Rebel Cheesesteaks (instagram) owner Peter Murphy has leased the former Dos Naciones space at 649 Congress Street where he plans to open Rebel Munchies & Libations this fall.
Murphy will be expanding the menu and adding a full bar. He shared he’s excited to scale up the business from its start as a food cart, and looks forward to building out a team.
Renovations will be getting underway with the a master design theme of keeping it “rebellious as always.”
Battery Steele Brewing (website, facebook, instagram) is opening a second location. They’ve bought the former Varano’s Italian restaurant in Wells where they plan to open a 180-seat pub. The building is undergoing renovations and they hope to open to public as soon as May.
Owners Jake Condon, Meaghen Kenney, Scott Kenney, Lee Thibodeau and Shane Noble plan to serve a focused menu of elevated pub food along with wine, cocktails and, of course, Battery Steele beer. A wood-fired pizza oven and raw bar are being added to the downstairs bar.
Battery Steele launched their brewery and tasting room on Industrial Way in April 2017. It’s been a long term aspiration to add a restaurant outlet to their business, and in an increasingly crowded Maine brewery industry it has the added benefit of diversifying their revenue. In the last few years we’ve seen other breweries such as Maine Beer Co, Bissell Brothers, Goodfire, Banded Horn and Mast Landing adopt the same mixed business model.
Varano’s closed their doors in late December after 23 years in business. The building is located at 60 Mile Road, just off US Route 1, just around the corner from Congdon’s Donuts and almost across the street from Batson River.
A new gluten-free brewery called Orange Bike Brewing (website, facebook, instagram) is under development at 31 Diamond Street in East Bayside. Construction of the brewery recently got underway.
When Orange Bike launches it will be one of very few dedicated gluten-free breweries in America and the second gf brewery in Maine in addition to Lucky Pigeon Brewing in Biddeford. Brewmaster Alan Pugsley has joined the team as a consultant and is developing a set of gluten-free beer recipes. Orange Bike’s beer will be produced on a 10-barrel vintage Peter Austin brewery system.
In addition to the 60-person tasting room, Orange Bike is also building out (see floor plan below) an outdoor courtyard with room for an additional 90+ people.
Tom Ruff is the founder of Orange Bike Brewing and Neil Spilane—a co-founder of Fork Food Lab—is the COO for the business. Ruff’s plans to establish a gluten-free brewery originated when he became gluten intolerant himself.
In addition to brewing a beer that is both excellent and gluten-free, Ruff’s ambition for Orange Bike is to be a mission-oriented organization.
Orange Bike is committed to raising the bar for gluten-free beer and intends to make OBB a center and symbol of positive change in Maine and beyond. With a focus on the triple bottom line – social, environmental, and financial – the OBB team is committed to setting a new standard within the craft beer industry. In addition to pioneering a new standard in sustainable brewing, OBB is defined by its commitment to making a positive impact on the local community, welcoming Maine’s rich diversity of people in a spirit of hospitality, inclusivity, dignity, and friendship, and expanding the potential for meaningful new jobs for Mainers.
Ren Navarro from Beer. Diversity. has joined Orange Bike as their diversity consultant. As a part of her work on governance and DEI, Navarro will guide the brewery as they begin hiring staff and managers for the brewery as well as recruiting for the Orange Bike board of directors.
Orange Bike Brewing has received funding from the Maine Venture Fund and the Indiana University Angel Network in addition to a diverse range of individual investors. They have begun the process to become a certified B Corporation which requires meeting “high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability.”
Ruff and the team hope to launch Orange Bike Brewing by this fall.
Thai Esaan (facebook, instagram) has leased the former Back Bay Grill at 65 Portland Street where they plan to re-open their restaurant. The original Thai Esaan on Forest Ave location closed in late 2021 when a fire damaged the building they were located in.
Owners Ben Boonseng and Siwaporn Roberts plan to launch with their classic menu and then expand it over time with new dishes and specials. Additionally, beer and wine will also now be available. They’ll continue to offer takeout as well as dining on-site with counter service and seating for approximately 60 customers.
Some light renovations are underway, but the layout of the restaurant will remain generally the same. Roberts and Boonseng hope to launch Thai Esaan later this month. Their hours will be Tuesday through Sunday, 11 am – 9 pm.
