The owners of Elsmere BBQ, Jeremy Rush and Adam Powers, have announced they plan to close their South Portland barbecue restaurant. November 9th will be their last day in business.
Their statement on instagram reads in part,
After 11 amazing years in South Portland, Jeremy and I are leaving the Elsmere ownership group. It has been an honor and a privilege to serve you this entire time. We will carry with us fond memories of creating and testing all the wonderful recipes that became the backbone of Elsmere, of learning the subtleties and nuances of Mama, our big beautiful smoker, and of staying up until 3:00 AM painting the dish room so we could get our food license in time to open the next day on August 17th 2013…We never could have anticipated the warmth and encouragement the community would provide to us. We thank you all for embracing us with open arms and allowing us to be the cornerstone of the neighborhood.
Powers and rush launched Elsmere in 2013. They went on to open a second location on Stevens Ave which opened in 2018 and closed in 2022.