The Press Herald has explored why so many restaurants are closing.

A surge of restaurant closures in Greater Portland that started in early September accelerated in recent weeks when a popular Bayside pizzeria, a recently opened Old Port gastropub and a longtime Yarmouth landmark all announced they were shutting down. With food and labor costs rising as the industry’s slowest season approaches, more could be coming.

For some further discussion see these three threads on Reddit.

In a statement on his facebook account chef and business owner Christian Hayes shared that he’s shut down three of his four business and will be redirecting his energy into Dandelion Catering Company (website, facebook, instagram). The statement reads in part,

We pushed as long as we could. What started as a company that was able to properly communicate it’s appreciation and love for the people who supported it very thoughtfully and consistently, grew into a multi-armed, multi-headed beast that took us away from what made it all so special and successful to begin with: each other.

Here we are, now. In a display of serendipitous regression, we as a family find ourselves back to where it literally all started 16 years ago, at Dandelion Catering Co. One business. One spot. One staff. We are picking the pieces up slowly, and working towards repairing it all. The beautiful dining space that was The Garrison will be for rent for our private events and popups, and we are focused on simplifying and streamlining the catering company to be as thoughtful and fulfilling as it should be. The clarity that is gained from this forceful downsizing is allowing us to focus on repairing everything around us, and finding focus in each day forward.

Hayes had closed The Garrison in July. This announcement extends that to include his cafe and store on Main Street in Yarmouth: Thoroughfare and Dandy’s Handy Store. Thoroughfare launched as a takeout pop-up operating out of The Garrison in June 2020 and moved into its own space on Main Street in 2021. Dandy’s Handy Store opened in May 2023.

Coals Pizza (website, instagram) owner Billy Etzel has announced plans to close the Bayside restaurant which has been in operation since 2019.

Sorry folks but after this weekend we’ll be putting Coals Bayside to rest. We’ll be open for regular hours while supplies last. Thanks for the memories!

Coals is well loved for their wings and pizza. The Maine Sunday Telegram gave them 3½ stars and New York Times gave their Bronxville location a rating of Very Good.

Coals is located at 114 Preble Street in the building that had formerly been the home of Portland & Rochester.  Coals currently operates a 2nd location in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Thistle & Grouse (website, facebook, instagram) has permanently closed. Their last day in business was this past weekend. A statement from owners Kimberly Kraus and chef Bobby Will reads in part,

Unfortunately not all things in life are meant to be and this is one of those moments. We set out to Portland from Bar Harbor with a dream of opening a neighborhood gastropub that brought creative comfort food into a warm inviting environment for friends to share libations, laughs and memories.

But a difficult path of remodel met with multiple delays and permitting hurdles, a terrible first winter full of flooded downtowns and snow, combined with a crippling inflation that made it nearly impossible to keep it together, painted a different picture for us.

Will, Kraus and key members of the staff had previously worked together at Kraus’ and Will’s former restaurant Salt and Steel in Bar Harbor.

Thistle & Grouse opened at 10 Cotton Street on December 1, 2023. The restaurant received 3½ stars in a review published by the Maine Sunday Telegram in March. The business is now for sale.