Category: Under Construction

Here are a few updates on restaurants under construction in Portland:

• The window at 416 Fore Street has a sign that says “Coming Soon, The Edge”. The Edge was reported on earlier this Summer by the Portland Daily Sun . It is a new venture by the owners of the Spring Point Tavern in South Portland.
• The former Cunningham’s Bookstore in Longfellow Square is being converted into a neighborhood destination called L.F.K. The space is designed “to look and feel like an old study or library”. Owners Johnny Lomba and John Welliver will also have on display a “modest and rotating collection of old typerwriters with information on various writers who used the same models.” You can see the draft food menu they supplied as part of their liquor license application (page 22) and a floor plan (page 24) online.
• See below for a photo from the site of The Bakery on the Hill which is under construction on Congress Street a couple doors away from Figa. Between the tin ceiling, hardwood floors and the skylight it has the potential to be a really great space.

 

Here are a pair of new items on the Under Construction list:

• Owner Chris Godin is reopening Granny’s Burritos. This new incarnation of Granny’s will be located on the 2nd floor of the Public Market House in the space formerly occupied by Deux Cochon. Godin has announced a grand reopening will take place September 4th.
• The Bakery on the Hill is the name a of new French bakery that under construction at 253 Congress Street a couple doors down from Figa. Their goal is to open in October.

Here are a few updates on restaurants under construction in Portland:

• Silly’s owner Colleen Kelley is planning to open Silly’s with a Twist next door at 38 Washington Ave. The new venue will include a bar and serve the same menu as its sister restaurant.
• 349 Cumberland Ave has been repainted and a sign in the window indicates “good food coming soon”. There’s no indication yet what type of restaurant it will be. 349 was briefly the home of Apsara before it moved to Fore Street. It had previously been the home of Huong Vietnamese Cuisine.
• The owners of Venue which closed their Portland location on Forest Ave earlier this year are re-opening on Forest Ave at the same location with the same general concept but with different staff and a different name. The new business is named 865 Forest. A draft menu (page 62) was submitted as part of their liquor license application.
• The El Rayo Cantina has also submitted a liquor license application. You can see the draft menu (page 81) online in the agenda materials for Monday’s City Council meeting.

According to a report from the Press Herald, Bam Bam Bakery is in the process of opening a retail location on Commercial Street.

Portland will get its first full-fledged gluten-free bakery in August.

Bevin McNulty, owner of Bam Bam Bakery, has been making wholesale gluten-free baked goods in her home for the past two years, but now she’s ready to expand and take her products direct to consumers.

According to articles in this week’s Forecaster and last week’s edition of MaineBiz, the owner of Canal Plaza is proposing to build a new restaurant venue in the center of the plaza.

“There is a huge demand for high-quality restaurants downtown,” [owner Tim Soley] said. “Any use that is active at night and alive would be great there.”

Soley said several restaurateurs have contacted him informally about possibly using the space. But no decisions will be made until the zoning and permitting are in place, he said.

Both articles include a conceptual drawing of the new building placed within the plaza.

A regular PFM reader forwarded the Mainebiz article with a question I’m going to pass on to all of you: If it were up to you, what (type of) restaurant would you most like to see move into this proposed space?

The agenda for Monday’s City Council meeting is online and with it the liquor license applications for several restaurants under development:

• SPT 2.0 is described by owner David Cram as a “fine dining restaurant and lounge”. Cram also owns the Spring Point Tavern in Scarborough hence the SPT in the name of his new venture. See page 62 of the agenda for a look at their draft menu.
• The reincarnation of the Cafe at Pats is now slated to be named simply The Cafe. The kitchen will be under the direction of the original chef Greg Gilman. See page 77 of the agenda for a look at their draft menu.
• Aurora Provisions will be taking over management of the Portland Museum of Art cafe. See page 101 of the agenda for a look at their draft menu.
• The owners of Nosh have submitted paperwork for their second restaurant Taco Escobarr. The  “latin inspired taqueria and cocktail lounge” will be located across the street from Nosh. The draft menu (page 121) includes a 2.2 pound burrito called The Kilo.

Today’s Portland Daily Sun includes an update on Taco Escobarr, the new restaurant under construction on Congress Street.

Nosh owners Matt Moram and Jason Loring plan to open Taco Escobarr at the former site of yoga supply shop The Happy Yogi by mid-August after having cleared their building permit with the city on Monday.

“It’s just a real basic taco stand,” said Moram. “It’s going to be a straight, old-school tacos and traditional Mexican food, rice and beans, tacos, enchiladas and burritos.”

According to a report from the Portland Daily Sun, the Cactus Club has been sold to David Cram, owner of the Spring Point Tavern.

Cram said he has already hired a well-known local chef to run the new restaurant, which will serve “American gourmet” style food. On weekends, he’s hoping to have blues and jazz musicians perform.

“It’s something Portland needs,” Cram said of the new restaurant, “and it’s a step up from what I own now at the Spring Point Tavern.”

A pair of under construction updates:

• The White Cap has submitted a draft menu (see page 94) as part of the back up material for the liquor license application.
• Plush West End has also submitted a draft menu (see page 163) with their application

Both the Munjoy Hill News and Press Herald have reported on this Sunday’s close of Sebago Brewing’s location at 164 Middle Street and the reopening of the brew pub in the new hotel on Fore Street. Sebago expects to open its doors on Fore street on May 27.

Elise Loschiavo, marketing manager for Sebago Brewing Co. answered one of the more pressing questions posed by mhn.com during the evening: What about the Jordan’s sign community activist Markos Miller saved from the demolition of the former meat packing facility?  “It will be hung in a place of honor,” she said, grinning.  That is on a large wall opposite the bar.  For many years, the meat packing facility was a major business on the Hill – until Tyson’s foods bought it and then closed it shortly thereafter.