A statewide public education campaign, “Maine Outdoor Dine,” was launched last week to showcase Maine restaurants and breweries that offer ways to enjoy food and beverage comfortably and safely outdoors.

The campaign‘s website, maineoutdoordine.com, includes information about more than 80 participating businesses from around the state, including close to 50 in Portland.

To keep diners safe during the pandemic, many restaurants have invested in things like dining globes or igloos, deck porches, covered structures, fire pits, fish shacks, greenhouses and heat lamps.

Greater Portland Council of Governments received a $50,000 grant from the Maine Office of Tourism to fund the campaign. Partners include the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce, Portland Downtown, Visit Portland, Portland Food Map, Hospitality Maine and the cities of Portland and Westbrook.

“Maine Outdoor Dine is a testament to the hard work and creativity of businesses throughout Maine that have adapted to create safe outdoor dining options for our residents and visitors,” said Maine Office of Tourism Director Steve Lyons.

Kristina Egan, executive director of the Greater Portland Council of Governments, said, “as we work to help our local restaurants make it through the last months of the pandemic, we hope people across the state will go out to eat and help our small businesses survive until things go back to normal.”

The Maine Outdoor Dine website will continually be updated to include more outdoor dining options.