The team at Eat Drink Lucky has assembled a list of 70+ “Must Eat” dishes at Portland area restaurants.
The list includes options like the Soup Dumplings at Empire, Ox Tail Cheese Fries at Yardie Ting, and Loaded Biscuit at Tandem. See the full list on the EDL website.
June 10-16 – Portland Wine Week is taking place.
June 17 – The 3rd Annual ChopTails Competition will be taking place at Batson River.
June 20 – Dandelion Spring Farm in Bowdoinham will be holding the first of their summer Taco Night series (taking place the 3rd Thursday of each month). See their event calendar for more details.
June 20-22 – The 40th Annual Greek Festival is taking place.
June 22 – The Great Falls Brewfest is taking place in Lewiston.
June 27 – Nina June in Rockport is hosting Naama Shefi for a multi-course prix-fixe dinner in celebration of Shefi’s new book The Jewish Holiday Table.
June 29 – The 3rd Annual Mast Landing Wavy Days Festival is taking place.
July 25/26 – The Kneading Conference is taking place in Skowhegan.
August 3/4 – The Maine Wild Blueberry Weekend is taking place.
August 30 – September 1 – The Maine Apple Camp is taking place.
September 8 – The Maine Cheese Festival is taking place in Pittsfield.
September 20-22 – The Common Ground Fair will be taking place.
October 13 – The 16th Annual Open Creamery Day is taking place.
The Maine Sunday Telegram has published a 4 star review of A&C Soda Shop.
Boozy milkshakes and floats lend the menu an adult appeal (although all of the ice cream-based treats can also be ordered without alcohol). So do the salads – a Delicata squash version through the cold months, and now that the weather has turned, an oozy, creamy burrata version with a superb charred-lemon vinaigrette. But here, just as at co-owner Joe Fournier’s other A&C (the grocery that closed in 2021), it’s all about sandwiches.
The Maine Sunday Telegram includes a feature article about Portland Wine Week and its focus on women sommeliers and winemakers.
Portland Wine Week celebrates local food, award-winning restaurants and the city’s diverse selection of quality wine in a weeklong series of brunches, lunches, dinners, tastings and “wine sails” on the 74-foot sailboat Frances.
This year, the week will feature at least 36 Women in Wine-themed sub-events – highlighting wines produced by female winemakers or talks by a woman wine professionals – the most female-centric content it’s offered to date.
Portland Wine Week is taking place June 10-16. You can learn more about Portland Wine Week and see the full schedule of events on portlandwineweek.me.
Welcome to the June 2024 edition of the Portland Food Map restaurant real estate listings sponsored by The Boulos Company—a commercial real estate brokerage that has helped Maine’s restauranteurs buy and lease restaurant spaces since 1975.
This resource gathers in one convenient place the spaces available in Portland (and a few in the surrounding area) that could be potential sites for restaurants and food producers and retailers to locate their next business. Finding the right spot is one of the crucial early challenges in launching a new business and hopefully this resource will make that step just a little bit easier.
West End/Parkside
867 Congress St – the 3,200 sq ft former church that had been slated to be a new home of Vena’s is for sale for $725,000.
Arts District
553 Congress St – the commercial kitchen in the former Five Fifty Five space (now leased by the Core Cannabis Museum) is available to a co-tenant for $2,000/month (MG).
554 Congress St – 1,621 sq ft former Dunkin’ Donuts space for $2,301/month (NNN).
594 Congress St – the 2,592 sq ft space in the Upper H. H. Hay Building formerly occupied by Starbucks is available for $28/sq ft (MG).
600 Congress St – for lease signs are in the window of the ground floor space at the corner of High and Congress. The Schwartz Building has been under renovation for a decade. For more info call (207) 773-7100.
Bayside/Inner Washington
73 Cove St – a 5,519 sq ft industrial space in East Bayside is listed for $35/sq ft; it’s expected to become available later this year.
52 Hanover St – On the first floor of a new building will be 1,500 – 4,500 sq ft retail space available for $30/sq ft (NNN). One spot in the building has earmarked for a coffee shop.
178 Kennebec St – 2,644 sq ft of space are available in a newly constructed Bayside building for $25/sq ft (NNN).
55 Washington Ave – this 7,815 sq ft space is in the Nissen Bakery building right in between Cong Tu Bot and Hardshore Distillery. It’s available for $13,708/month (NNN).
