Category: Openings

Biddeford-based Banded Brewing Company (website, facebook, instagram, twitter) will be opening their new brewery and tasting room in Bayside on Saturday. The 2,500 sq ft space at 82 Hanover Street houses a  5-barrel pilot brewing system. It will have limited indoor seating as well as a three-season patio area.

Banded plans to use the brewery to produce “a broader range of styles, as well as small-batch and experimental beers” which will be available at their two tasting rooms.

The Portland location will initially be open 4 – 9 pm Wednesday-Friday, 2 – 9 pm Saturday, and Sunday 2 – 7 pm.

Silly’s is re-opening today. The new Silly’s is located at 68 Washington Ave in the space where owner Colleen Kelly formerly operated Simply Vegan by Silly’s.

Hours on Saturday are 11 – 3, and on Sunday 10 -3, and there’s chocolate cake.

The original Silly’s (which closed September1, 2019) location is being renovated and this fall will be the new home for Terlingua. The former Terlingua space is now occupied by Pizzeria Radici, and the….

It’s been one of the most frequent questions we’ve received since March, “when will Empire re-open??!”

That day is now here. Empire Chinese Kitchen has announced they’re re-opening for takeout starting today.

You can order online and pick-up at the restaurant on Congress Street starting at 11:30 am.

D Ajan’s Supermarket (website, facebook) at 170 Brighton Ave opened on September 22nd. D Ajan’s  occupies the former 7-11 building at the intersection with Saint John Street. The market specializes in “American, Pakistani, Indian and Middle Eastern Products”.

Portland’s newest food truck, Liu Bian Tan (instagram) launched on Tuesday at the Western Promenade.

Owner Chung Heng Liu is dishing up a menu of “old school” Taiwanese street food which on Tuesday included Yo Mein, Lo Ba Bung, Gua Bao, and Scallion “Bomb” Bing.

LBT will be back on the Western Prom on Thursday, and  is scheduled to hold a pop-up takeout dinner in conjunction with Cong Tu Bot on September 29th.

A new food cart called Smokey & Brines (website, instagram) launched over Labor Day weekend. They serve a menu of barbecue chicken, sausage and pulled pork sandwiches.

You can find them at the East End Beach parking lot at the foot of the Easter Promenade.

Speckled Ax (website, facebook, instagram) opened their new coffee shop at 20 Thames Street this morning, Their hours are 7:30 am – 3 pm.

In addition to their stellar coffee brewed from wood-roasted beans, the new Speckled Ax will have a food menu that will include two egg sandwich options, a banh mi, a lobster roll and baked goods from Ilma Lopez at Chaval. Speckled Ax has secured a liquor license. In the future they plan to expand the food menu as well as serve beer and wine.

One of the new innovations of the new shop is a Cyclops brewing machine. Also look for flash brewed ice coffee, cascara, and a new infused milk flavor profile as well as pour overs, espresso-based drinks and one of my favorites—tower shots.

Matt Bolinder founded Matt’s Wood Roasted Coffee in 2007 and opened the original Speckled Ax shop on Congress Street opened in May 2012.

 

A new initiative called the ReUp ME Restaurant Relief Fund is raising money to help restaurants when they reopen. Organizers are hoping to raise $1 million dollars, and will “provide direct and in-kind financial support on a sliding scale from $500 to $15,000 to each restaurant award recipient.”

The ReUp ME Restaurant Relief Fund was created to directly support restaurants who are in the midst of reopening, rehiring, and restocking.  It is anticipated that rebuilding of the Maine hospitality economy is going to take several years. The next 6 months will be critical to saving and helping to sustain Maine’s passionate restaurant owners.  

Mainers have always taken great pride in supporting their communities across all sixteen counties. If we mobilize quickly, this approach will create a profound and unified message of hope and inspire consumers inside and outside the state to donate.

Restaurants can apply to be a grant recipient online.

You can donate to the fund online.

As part of the kick-off for the ReUp Fund, Taste of Maine is launching the Sunday Supper online chef cook-along show. The first episode is scheduled to go live on August 23rd and will feature chefs Ilma Lopez, David Turin, Paolo Laboa, Charlie Zorich, Kirk Linder and Dorene Mills.