A 1,592-square-foot space at 425 Fore St. in Portland was leased to the founders of what’s said will be Portland’s first Filipino restaurant when it opens in the spring of 2026.
Barkada leased the space, located on the ground floor of the Old Port Square Garage, from East Brown Cow.
“We’re always looking for innovative restaurateurs to further add to Portland’s status as a foodie city and Barkada has been wowing people all summer with its food truck,” said Tim Soley, president of East Brown Cow.
Barkada LLC bought the location’s business assets from 425 Fore Street Suite 500 LLC for $225,000.
Joe Malone and Luke Malone of Malone Commercial Brokers brokered the transaction.
The 425 Fore St. location was previously occupied by a restaurant called Paper Tiger, which earlier this year announced it would close after three years in business.
Sweet, sour, salty
Barkada means “a group of friends” in Tagalog and refers to the two couples behind the restaurant, according to a news release.
Nicole and Ben Bowers are joined by their business partners Margaret and Luka Dow in the venture.
The Barkada food truck was launched in May.
The menu offers a “fast-casual style of Filipino food.” Customers can build bowls based on some of the country’s dishes, such as adobo, a tangy stew.
Filipino food features a balance of sweet, sour and salty flavors and diverse influences that includes Chinese, Spanish and American traditions.
“Our concept is almost like Filipino fast food,” said Nicole Bowers. “You line up and you pick your base and then you go from there. The goal is to spread Filipino culture and food to the community — so we’re making it easy for people.”
She continued, “If you go to the Philippines and hang out with families, often you will find a giant table full of different kinds of food, and people will just eat it all together. It’s that kind of concept, but in a bowl.”
Return customers
Nicole Bowers originally comes from the Philippines, where she was raised in a family that owns two restaurants. She moved to New York City to study at the Institute of Culinary Education where she met her husband-to-be, Ben Bowers.
The couple moved back to the Philippines for a year where Ben was trained to cook Filipino fare in her family’s restaurants. The Bowers then became private chefs in Florida before teaming up with their friends Margaret and Luka Dow.
Margaret Dow had worked for Lululemon, the apparel retailer; Luka Dow spent time in the Boston food supply industry. They noticed that Filipino food was unrepresented in Portland and launched the Barkada food truck.
“It was to establish our menu and get our name out there,” said Nicole. “The feedback has been amazing. We’ve had many return customers, we would see the same people coming by and they would start bringing their friends.”