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December 22, 2009 Portlandbiz

Shuttered Old Port bars give way to eateries

By Jackie Farwell

Two new restaurants are opening up in the Old Port, revamping spaces once home to bustling nightclubs.

Siano's Old Port Pizzeria will set up shop in the space formerly occupied by Una, a trendy wine bar and lounge on Fore Street. The bar, which opened in 1998, closed on Dec. 5. Owner John Cameron Reed did not return a call seeking comment.

Demolition crews were swinging hammers at the site Tuesday, preparing to return 505 Fore St. to its former glory as a pizza joint. The spot was also once home to Portland Pie Co.

The new restaurant will open by Feb. 1, making it the third of Siano's establishments in the region, according to co-owner Scott Provencher. Siano's also has locations on Brentwood Street in Portland and on Main Street in Freeport. The 3,000-square-foot Old Port location will operate as a full-service brick oven pizzeria offering delivery in Portland, and will employ about 20 workers, he says. Provencher co-owns the restaurants with Joe Pompeo and Chris Grant.

Just down the street, another restaurateur team plans to bring a version of Havana, their fine dining eatery in Bar Harbor, to the Old Port. Michael Boland and Cassady Pappas have leased 8,000 square feet at 44-52 Wharf St. to open Havana South, according to broker Nate Stevens of CB Richard Ellis/The Boulos Co.

The space sat vacant for more than a year after The Iguana bar closed in June of 2008 and the adjacent Cake restaurant closed about six months later, Stevens says. The landlord, Old Port Retail Holdings LLC, sought to improve the area's reputation as a home to raucous bars, and Havana fit the bill, he says.

"Street & Company has managed to do just fine all these years and we think a well-run nightclub and a well-run casual fine-dining restaurant can coexist," Boland said in an e-mail.

Boland is an established entrepreneur in Bar Harbor, where he owns Rupununi restaurant and Joe's Smoke Shop, and formerly owned the Carmen Verandah nightclub and the Criterion Theatre, among other ventures. His Havana eatery in the coastal town is one of only two restaurants in Maine to win Wine Spectator magazine's Award of Excellence, according to the restaurant's website.

After completing interior and façade improvements over the winter, Boland and Pappas hope to open the Portland location by mid-April 2010. Boland says he expects to employ up to 40 full-time staff and an additional 20 part-timers.

The eatery will feature "American fine dining with a Latin flair," according to its website, and will include a bar and lounge, as well as space to accommodate up to 50 guests for private parties. Havana South will be open year-round seven nights a week.

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