Chef Jonny St. Laurent has leased the former Bayside Variety at 166 Cumberland where he plans to open Uncle Billy’s Bar-B-Que (website, facebook, twitter). According to the cover letter supplied with their liquor license application,

The restaurant will be a reincarnation of the famous Uncle Billy’s Bar-B-Que that originally opened in 1989 in South Portland…The new location will feature many of the same smoked meats along with some new ideas that will be in line with the original concept.

Here’s a look at the draft menu (page 46):

The 32-seat restaurant will be augmented in the summer time by an “outdoor dining area in the back, outfitted with Maine-made picnic tables” behind the restaurant. St. Laurent hopes to open Uncle Billy’s in October for lunch and dinner 7 days a week.

Here’s the floor plan:

Saint Laurent last operated a restaurant in Portland called Uncle Billy’s Resto-bar at 653 Congress Street in the space currently occupied by Kushiya Benkay. Uncle Billy’s closed in 2007. He also had run restaurants in South Portland, Portland and Yarmouth in the past.

Bite Into Maine (website, facebook, twitter, instagram) is making good progress on their new brick and mortar kitchen/cafe at 185 Route 1 in Scarborough.

The space will serve both and as a prep area to keep their two food trucks amply supplied throughout the summer months and a destination where Bite Into Maine fans can go all year round to get their lobster roll fix.

Owners Sarah and Karl Sutton hope to open in early fall.

The Press Herald reports that a new food truck called Nom Bai is under development.

The truck is owned by Matthew Glatz, owner of the Salt Box Café, a “tiny house food truck” that serves breakfast and brunch on the Eastern Promenade. Glatz recently built a new food truck for hibachi cooking and has hired Sovanna Neang, who is from Cambodia, to run it.

Nom Bai (instagram, facebook) is slated to serve “Cambodian and Vietnamese street food”.

The last few years has seen a significant increase in the number of new food industry business in Biddeford including a culinary bookstore, 2 breweries, a distilleries (and another one under construction), the renewed Palace Diner, an ice cream shop, 2 pizzerias, a coffeeshop/bookstore, a donut shop and a wine bar to name just a few.

They’re now being joined by:

• Rover Bagel (instagram, facebook)  a wood-fired bagel company from the Boston area that’s setting up their home base of operations in Biddeford. Owners Alec Rutter and Kim Chaurette have leased space on Elm Street next to Tran’s Market. They recently had a Le Panyol wood oven delivered and hope to open in September.
• Part & Parcel (website, instagram, facebook) is a gourmet foods store selling “artisanal cheeses and charcuterie items, chocolates and confections, small housewares, oils and spices, and gourmet gifts” as well as prepared foods. The owners have leased space at 17 Alfred Street and hope to open in October.

Here’s a look inside the new Maine Craft Distilling tasting room and distillery under construction at 123 Washington Ave. The 10,880 sq ft space includes a spacious tasting room, greatly expanded distillery space filled with new equipment, and a large barrel ageing room that will be available for special functions. Davidson will be launching a CSA-like program (community supported distillery?) to sell single barrels of spirits in advance.

The MCD crew are in the final stages of getting the tasting room ready and will be announcing an opening day shortly. MCD is co-located in the same building where the new Island Creek Oyster Bar is in development.