three eggs, home fries, toast and a choice of sausage or bacon for $5.79.
Breakfast is served until 11 a.m.
The Features staff of The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram anonymously samples meals for about $7.
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