To those who maintain that we have only 3 or 4 uncomfortable days in the summer, I beg to differ.

So far this summer it seems like 30 or 40 have been hot and sweaty. Let’s face it, ladies and gentlemen, city life in Maine’s largest metropolis, such as it is, has much of the fun and foibles that larger cities endure. And the heat has not bypassed our peninsula city, which we like to think is normally cooled by the ocean breezes.

Other cities like San Francisco, Seattle and the “other” Portland have not traditionally needed air conditioning in public places like restaurants. But they too have been under the siege of heat waves and are pondering what to do.

If a steady onslaught of global warming becomes a fact of life, then places in Portland like restaurants, office buildings, retails shops and the like will have to bite the cooling bullet and deal with effective climate control for the public that they want to serve comfortably.

Maybe the expense will weed out the wannabes from the strivers. And that’s the way it is.

I’ve done an informal survey of who’s hot and who’s cool. Here are my findings, which are by no means a complete list. Any tips of where it’s cool would be appreciated.

Oolong: Probably one of the best air-cooled places in town.
20 Milk Street: Very comfortable and cool.
Hugo’s: from a coolant scale of 1 to 10, a cool 7.5.
Kathadin: sketchy, depending on where you sit. Front of room is coolest.
Becky’s. Stay away from the counter--too much heat from the kitchen. Booths are better.
Holiday Inn by the Bay. If you can bear the dreary food and atmosphere, it’s cooler than a movie theatre.
Fore Street: Perfect temperature
Front Room: A-plus for gastronomically inclined nudists. Otherwise wear very little clothing. Tank tops and short shorts work best. Accountrements include a sweat rag, fan or smelling salts.
Street & Company: Unbearable, especially the first dining room.
Cinque Terre: Pretty cool and comfortable
Vignola: They’re working on it but for now it’s hot.
Back Bay Grill: Who doesn’t love this Portland classic? Unfortunately it’s an inferno in a heat wave.
Caiola’s: The room is cooled by those sleek wall units that work pretty well. One more unit installed will make it perfect.
The clubs: Woodlands, The Portland Country Club and Cumberland Club. By member demand, cool as cucumbers.
Bar Lola: Its cool space is a hot box.
McDonalds: Always reliable. In fact all the chain restaurants are well cooled.
Falmouth Sea Grill: Downstairs is cooler than upstairs. On a 1 to 10 scale, 6.5
Portland Sea Grill: Pretty good.
Five-Fifty Five: Delicious food and atmosphere, but AC insufficient.
Sophia’s: Nonexistent
MCPerkins Covem Ogunquit: Excellent
Provence, Ogunquit: Not bad
Anjons, Scarborough: Should be better
Bintliff’s. Hard to say. Never go.
All the Norm’s. Not bad, though East End Norm’s is the hottest.
Goose Cove Lodge, Deer Isle. Bring a sweater. Ocean breeze relentlessly cooling.
Crabtree Point, North Haven. You’ll be whipped by the wind. No AC anywhere on the island except Waterman’s Center. Restaurants naturally air-cooled
Islesboro: AC not allowed!
Casco Bay Islands: Nearly nonexistent
Chebeague Island Inn: Fabulous food and the excursion is worth it even during a scorcher.
Waterfront Restaurant, Camden: Surprisingly cool.
Miller’s (Spruce Head) and Five Islands Lobster (Georgetown): Natural cooling from sea breeze and best lobsters anywhere except off the dock at Friendship.
Sul Mare, Tenant’s Harbor: Great food but the one window unit is ridiculous.
Francine’s, Camden. Hot.
Natalie’s, Camden. Cool.
Moody’s: Very cool

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