Old Port
1 Canal Plaza – 4,284 – 14,412 sq ft of ground floor retail space will be available as part of upcoming renovations; $30/sq ft (NNN).
15 Chestnut St – the building that was home to Grace restaurant is for sale. It includes the property, business assets and all FF&E. The restaurant seats 175 and features a large circular bar on the first floor of the former church. The building has 14,358 sq ft of space. It’s for sale for $2,985,000.
185 Commercial St – a new building under construction will include 2,334 sq ft of ground floor retail space that will be available in 2024 for $55/sq ft (NNN).
383 Commercial St – 1,193 – 4,805 square feet of space in a newly constructed building on Commercial Street is available for $28/sq ft (NNN).
201 Federal St – a2,300 sq ft space in the new 18-story Casco building is available for $40/sq ft (MG). The building owners are looking for someone who wants to open a market in that space.
420 Fore St – the space formerly occupied by the Old Port Slice Bar is for lease. The 2,600 sq ft space is available for $40/sq ft (MG).
442 Fore St – the former Venus and Mars cannabis shop is for lease; 2,400 sq ft at $55/sq ft (MG).
477 Fore St – the 1,134 sq ft space formerly occupied by B + B Bakery is available for $25-30/sq ft (MG).
40 Free St – a 1,511 sq ft space in the new building constructed by JB Brown is available for $27.50/sq ft (NNN).
28 Market St – the 850 sq ft space formerly occupied by Lucky Juju is available for lease for $2,250/month (MG).
55 Market St – this 3,700 sq ft space on Market Street was formerly occupied by the Big Easy. It’s available for $18/sq ft (NNN).
111 Middle St – the 1,622 sq ft former Cabana building is for lease for $3,500/month (NNN).
121 Middle St – a 2,482 sq ft retail spot is available for $45/sq ft (MG).
157 Middle St – 1,091 – 5,155 sq ft of retail space is available for $27.95/sq ft (MG).
184 Middle St – this newly renovated space becomes available in August. It includes 1,169 sq of first floor retail and 808 sq ft of basement storage space all for $75/sq ft (MG).
5 Milk St – this 2,199 sq ft former hair salon is available for $28/sq ft (NNN).
1 Monument Square – 1,500 sq ft of first floor space adjacent to Cera is available for $25/sq ft (MG).
28 Monument Square – a number of spots on the first and second floors of the Public Market House are available.
25 Pearl St – 1,689 sq ft former Subway space available for $30/sq ft (MG).
66 Pearl St – 5,796 sq ft of space—the former Bull Moose retail shop—is available for $15.75/sq ft (MG).
24 Preble St – the original Arcadia space is available. The 2,835 sq ft storefront near Dutch’s and Slab is listed for $20/sq ft (NNN).
3 Spring St – the space formerly occupied by Stage Cannabis is for lease; 2,000 sq ft for $15.50/sq ft (NNN).
144 State St – 2 retail spaces are available in the former Mercy Hospital building on State Street. The 1,100 and 2,477 sq ft spaces are available for $20-24/sq ft (MG). Chocolate Passions occupies the 3rd commercial space in this new development.
53 Wharf St –a 1,600 sq ft space on the corner of Wharf and Union Streets is available for $30/sq ft (MG).
India Street Area
144 Fore St – the former VA building is near the Portland Foreside development and adjacent to several new office buildings off Thames Street. It has 1,560 – 10,620 sq ft of space available for $22-29/sq ft (NNN).
Outer Forest Ave
503 – 509 Forest Ave – the exterior of this building is slated to be restored to its historic design. It has 1,268 – 6,313 sq ft of space available for $10-15/sq ft (NNN).
701 Forest Ave – 3,147 – 6,405 sq ft of space in a former Walgreens building is available for $16/sq ft (NNN). The building has its own parking lot.
Deering
164 Veranda St – the 1,000 sq ft former location of Other Side Deli is available for $2,500/month (Gross).
550 Washington Ave – 2,000 – 2,400 sq ft of the former Botto’s bakery is available to lease for $18/sq ft (NNN).
Elsewhere in Portland
1339 Washington Ave – the 4,150 sq ft former Parker’s Restaurant building in North Deering is for sale for $1,750,000.
Northgate Shopping Center – 2,000 to 3,500 sq ft of space is available.
Westgate Shopping Center – three spaces are for lease 1,400, 3,800 and 5,000 sq ft. The lease rates are negotiable and the property owner has a strong interest in finding a restaurant tenant for the shopping plaza.