Prairie Baking Company (website, instagram) owner Elizabeth Rzoska has leased space on Romasco Lane where she plans to open a retail bakery/cafe. Rzoska currently operates her online business out of the former Drifters Wife prep kitchen. The new location is located on the far side of the former Nissen Bakery Building where Hardshore, Maine & Loire, Oxbow and Cong Tu Bot are located.
The menu at the new Prairie Baking cafe will include breakfast and a light lunch with coffee, pastries, quiche, granola and yogurt as well as toasts. Rzoska hopes to open the cafe this summer.
In the meantime you can order a Prairie Baking cake via their website.
Bonobo Pizza has been closed since the start of last summer. In the intervening months owners Dominique Gonzalez and Justin Grey have been quietly working on plans to open a new restaurant in its place called Cantina Calafia (instagram).
A complete renovation is underway and when completed (see floorplan below) it will result in a 49-seat restaurant with booths along the Pine Street side, a side and back bar and a raised seating area near the front of the storefront all under a vaulted ceiling.
Gonzalez grew up in San Diego with family on both sides of the border—her father was from Guadalajara and her mother lived in Santa Barbara and was the daughter of Mexican immigrants—and crossed the border often. The restaurant and menu will be a reflection of her personal culinary and cultural roots. The menus is still under development but will include dishes like ceviches, aguachiles, smoked fish, and tacos, sopes, etc produced with house-made corn masa. Chef Natalie DiBenedetto (aka Figgy from Figgy’s Takeout) has joined the team as a chef consultant to assist Gonzalez and Grey in bringing the menu to life.
Gonzalez and Grey have owned Bonobo since 2018 and it’s been a longstanding ambition of theirs to convert the pizzeria to restaurant serving Alta and Baja California Mexican cuisine. They hope to open Catina Calafia as early as May.
Here’s a look at the new floor plan:
Since Bonobo closed, artist Lauren Berg from Botanic Magic (website, instagram) has been decorating the building with her trademark style window murals (see above). The latest design includes the message “The more you look the more you see magic in nature”.
A new coffee shop is under construction in the former Hilltop Coffee location on Munjoy Hill. Double Great Coffee (website, instagram) is being launched by Carolyn and Michael Force, the co-owners of Portland Dry Goods with Amanda Foreman from Abura Skincare. They hope to open before Memorial Day.
They will be offering a full coffee program and plan to be a multi-roaster shop featuring a rotating selection of coffees from American and European coffee roasteries. The overall aim is to be a comfortable neighborhood spot for the community.
Renovations are just getting underway. When completed the new coffee shop will seat approximately 25 with a dedicated children’s area and plans for outdoor seating in the warmer months.
The adjacent space in the building is being taken over by Abura Skincare which is moving to the hill from Deering Center. As part of a collaboration between the two businesses the Double Great menu will include some Abura-designed wellness drinks.
Soul Food Paradise (website, instagram) owner Martin Beavers has leased 2,835 sq ft of space at 24 Preble Street where he plans to open a second location for his business. The new spot is adjacent to Dutch’s and was the original location for Arcadia.
Beavers plans to add more soul food classic to the menu and provide a more elevated experience. He hopes to open the in-town location by the start of the summer.
Beavers launched Soul Food Paradise in May 2021 as a takeout business at Fork Food Lab. His current restaurant located in the Maine Mall food court launched in October 2021.
A new restaurant called Thistle & Grouse (instagram) is under construction at 10 Cotton Street in the space formerly occupied by Rivalries. According to a report from the Press Herald, the business is being launched by Bobby Will, the chef/owner of Salt & Steel in Bar Harbor.
Will said he hopes to open his “hyper locally sourced gastropub,” which he plans to call Thistle & Grouse, in late June or July but knows that delays are likely. He said he plans “mostly cosmetic” renovations, including replacing the tile floor with wood and installing leather booths. The menu, he said, will include a raw bar, curry pot pie and an extensive cocktail program and Maine craft beer list.
Rivalries owners Amy and Lance Meader announced the sale of the Cotton Street property last week. They will continue to operate the Rivalries in Falmouth.
Tacos La Poblanita (facebook, instagram) is opening a new restaurant in Westbrook at 57 Bridge Street across from the Dana Warp Mill. Owners Karina Contreras and Jaime Rodriguez hope to open sometime in March, and will be serving a menu that includes tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas and burritos.
Tacos La Poblanita launched as a food truck in the summer of 2019 and in the Maine Mall in summer of 2022.