Photo / Alexis Wells
Coffee By Design recently closed its coffee shop at 67 India St. in Portland.
August 23, 2024
Friday Food Insider Notebook: Tip credit, coffee and new products
Photo / Courtesy, HospitalityMaine
Portland restaurant workers from Becky's Diner and The Porthole Pub gather outside Portland City Hall Monday before the City Council hearing.
A proposal to eliminate Portland’s tip credit will not be on the November ballot, after restaurant workers spoke out in a Portland City Council meeting on Monday.
Portland service workers currently make a tipped-credit wage, which is half the city's minimum hourly wage of $15 — plus tips. But the proposal would have eliminated that arrangement, forcing restaurants and other businesses to pay the $15 wage.
Dozens of servers, staff and hospitality allies testified at the meeting, asking the council to keep the tip credit in place. They said the proposal would reduce tips and their overall earnings and lead to job losses and ultimately restaurant closures.
The tip credit allows many servers to earn $20, $30 or $40 per hour or more.
“The tip credit is essential for enabling higher wages, maintaining affordable menu prices, and ensuring the continued operation of these restaurants,” said Nate Cloutier, HospitalityMaine’s director of government affairs. "We applaud the council for listening to Portland's hardworking waitstaff and restaurants.”
City voters nixed a similar measure in November 2022 when Question D was defeated.
What's going on with coffee shops?
Maine has been seeing coffee shops come and go. In the Friday Food Insider last week, we reported that Coffee By Design had closed an India Street shop in Portland, leaving the company with a single coffeehouse. CBD operated four as recently as April 2023. Meanwhile, its wholesale roasting business is thriving.
In a Mainebiz poll this week, we asked if readers' coffee-drinking habits — outside a home or office — had changed in the past year.
About 42% of our readers said they were spending less time and money in coffee shops. Only 5% reported they were spending more.
Are drive-thru stores going to become the new normal for the coffee scene? Aroma Joe’s and Starbucks have been busy opening new stores around the state, but Starbucks has been focusing on drive-thru service.
Small, privately owned coffee shops have still been making a comeback. Buzz Coffee at 19 Exchange St. in Portland just reopened its doors. Another Round at 549 Congress St. in Portland and Walter’s Cafe in Brunswick have opened in the past couple of months.
Other news from Maine's foodie world
Maine Grains, a Skowhegan-based miller of locally sourced milled flour, has launched three pancake mixes and the company's first-ever pet treat. Maine Grains Pancake Mixes are crafted from simple ingredients, without additives or preservatives, and stone-milled flour. The Maine Grains Sea Biscuits for Dogs are made with wheat middlings combined with whey from Crooked Face Creamery and seaweed powder from Maine kelp producers.
Courtesy/ Maine Grains
Maine Grains Buckwheat Spelt and Multigrain Malted Pancake Mixes are the first of many baking mixes to come
Harbor Burger Shack, a reimagined 1950s roadside diner at 355 U.S. Route 1 in Kittery, will now offer a new lobster burger on its menu. The burger will feature a house-made lobster cake, paired with an Angus beef blend patty, topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, and house-made Wicked Harbor Sauce, and served on a grilled brioche bun.
What are your thoughts about the Maine coffee scene? The Mainebiz Food Insider wants to hear from you! Contact Alexis Wells at awells@mainebiz.biz.
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