Other Spaces – some vacated restaurant spaces haven’t yet been formerly listed for by the owner. Check the closing announcements for the latest information.
Outside of Portland
Trudy Birds, North Yarmouth – The business, land and both building are for sale for $1,825,000.
358 Main St, Yarmouth – the building that had housed a collection of gluten-free baking businesses is for sale for $499,000.
Ferry Village – The building that’s been home to the Knitting Nook will be available starting on June 15th. 500 -1,200 sq ft at $2,000 (MG).
188 Lincoln St, Lewiston – this 2,371 – 5,554 sq ft former fire station has been renovated for use as a retail/restaurant space. It’s listed at $5-14/sq ft (NNN).
Fuzzy Udder Creamery, Whitefield – the business and property are for sale for $595,000.
60 Mile Rd, Wells – an 8,684 sq ft turnkey restaurant in Wells is for sale for $2,150,000.
Glossary
MG – Modified Gross which indicates that the operating expenses (taxes, insurance, maintenance, etc.) for the property are included in the lease rate. The tenant would pay its own utilities, which sometimes includes heat.
NNN – Triple Net which indicates that operating expenses are not included in the lease rate, and the tenant will pay them separately. They are often referred to as CAM (Common Area Maintenance) charges and taxes, which are expressed as $/sf. The tenant is also responsible for utilities.
Gross – Gross indicates all expenses including utilities are included in the lease rate. The tenant would be responsible for phone and internet access, as well as interior janitorial.
The June/July issue of Bon Appetit includes an article about lobster rolls in the Portland area.
It doesn’t get more Maine than a lobster roll. And Portland, a maritime hub and center of the state’s dining scene, is where you’ll find the highest concentration of excellence. Whether you grab-and-go from a no-frills food truck or sit down at a fancy restaurant on the waterfront, enjoying a lobster roll (or two while you’re here is a must-have experience.
The article features the lobster rolls or roll-adjacent dishes at High Roller, Two Lights, Twelve, J’s Oyster, Eventide, Bite Into Maine, Regards and SoPo Seafood.
The article isn’t available on their website yet.
Broken Arrow (website, facebook, instagram) has gone out of business. The brief post on instagram and facebook reads,
It’s been fun and very hard. Grateful for the memories made and the friends. This journey is at the end.
With gratitude, goodnight Portland one last time.
Lyle and Holly Aker opened Broken Arrow on October 29, 2020. The restaurant received a 4 star review from the Maine Sunday Telegram in 2022. A sale of the restaurant is pending.
Update: See the article from the Press Herald for additional reporting on the closure of Broken Arrow.
The Portland Food Map archive provides a chronicle of the past 16+ years of the Portland restaurant scene. While a lot of the reporting here is about what’s happening now and coming next, we thought it would be fun to take a look back at what the hot topics were from 5, 10 and 15 years ago.
Here’s are highlights from May 2009, 2014 and 2019:
The 2024 Portland Wine Week (website, facebook, instagram) is taking place June 10 – 16 at various locations across the city. There are 50+ events and weeklong offerings on the calendar—be sure to check out the events in the Women in Wine track which are marked with an icon in the schedule at the bottom of this article.
Listed here are some of the highlights, see below or visit the Portland Wine Week site to see the full list of events.
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Angoor Wine Bar (website, instagram) is set to open today at 3 pm. They’re located 100 Fore Street in a newly designed space in the same building as WEX and the Roux Institute. Angoor is being launched by Sangeeta Nasiff and Rafael Dones.
Angoor is a self pour wine bar. The wine list (see below) includes a wide range of options for customers to choose from. Once you’ve made a selection you can just walk up to one of the machines, and have it dispense a 2, 4 or 6 ounce pour. A personal ID card is issued to customers when they arrive which is used to digitally keep track and to assemble the final bill.
Angoor also has some food options. Shown above is a cheese and meat board which can customized by selecting from 7 cheeses, 4 meats and a few other items like gluten-free crackers, mixed nuts and marinated olives. The menu also offers empanadas, samosas, and desserts from Sugarcane and Two Fat Cats.
The stylish modern space offers bar, table and counter seating as well as a lounge area with upholstered chairs and sofas for a larger group to sit together.
Angoor’s hours are Wednesday/Thursday 3 – 9 pm, Friday 3 – 10 pm, Saturday noon – 10 pm, and Sunday noon – 7 pm.
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