Category: Under Construction

Bonfire (facebook) is under construction at 37 Wharf Street in the space formerly occupied by Seawall and Brook There. Bonfire is a country-themed bar. They hope to open in May.

Bonfire Country Pub located in the Heart of the Old Port at 37 Wharf Street in Portland. This amazing place features a country vibe with fun lively atmosphere. Specializing in our drinks served in Red Solo Cups and a hint of technology, you will have an absolute blast with this fun atmosphere.

Tandem Coffee Roasters (facebook, twitter, instagram, website) has announced plans to launch a cafe and bakery in the West End at 742 Congress Street. For this venture Tandem is teaming up with baker Briana Holt, whose resume most recently includes Pies ‘n’ Thighs in Brooklyn. Tandem plans on starting construction next month and hope to be open in early summer.

Some of the seasonal bakery offerings will include sweet and savory pastries and a rotating selection of pies, all made on site. Expect more seating and a similar vibe to Tandem’s East Bayside location, ie. hi-fi no wi-fi.

This is Tandem’s second location, their roastery and original cafe opened on Anderson Street in East Bayside in 2012.

742 Congress had originally been slated as the location for a bakery run by Local 188, but the project was put on hold in order to focus time and attention on the launch of Salvage BBQ.

Two new restaurants have submitted their liquor license applications for review at Monday’s City Council meeting:

• Slab Sicilian Streetfood is collaboration by baker Stephen Lanzalotta, the owners of Nosh and other business partners.  Slab will be located in the section of the original Portland Public Market that had housed Scales. The menu “will exemplify the centuries old street-food culture of Sicily”. The 75 seat restaurant (see construction photos on Instagram) will be able to accommodate as many as 100 additional customers when the outdoor patio is in use. They plan to be open 7 days a week, 11 am to 1 am. You can see a draft menu (page 60)  in the meeting materials.

• The Jewel Box is a new craft cocktail bar being launched by Nathaniel Meiklejohn. The bar will be located at 644 Congress Street about equidistant between the State Theater and Longfellow Square. The first floor will seat 18 and there’s semi-private mezzanine space with room for up to 8. In addition cocktail and other drinks, Nan’l will be serving a small mostly vegetarian food menu. You can sign-up for TJB’s mailing list on their website: thebeardedladysjewelbox.com.

Vietnam Bakery is under construction at 267 Saint John Street in the location formerly occupied by Top Thai. A sign in the window indicates that the bakery is “Coming Soon” but no there no word yet on when they plan to open.

The Co-op has released a video that includes architectural drawings of the retail store they plan to open this September at 290 Congress Street.

The Portland food scene continues to grow and develop:

• The old Bramhall Pub space in the basement of the Roma/Quimby Colony building at 769 Congress Street has been leased. The owners are planning to launch a “old school speakeasy with American comfort food”. They hope to open sometime this Summer after renovations are complete.
• Otto Pizza has leased a space at 125 John Roberts Road in South Portland to handle their delivery business in the Portland area.
• Jazeera Market, currently located at 652 Congress Street, will be moving to 625 Forest Ave in Woodford Corner. This move one of several that quickly changing the set of retail shops in the first floor of the Lafayette Apartments building.

For more information on food businesses under development see the PFM Under Construction List.

The Hella Good Taco food cart has purchased Steve & Renee’s Diner. Owner Josh Bankhead has written on the Hella Good facebook page that they “will be incorporating HGT into the fold soon” and that the cart will still be in operation during the Summer.

See the article in today’s Portland Daily for more information on the changes in store for the diner.

Lolita (facebook, website), the new restaurant that Guy and Stella Hernandez and their business partners have under construction in the East End, has applied for a liquor license.

As usual the application includes a floor plan (shown below) and draft menu (page 39). The owners are aiming to launch Lolita in May and will be open 7 days a week, 11 am to 11 pm. It will be located at 90 Congress Street.

Here are a pair of new items for the Under Construction List:

• Mittapheap Market  will be moving to the Pine Tree Shopping Plaza on Brighton according to Portland-at-Large. You can keep up to date on the move by following the market’s facebook page.
• Susan Axelrod from the Press Herald has tweeted a photo of what she described as the construction site for “Dana Street’s new waterfront restaurant“
• A restaurant named Gourmaine is under development in South Portland near the Mall.

Maine a la Carte has published an update on Black Dinah’s expansion into Portland.

At this point, the Portland expansion does not include a retail store. (Black Dinah chocolates are already sold in Portland at LeRoux Kitchen and Browne Trading Co., both located on Commercial Street.)

“It would just be too much to do all at once,” Shaffer said. “The first thing is maintain quality and get production up, and start getting our name more out there.”