In a rare move of city assent and common sense, the Portland City Council has overturned an ordinance that had banned the sale of meats at Portland’s farmers markets, which had made the state motto of Get Real Get Maine unlawful here.

This is great news for the farmers and consumers, and I applaud the city for coming to terms in recognizing so fast that the ordinance was foolhardy. Though I’ve heard that one of the more volatile members of the city council thought it was a waste of time to make any change whatsoever.

There are a few new restaurants about to open, though it’s too bad that those culinary entrepreneurs haven’t been able to set up shop in time for the summer cache of tourists and diners. Still, it’s time for something fresh to penetrate our fairly crowded restaurant scene.

Roadside food—from those homey diners, coffee shops or bastions of so-called family dining—presents a world of cookery unto itself and one that I like a lot.

Above and beyond the hoopla of haute cooking and plush dining spots (not totally endemic to Maine), I find equal pleasure in these modest food halls whose cooks are turning out the sloppy Joe fare typical of such culinary joints.

I’ve been to all of the standard citadels in Maine that appear in guide books, like the Maine Diner in Wells, the A-1 in Gardiner, Moody’s in Waldoboro, the Brunswick Diner in Brunswick, which is a worthy stop if you’re taking the coastal route, and even the lackluster Cole Farms in Gray.