Here are a pair of new items on the Under Construction list:
Here are a few updates on restaurants under construction in Portland:
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:
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:
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.
The Portland Daily Sun interviewed Wild Burritos owner Miguel Collins about his cross-Congress expansion into the former site of Stir Crazy.
The expansion is part of Collins’ goal of providing more affordable dining options in the Arts District.
“[In] Portland it’s so expensive to go out to eat. Wild Burritos offers you something for $5 or less. Everything we have is affordable, everything is under $6 and made with all natural ingredients,” he said.