Category: Under Construction

PD Wappler and Dante Maderal have leased Unit 6 at 200 Anderson Street where they will open Portland’s newest brewery, Hi-Fidelity Beer (website, facebook, instagram). Maderal and Wappler are planning to launch with a 3 barrel system and intend on focusing on low ABV beers. They plan to serve their own house beers as well as a variety of liquid refreshment with non-alcoholic options such as coffee, tea, and house-flavored seltzer.

The tagline for Hi-Fidelity is  “our beer, your space”. They envision operating a tasting room that melds a traditional brewery tasting room and a public space that will appeal to the members of the Portland arts community.

Maderal was formerly a brewer at Atlantic Brewing in Bar Harbor, and Wappler is a musician. They hope to open Hi-Fidelity Beer by the end of this summer.

Bam Bam Bakery (website, facebook, intagram) has leased the former Cakes Extraordinaire space at 1054 Brighton Ave where owner Tina Cromwell plans to relaunch her gluten-free bakery. Initially Cromwell will use the space as a production kitchen for online orders but as she scales up staff will open the Brighton Street location as a retail bakery as well. The retail shop will sell gluten-free bakery mixes, flour and some gluten-free products from other food producers.

Cromwell has also recently shared plans to launch a Bam Bam food truck called the BamBamBulance—click on the link to understand why. The BamBamBulance will be used for deliveries, for pick-up spots for preorders, events, and perhaps also as a traditional food truck.

Bam Bam is taking their new space through a very thorough process in order to convert the kitchen to a completely gluten-free facility.

Cromwell closed her Commercial Street retail operation in 2020. There had been plans to reopen Bam Bam in East Bayside earlier this year but they fell through.

Man & Oak (website, instagram), a Maine-based whiskey event and education company, has leased the 2,132 sq ft second floor of 44 Oak Street where they plan to open a private bottle club in Portland.

Man & Oak will feature 300 private bottle lockers of various sizes. Members will be able to store their special bottles of whiskey, other spirits and wine which they’ll be able to access and consume onsite. Man & Oak will also include a space for trainings, tastings, education programs and other related events. The new business will not be a bar or a bottle shop, but will sell glassware, etc.

Since they announced plans to launch the business back in November, Man & Oak has already leased out a third of their locker spaces.

Qutaiba Hassoon has leased the right hand side of 1053 Forest Ave where he plans to open Falafel Time a bakery and takeout restaurant serving vegetarian Middle Eastern food. Hassoon hopes to open Falafel Guys this September after completing renovations of the former Papa John’s space.

Hassoon is a second generation restauranteur. His parents owned Haggarty’s restaurant 2012-2014.

The Press Herald reports that new owners have applied for a demolition permit to tear down the former Brian Boru building.

Though closed for nearly two years, Portland’s Brian Boru pub still stands out like an oasis amid the asphalt and dirt parking lots at the western edge of the Old Port. But like a desert mirage, the bright red brick building that once teemed with laughter, libations and live music may soon become a memory.

The Courier reports that a new food truck gathering place, City Side Food Court, is under development in Biddeford.

In recent years, Biddeford has become known as an interesting place to dine, as new restaurants spring up in the mills and downtown.

Soon, it could sport another offering — City Side Food Court where seven mobile food vendors would offer a variety of tasty specialties and diners could enjoy them, seated outside, at 64 Alfred St., a lot that has been vacant since a 2006 fire.

The owner of  B. Good on Exchange Street, Bill Zolper, plans to close the restaurant and in its place open Lupita’s Taqueria.

The concept, Lupita’s Taqueria is a combination of my time spent with my wife Alejandra who is from Medellin, Colombia and our time there at different eateries which provide such a different experience of eating. We look forward to bringing a little bit of that Latina soul to Portland…

Here’s a look at the draft menu supplied to the City as part of their liquor license application:

Mr. Tuna and Goodfire Brewing have combined forces to buy the former Conundrum/El Jefe building on Route One in Freeport where they plan to open a brewery and izakaya bar this fall.

Goodfire will be operating a pilot brewing system and tasting room with both outdoor and indoor seating. In addition to retail sales of their regular line-up Goodfire will have small batch recipes exclusive to the Freeport location.

The Mr. Tuna Izakaya will expand on the sushi hand rolls they’ve been known for to serve a menu that also includes ramen, yakitori, and other Japanese-style food.

Update: Mr Tuna is no longer part of this new brewery project. Goodfire has hired two former Big Tree Hospitality staff to launch the restaurant portion of their brewery.

The Press Herald reports that developers are planning to convert the Time & Temp building into a hotel and build a rooftop bar atop the Chapman Building.

Rhoades said in an interview Tuesday that the bar is proposed for the rooftop, which was recently redone, and that the top two floors, which were added in 1963, will be hotel rooms. He said the rooftop bar will be designed as a three-season space, with a retractable roof, glass walls and bar seating near the elevator shaft.