Ernie’s Pool & Darts has announced that they’ve permanently closed.
With a heavy heart I have decided to close Ernie’s. This is very difficult for me to do. I have worked/owned this great bar for over 25 years. All of us at Ernie’s would like to thank all of our loyal patrons for making Ernie’s what it was, a great place to hang and meet new friends. Our motto was “The fun never stops” but 2020 made the fun stop. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I will miss you all so very much!
Flood’s (website, instagram, facebook) vacated their space at 747 Congress Street over the weekend and has permanently closed.
Flood’s had re-opened for takeout and outdoor dining during the summer. Owner Greg Mitchell closed down again in late August. At the time there was still some possibility that Flood’s might re-open or the space might be used for a new venture, but that turned out not to be the case.
Mitchell opened Flood’s in late May of last year. It received a four star review from the Maine Sunday Telegram and mentions in the New York Times and Boston Globe.
For more information on which local restaurants have closed for good see the Pandemic Casualty List.
The Holy Donut is permanently closing their location on Exchange Street.
The Holy Donut team would like to extend our gratitude and appreciation to everyone that has helped make our Exchange Street location a success over the last 7 years. We are humbled by the amount of guests that chose to stop in for a treat. It is with a heavy heart that we announce that our last day of business at our Exchange Street location in the Old Port will be Monday October 19th.
The pandemic has had a tremendous impact on this location and we have made the decision not to renew our lease. We look forward to stepping back into the Old Port again in the future when the timing is right and we can secure a location that can better serve the needs of our loyal guests and our exceptional teammates. Our Park Avenue location will continue to be there for all of our Portland fans! Thank you Portland!”
For a full accounting of closures see the pandemic closure list.
Cara and Cecile Stadler have announced that they’ve permanently closed Lio.
Dear Friends, Family and Guests – It is with much sadness that we announce the permanent closure of Lio Restaurant. We were unable to weather the pandemic without some rent relief, and with the decreasing temperatures and increasing Covid cases, can find no viable way forward. We hope our food and wine brought some small moments of joy to you during these difficult times, a reminder of the simple pleasure of a shared meal with the hope for better times to come.
The Stadlers are selling off the bottles in the Lio wine cellar.
All bottles are still 50% off our normal dine-in pricing — which puts us on par or below retail stores with great savings on larger format, higher end wines. In addition, we have added volume discounts of 10-20% on top of this pricing if you spend $100 or more. There are also specific bottles priced to move, buy one and get a second for 25% off. This is a great opportunity to stock up on your favorites or build your wine cellar. The entire list is now online, and you may order anytime…
The Stadler’s other restaurants Bao Bao (Portland) and Zao Ze (Brunswick) remain in business, and the Stadlers will be re-opening Tao Yuan (Brunswick) for “very limited number of private parties, reservations only with a curated menu and minimum spend, starting mid-late October”.
The owners of Salt Pine Social in Bath have announced plans to permanently close the restaurant after service on September 26th.
To our Dear friends and loyal followers . We want to thank you for your amazing support during these difficult times and for the love and friendship you have shown us over the years at El Camino and Salt Pine Social. It is with a heavy heart we are reaching out to let you know that Saturday September 26th will be our final day . After over 40 years in this industry we feel it’s time for us to go . The pandemic it seems is the final nail in the coffin for our industry. We find ourselves financially and emotionally unable to continue. We feel truly honored to have been a part of this community and we will miss you .For now we’ll take a deep breath (behind our masks of course) and step boldly into the future and whatever comes next for us we will keep you posted Love and peace to you all . Eloise Daphne and Paul
Cellar Door Winery has announced that they’ll be permanently closing their tasting room on Thompson’s Point at the end of September. The winery and tasting room in Lincolnville will remain open.
Friends, at the end of this month, this chapter of Cellardoor on Thompson’s Point will end. The Point is conceived and designed to gather large numbers of people. Over the past four years, we’ve filled our main tasting bar with friends standing three deep, hosted hundreds of food and wine pairings, and countless bachelorettes and other special events. Happy, unforgettable memories.
