Category: Under Construction

When the City Council meets on Monday they will be voting on 4 liquor license applications for businesses that are under construction, changing names or moving:

• The long awaited opening of Figa will be one step closer once they have approval for their liquor license. The application includes a sample menu (page 80) and indicates that they “hope to open the second week of December, 2009.”
• Katahdin is moving from their longtime location at the intersection of Spring and High Streets to the space formerly occupied by Geo’s on Forest Ave.
• Sabieng will be the new name for the Thai restaurant (currently Nakornping Thai) located next to Portland Stage on Forest Ave.
• Velvet is a new bar that’s taking over the spot on the corner of Fore and Union Streets next to Pearl.

Friday’s Press Herald included an article about the Coastal Maine Popcorn shop that’s under construction at 43 Exchange Street.

They have a 6-foot-tall, stainless steel industrial hot air popper, capable of popping 50 pounds of kernels at a time. After the popcorn is popped, it’s flavored. The company offers 30 to 50 flavors at any one time, broken down into sweets (toasted coconut, maple, berry) and savories (salt and vinegar, buffalo wing, garlic).

The plan is to keep popping the popcorn in Boothbay Harbor, supplying the seasonal retail operation there and the year-round operation in Portland.

Construction is ongoing at Sonny’s at 83 Exchange, Jay Villani’s new restaurant. The latest word is that they hope to open in December. As you can see from the floor plan, the overall layout is the same with the exception of a bar along the south wall.

According to Press Herald food writer, Avery Yale Kamila, Coastal Maine Popcorn plans on opening a retail shop at 45 Exchange Street.

An article in today’s Press Herald on the closing of LL Bean’s Portland store casts doubt on the possibility of Trader Joe’s landing in the spot.

Alison Mochizuki, spokeswoman for California-based Trader Joe’s, said Monday that “Portland, Maine, is not in our two-year plan.”

Travels with Hilary has published some additional information on the Cuban restaurant going in on Wharf Street.

…Cassady [Pappas] is a long-timer with restaurateur Michael Boland, so it makes sense. Boland, by the way, has a very successful track record with the restaurants he’s opened in Bar Harbor. He’s a savvy businessman. If this version of Havana is anything similar to the original one, it should be a nice addition to Portland’s crowded restaurant scene.

• Leasing – There’s a “Restaurant for Lease” sign on the exterior of Katahdin. When I checked last week they were still open for business. [According to info supplied in one of the comments on this post Katahdin is moving to 25 Forest Ave.]
• Moving – According to a report from Portland Food Heads, Loco Pollo is moving to a new location—no details available yet on where they’re moving to.
• Building – There’s construction taking place at 50-52 Wharf Street where Cake and The Iguana used to be but no word yet on what’s going to be moving in there. [The comment from Portland207 also indicates that the Wharf Street location is slated to be a Cuban restaurant, and a comment from TJ has uncovered that the new spot will be a sister restaurant to Havana in Bar Harbor.]

Saigon Restaurant has its signage up, the interior looks finished and, while it’s not easily visible in this photo, there are “Coming Soon” signs in the window so an opening day doesn’t seem all that far off. An early draft menu showed a mix of Vietnamese and Chinese dishes on the menu.

According to the agenda for the upcoming Portland City Council meeting:

• JP’s Bistro (sample menu)  is moving in to take over the space formerly occupied by Rachels at 496 Woodford Street.
• Nosh Bar (sample menu) is the name of the  “upscale delicatessen and lounge” moving into old The White Heart location at 551 Congress Street. The re-opening of this location help mitigate the contraction in the number of Portland bars as pointed out by PortlandTaps.com.