Category: Closings

The New York Times has included Vinland in an article that highlights 26 of the many restaurants across the country that have closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

From the moment it opened, Vinland was more than a restaurant: it was a thought experiment. Influenced by chefs like Dan Barber and Rene Redzepi, the self-taught chef David Levi made a commitment to local ingredients that went much further than taking tomato salad off the menu. It meant cooking without sugar or black pepper or olive oil. It meant that one night’s menu might have three different dishes based on mushrooms, and woe to the diner who doesn’t care for fungi. (Reviews, not surprisingly, were mixed and passionate.)

More & Co. has announced that they’ll be permanently closing their Yarmouth cafe and shop on December 20th.

As with any love story, the imprint of the beautiful, enlightening and challenging experiences lasts even after the story is complete. More & Co., our love story, will always feel like home to us and will always be remembered as a place where creativity and tenderness flourished…We would like to deeply thank all who have worked alongside us; we would like to to thank all of our vendors and makers; we would like to thank all of the dedicated customers who continually preferred something just a little bit different. We love you. It was an honor to share time and space with you.

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.