Photo / ALEXIS WELLS
Argenta Brewing, a tasting-room-style brewery specializing in lagers, opened at 82 Hanover St. in Portland in February
August 26, 2024
Foodies lament closings, hail openings: In the past year, Maine has seen a lengthy menu of restaurants opening and closing
Photo / COURTESY LONGFELLOW HOTEL
At the Longfellow Hotel in Portland, there is a wellness-focused café, Twinflower Café, and a European-influenced lobby bar, Five of Clubs.
Maine has seen a lengthy menu of restaurants come, go and turn over ownership. Let’s take a foodie trip around the state to look at some of the changes. In the past year, the Friday Food Insider tracked the opening of more than 30 establishments, while marking more than a dozen closings — including four breweries and one distillery. And still other spots changed hands or went on the market. Here’s a roundup of openings, closings and transactions from the past year.
Openings
- BiddoBanh at 299 Main St. in Biddeford opened in October 2023. The eatery is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday.
- Brickyard Hollow opened what it calls an artisanal craft pizza destinations at 1 Stephen King Drive in Augusta and 80 Main St. in Biddeford. It also expanded the Old Port location, at 9 Commercial St., taking over the former Maker’s Galley cafe, market and event space next door.
- Cheese Louise, a restaurant chain specializing in artisan grilled cheese sandwiches, plans to open its fourth location — at Westbrook’s Rock Row development. The new location is slated to open in 2025.
- Jersey Mike’s Subs, which has more than 3,000 locations nationwide, opened two locations in Maine: one at 240 U.S. Route 1 in Falmouth in May 2023 and the second at 507 Main St. in Saco in July 2023.
- Matchamood, Maine’s first matcha bar, opened in September 2023 at 654 Congress St., Portland. It features matcha-infused drinks and baked goods.
- Oak & Ember, at 1420 Long Plains Road in Buxton, opened on the site of the former Buxton Common restaurant. Menu items include roasted bistro steak, tagliatelle bolognese, mustard house ribs and more.
- Red City Ale House, at 8 Main St. in Windham, was converted from the former South Windham Fire Station into a full-service restaurant.
- At the Longfellow Hotel in Portland a wellness-focused café, Twinflower Café, and a European-influenced lobby bar, Five of Clubs. The bar and café are walk-in only and do not take reservations. The two restaurants opened in May at 754 Congress St.
- Ziggi’s Coffee, a franchise brand that started in Colorado, opened its first Maine store in February, at 3 Waterfall Drive in Saco, near the Scarborough town line.
- Fika, which opened its doors in July 2023 is located in a 250-square-foot space at 17 Storer St. in Saco and serves simple Scandi-style breakfast and lunch.
- Mr. Tuna, a Portland sushi vendor with food-cart roots opened its new restaurant at 83 Middle St. in Portland in May.
- Angoor Wine Bar, a self-pour wine bar, officially opened its doors on May 30 at 100 Fore St. in Portland.
- Bubble Bliss opened a 947-square-foot storefront at 23 Temple St., in Portland. It offers 23 varieties of bubble tea, including strawberry, brown sugar, taro, vanilla chai, refreshers, flavored iced Red Bull drinks and hot tea.
- Low Stakes Lodge, a steakhouse operated by the folks at the Highroller Lobster Co., opened at 106 Exchange St. in Portland. The menu includes French onion soup, bar snacks, rib eye, filet mignon, New York strip, bavette and seafood. The grand opening was held in July.
- Sweets and Co. announced via social media that it will open at 294 Main St. in Saco this fall. The bakery will offer an array of breads, bagels, cinnamon rolls, quiches, pies, pastries, soups, paninis, coffee, natural energy drinks and bubble tea.
- Orange Bike Brewing Co., which opened in November 2023 at 31 Diamond St., offers nine gluten-free beers.
- Bar Publica, a bar, kitchen and night spot at 82 Hanover St. in Portland’s West Bayside neighborhood, opened in June.
- Buzz Coffee, at 19 Exchange St. in Portland, officially reopened in June after being closed since December 2023
- Mesa Grande, a California-Mexican fast-casual restaurant, opened in May at 140 Fore St. in Portland, near the Roux Institute. The menu includes tacos, burritos, quesadillas, bowls, salads and a children’s menu.
- Blake Orchard, a plant-based juice shop at 561 Forest Ave. in Portland, opened the first of two additional locations. A Brunswick location at 2 Station Ave. opened in June. The juice shop offers smoothies, bowls, raw juices, handmade nut milks, wellness drinks, sustainable coffee and more. A Scarborough location in Dunstan Village, will open in the fall.
- Off Track Pizza opened in May at 15 Exchange St. in Portland. Aside from pizza, it offers salad and bottled cocktails.
- Swell Nitro Coffee, specializing in nitro cold brews, opened in downtown Saco in April.
- Ocotillo, the sibling restaurant to Terlingua, opened its doors in April at 211 Danforth St. in Portland.
- Catface Cafe, located at 17 Alfred St. in downtown Biddeford, opened in March. The cafe offers breakfast sandwiches, toasts, salads, and sandwiches during the week and some fun brunch items on the weekend.
- Argenta Brewing, a tasting-room-style brewery specializing in lagers, opened at 82 Hanover St. in Portland in February.
Changing hands
- Owners of Pizza by Michael, at 12 Common St. in Saco, known by locals as Michael’s, hung up their aprons in November 2023, passing the business to a new owner.
- The Good Table restaurant, at 527 Ocean House Road in Cape Elizabeth, was sold to Portland-based Prentice Hospitality Group, which owns Twelve, EVO Kitchen+Bar and 58 Culinary.
- Sarah’s Cafe & Twin Schooners Pub at 43-45 Water St. in Wiscasset was sold and is now Jodie’s Café, Bakery & Restaurant.
- Still for sale: The Lincolnville Center General Store, at 269 Main St. in Lincolnville, includes a popular dining space and kitchen. The building was once owned by Jon Fishman, drummer and co-founder of the progressive rock band Phish, and is on the market for $3 million.
Photo / ALEXIS WELLS
Coffee by Design has officially closed its Congress Street location.
Closings
- Judy Gibson, a small-plates restaurant at 171 Ocean St. in South Portland, shuttered permanently in November 2023.
- The Danforth restaurant and cocktail bar, located at 211 Danforth St. in Portland, closed its doors in September 2023.
- Coffee By Design closed its original coffeehouse location at 620 Congress St. in Portland in October 2023.
- The Maker’s Galley, a Portland café, store and event space at 5 Commercial St. on the city’s East End, closed its doors in September 2023.
- Trudy Bird’s Ølbar, a Scandinavian-style restaurant and bar, closed in April.
- The owners of Broken Arrow, which opened in 2019 at 545 Congress St., announced via social media that they were closing the business on May 31. “It’s been fun and very hard. Grateful for the memories made and the friends,” the social media post stated. “This journey is at the end. With gratitude, goodnight Portland one last time.”
- Petite Jacqueline, located at 46 Market St. in Portland, closed its doors at the end of September.
- Finally, a wider shakeout in the brewing industry had a ripple effect in Maine, with the closures of Island Dog Brewing in South Portland, Rusty Bus Brewing Co. in Lewiston, Gneiss Brewery in Limerick and Foulmouthed Brewing in South Portland. The distillery Urban Farm Fermentory in Portland also closed.
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