According to an article in Sentry, Otto Pizza is planning to open a new location in South Portland at 159 Cottage Road.
The property, currently vacant, that may become the new Otto was previously a Getty gas station. It sits on a busy downtown intersection at Cottage Road and Highland Avenue surrounded by the South Portland Public Library, the Holy Cross School and Red’s Dairy Freeze.
Carman’s Cafe is under construction at 64 Market Street. Owners Darren Thomas and Abigail Johnston plans are for a business that’s equal parts coffee shop, gluten-free bakery and bookstore. The business is named for Thomas’ grandfather.
Carman’s Cafe is slated to open sometime in late June/early July.
See the Under Construction List for info on other Portland food businesses in development.
As part of a larger article on waterfront real estate, the Press Herald reports that Kings Head LLC has leased a ground floor space in the Pierce Atwood building where it plans to open a gastro-pub.
CBRE-The Boulos Co. announced this week that King’s Head LLC has a lease for a 2,250-square-foot gastro-pub serving high-quality beer and food. King’s Head currently operate pubs in Stowe, Vt., and Athens, Ga., and plans to open its Portland restaurant in September, according to CBRE.
When contacted Wednesday, Justin O’Connor, a partner in King’s Head, said that, for marketing purposes, he is not granting interviews until the pub is ready to open.
Saturday night will be the last night for Korea House. Owners, Myung and Kum You, are moving to Seattle. They’ve sold the property and the new owners will be taking over quite soon.
All indications are that the sale will likely involve a result in concept and name for the space.
Aurora Provisions (facebook) and Broadturn Farm (website, facebook) are teaming up to launch an urban farm stand in Portland. The farm stand will sell flowers and vegetables from Broadturn. Upcoming renovations to the back corner of Aurora will build the stand right into the dining area of the West End upscale eatery and catering business.
According to a report from Maine a la Carte, a new wine bar is in the works for the former Dante’s space in One City Center.
She declined to name the tenant because the lease is not yet signed, but did say that the wine bar would not have a full kitchen; the menu will be limited to “olives, cheese nuts – food to accompany wine and beer.” Wine courses may also be offered, she said.
A separate source emailed yesterday to pass on the news that Once City Center is planning on re-purposing some of the retail space in their food court as office space and so has given notice to some of the food vendors.
Two Portland restaurants under construction were on the agenda for last night’s meeting of the Historic Preservation Board:
Additionally, the May issue of Dispatch contains an article entitled “The Great Restaurant Boom” which includes a brief profile of Portland Hunt and Alpine Club among others. The article isn’t yet available online.
Wannawaf (website, facebook, twitter) is under construction at 15 Monument Square in the space formerly occupied by Cobblestones.
Owner Anya Arsenault (aka Waffle Girl) opened the original Wannawaf in Boothbay in 2003 and is planning to launch Wannawaf Portland in June where, as you might have guessed from the name, waffles will be the signature dish.
The menu will include options like the Sweet Jams waffle, “peanut butter, aged cheddar, and bacon waffle with a tart fruit jam for dipping”, and the Cheeky Monkey waffle, “vanilla ice cream, fresh banana, Nutella, whipped cream and coconut”.
Wannawaf will be open late night and plans on doing takeout.
The Portland & Rochester Public House is under development at 120 Preble Street, the former location of G&R DiMillo’s. Renovations of the building, including a new deck, are underway and owner Garrett Fitzgerald is hoping to open sometime in mid-June with a menu of bistro and pub style dishes.
The Eatery is named for the Portland & Rochester Railroad which ran through Bayside on its way to the Grand Trunk Terminal.
Fitzgerald moved to Portland from Bar Harbor where he still runs the Bar Harbor Lobster Pound. He had also been a co-owner of the Dog & Pony Tavern.
The Urtuzuastegui family moved to Portland last year from California. Chef Joseph Urtuzuastegui plans on serving a menu of “traditional Mexican dishes such as baja style fish tacos, Sonoran hot dogs and many more regional specialties.”
They hope to set-up on Commercial Street near the Ocean Gateway Terminal. You can follow them on Facebook and Twitter to keep informed of where the truck is located.