Unfortunately, as we knew (and loved) them, gatherings are not feasible currently or in the near future. So, with fondness, we’ll host our final tastings on Thompson’s Point by reservation on Saturday, September 19.
Chef/owner David Levi has announced that he’s permanently closing Vinland, his locavore restaurant at 593 Congress Street.
Vinland has closed. It is a hard loss for me and for those closest to me, professionally and personally. It is also a beginning. Vinland could not withstand the long quarantine required for the Covid-19 pandemic, the disproportionate impact on the fine dining sector of the food industry, and the overall downturn in the economy, the last of which may reverberate for years. This is plain and simple. It’s a reality that was not lost on me as I cooked and served the last Vinland meals on March 15th, but one which settled in and calcified, slowly, over the ensuing months. I’d hoped for a reopening even as I failed to see the viable path. The path, for us, didn’t exist.
For now Levi looks forward to “spending far more of my time with my wife, my son, and, very soon, my daughter.”
As for the future,
Have I served my last oat brown bread, my last hakurei turnip soup, my last smoked monkfish, my last parsnip turmeric custard? Has Timm served his last Sunstone cocktail? No. So stay tuned. There will be more Vinland meals. Just not at Vinland, and not six nights a week. If we’ve entered the Brigadoon stage, I promise, we’ll show up a little more often than once a century.
Read the full announcement on Facebook.
The 1,720 sq ft restaurant space in Congress Square is now available for lease for $2,782/month (Modified Gross).
Sip of Europe, the cafe and creperie at 229 Congress Street, has gone out of business.
However, owner Yulia Stolkner will be moving the business into Fork Food Lab to continue making crêpe cakes. You can continue to stay in touch with Sip of Europe through their accounts on instagram and facebook.
Orenda and Peter Hale have shared their decision to permanently close Drifters Wife, their outstanding and award-winning restaurant on Washington Ave.
We will try to be as concise as possible for your sake, but mostly for ours, because this is very difficult to say: we have decided to close Drifters Wife. After 5 years in business, as of last Fall, we were finally debt free. Now, just months into the Covid pandemic, that is no longer the case. We need to adapt to what is happening in the world right now. We will keep our beloved space at 59 Washington Avenue but need to re-imagine what’s inside.
The announcement goes on to say, “When the time is right and it’s safe, we will open the doors to the shop and to this new space: a space with you, all, in mind, where we can gather closely with loud music, and share a drink. Or many.”
The Hale’s wine shop Maine & Loire remains in business. You can learn more about what they have in stock via their instagram account and place a order for contactless curbside pick-up by phoning (207) 805-1336.
Drifters chef Ben Jackson is a 2020 Beard Award nominee in the Best Chef Northeast Category—the 2020 award winners will be announced in late September. Jackson is collaborating with More & Co. on a private dinner series at the More & Co location in Yarmouth. Dates are still available in August and September.
Here are just a few of the many photos I have taken over the years at Drifters.
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Chefs Ilma Lopez and Damian Sansonetti shared the sad news yesterday that they’ve permanently closed Piccolo, their excellent Italian restaurant.
It has been a hard few months to say the least. As we are writing this it’s hard to not get emotional in what we have to announce. We are sad to say that Piccolo won’t be opening it’s doors again.
Thank you to everyone that has been our rock this past 6 years 9 months and 23 days. Our team past and present, our guests, our families. We are forever grateful to all of you. Our home away from home. Our daughter grew up here, we met our friends here, we have the best memories anyone can ask for. Thank you for so much and we are so sorry we couldn’t make it work thru these times. We will find our way back some how; meanwhile much love, kindness and respect to all of you. We will miss you.
Anyone interested in leasing the Piccolo space at 111 Middle Street should contact Damian and Ilma at info@piccolomaine.com.
The closure of Piccolo does not apply to Ilma’s and Damian’s other restaurant, Chaval, which has been on a brief hiatus but will be back in operation soon.