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?
I work in Canal Plaza; what i’d most like to see if affordable but interesting lunch options (ok what i’d really like to see is a Rickshaw Dumpling truck, but!) and a place for a relaxing but elegant drink in the evening.
I think the one thing it shouldn’t be is specific like a japanese or even an italian place. This should be classic american fare done really crisp and clean. Almost like a David’s for lunch and a walter’s for dinner. It’s going to be a great outdoor eating venue from the looks of it so I don’t think they want to do anything crazy besides good drinks and food that will appeal to a broad spectrum. With Urban Outfitters going into the Pavilion spot, this block that used to be a bland walkway from Monument Square to the old port is really going to pick up.
Oh, and it would be great if Novare had a conveyor belt that ran beers around the alley up to the new restaurant. Is that so much to ask?
I second the Rickshaw Dumpling truck!