Month: July 2023

The newest restaurantand bar from The Miranda Group, Henry’s Public House (instagram), is now open. It’s located in the former Bull Feeney’s building at 375 Fore Street.

The menu includes appetizers like coconut shrimp and wings, sandwiches, salads, and some mains like surf and turf, fish and chips and moules frites.

The beverage program includes beer and wine with a strong focus on cocktails. The 16 house cocktail options are divided into categories titled: Dead Poet’s Society (try the Cease & Desist), From the Cannon, Writer’s Block and Martini Lunch. Shown below is a Bamboo (sherry, vermouth blend, cucumber, eucalyptus) from the Martini Lunch section and an off-menu Perfect Martinez.

The two-story restaurant offers a variety of room styles with an overall layout that remains true to what Bull Feeney’s customers were familiar with. On the first floor is a central bar with table/booth seating along the edges of the room and in the front windows. At the top of the stairs is a pair of rooms with a library theme (blue room show below); there is a second bar on the second floor and on the corner overlooking the intersection of Fore and Exchange is a upscale lounge.

Henry’s will be open 7 days a week: 4 – 11 pm on Mondays through Thursdays, 4 pm – 1 am on Fridays, 11 – 1 am on Saturdays, and 11 am – 11 pm on Sundays.

The Miranda Group also operates Blyth & Burrows (2017), Via Vecchia (2020) and Papi (2023). Bull Feeney’s closed earlier this year.

The Clam Bar (website, facebook, instagram) is scheduled to open today. The new seafood shack is located at 199 West Commercial Street on the site that was the longtime home of Benny’s Famous Fried Calms.

The initial menu (see below) covers all the seafood shack classics like steamers, fish and chips, a lobster roll, and fried clams each prepared with a little bit novel twist. The Clam Shack has a full liquor license and is serving cocktails, beer and wine. The adjacent Beer Garden shed has a selection of Maine draft beers.

Owner Garrett Fitzgerald has completely renovated the property to include Clam Bar, draft beer shed, the Royale Kitchen (instagram) food truck (opens daily at 8 am), indoor seating, picnic tables all connected by a set of wooden decks.

Clam Bar is open daily for lunch and dinner, 11 am – close.

Update: There was such an enthusiastic response over the weekend, the Clam Bar is taking Monday to prep and will re-open on Tuesday.

The new Bite Into Maine (website, facebook, instagram) in East Bayside is opening today. The 26-seat counter service cafe is located at 31 Diamond Street. A 14-seat deck and takeout window are in the final stages of being completed as well.

The menu (see below) includes their line-up of lobster rolls (try the Picnic) as well as a growing roster of sandwiches, soups, sides and whoopie pies for dessert. The cafe is BYOB.

Also under construction at 31 Diamond Street are Orange Bike Brewing, a gluten-free brewery, and Freedom’s Edge, a cider company headquartered in Albion, Maine. Both plan to open later this year.

Owners Sarah and Karl Sutton launched the Bite Into Maine food truck in Fort Williams Park in 2011. They also have a second truck at the Allagash Brewing tasting room. The cafe’s kitchen is serving as the production kitchen for both locations.

The East Bayside cafe will initially be open Thursday through Sunday, 11 am – 8 pm.