Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram has an interesting article on the traditional crops grown by Maine’s Native Americans.
The seeds being grown at Motahkokmikuk include heirloom varieties of corn, beans and squash – the well-known Three Sisters, which are traditionally planted together in mounds. In addition, tribe members are growing ancestral sunflowers, sunchokes and ground cherries, which together with gourds used as vessels, form the culturally significant Seven Sisters.
The Bangor Daily News reports that Rockin’ Ricky’s is planning to close in late December.
A few minutes after its 11 a.m. opening time on Thursday, nearly half-a-dozen patrons sat at the bar, sipping yellow beer from plastic cups. All of them had heard the news and none were enthused.
“I’m not too happy about it,” Mary Bonnevie said.
The announcement was released by Rockin’ Ricky’s on their Facebook page last night.
A & C Grocery launches their new After Dark dinner service tonight and will be in operation Thursday through Saturday each week starting at 6 pm. A & C Grocery is located at 131 Washington Ave.
Here’s a look at the menu (photos) from Joe Fournier and chef Ben Slattery:
Joe Appel has written an article for the New York Times Magazine about Terry Theise wine catalogs and how the “[e]uphoric, adjectival Romanticism” language Theise employs “got me to start wondering how this behavior — my “taste” — came into being and why it acts the way it does.”
Appel was the longtime wine seller for Rosemont, a former Press Herald wine columnist. His bio line for this article states that he is now a “writer and winemaker living in Portland, Maine”. I expect any wine he produces will have more than a bit of that “[e]uphoric, adjectival Romanticism” of a Theise catalog. I can hardly wait.
Welcome to the November edition of the PFM restaurant and food retail commercial real estate listings. This monthly column gathers in one convenient place spaces available in Portland that could be potential sites for restaurants and food producers/retailers to locate their next business. Finding just the right spot is one of the crucial early challenges in launching a new restaurant, bar, bakery, coffee shop or food retail business and hopefully this new resource will make it a little bit easier.
The listings are organized by neighborhood, and contains square footage, cost, location, background info on prior usage, whether for lease or sale, and a link to the full listing online where you can see all the details. Storefronts that were formerly a restaurant are indicated in the description and those likely already have a hood and grease traps.
Listings that are new or have been updated since last month are flagged with an red asterisks (*).
Feel free to post a comment below or email me at anestes@portlandfoodmap.com if you know of a good one that may have been overlooked.
West End
*762 Congress St – this 1,000 sq ft space on the corner of Neal St is available for $22/sq ft.
785 Congress St – a renovated 1,378 sq ft space near Bramhall Square is available for lease at $17.42 per sq ft (MG). It’s located on the same side of the street as Roma Cafe, Quiero and Flood’s. As a West End resident myself I’d love to see a business open in this long vacant space.
953 Congress St – the former Rosanna’s at the corner of Saint John and Congress Streets has remained vacant since the ice cream shop closed at the end of February. My understanding is that Dogfish Bar and Grille owner Ted Arcand is the owner of the building.
101 York St – a 15,000 sq ft sub-dividable space in the new building on the corner of York and High Street is available for $20/sq ft (NNN). The space already has a hood vent and grease traps installed.
Arts District
11 Brown St – the BRGR Bar location on Brown Street is for lease. The 4,321 turnkey restaurant space is available for $26/sq ft (NNN).
114 Center St –this 10,000 sq ft space off Free Street is for lease at $8-25/sq ft (MG).
480 Congress St – 3,513 – 7,213 sq ft space available for $26/sq ft (NNN).
645 Congress St – a 1,200 sq ft former market space is available for $2,500/month (MG).
649 Congress St – This is the former Local Sprouts location. Local Sprouts went out of business in late June. The 3,000 sq ft space is available for $18/sq ft (NNN).
Bayside
148 Anderson St – this 9,600 sq ft building in East Bayside is located next to Tandem Coffee. The building is divisible with spaces between 2,000 – 9,600 sq ft available for $15-18/sq ft (NNN). The building has a drive-in door and comes with 15-20 parking spaces.
105 Fox St – A 1,950 sq ft space immediately adjacent to Rising Tide is available for $19-21/sq ft (NNN).
195 Lancaster St – this 3,008 sq ft building is located at the intersection of Lancaster and Elm Streets. It is available for $18/sq ft (NNN).
Old Port
1 Commercial St – the original location of Benkay at the corner of Commercial and India Streets is available. The 2,494 sq ft is for lease at $35/sq ft (NNN).
5 Commercial St – the former Rosemont Market at the corner of Commercial and India Streets is available. The 1,914 sq ft is for lease at $35/sq ft (NNN).
266 Commercial St – 6,689 sq ft of new construction retail space will be available for $20-22/sq ft (NNN).
383 Commercial St – 4 street retail spaces will be available (1,631 – 1,971 sq ft) in a new building under construction at the corner of Maple and Commercial Streets.
400 Commercial St – owner Chris DiMillo plans to renovate the first floor of this building into a restaurant space for lease.
425 Fore St – This is the current address of the Maine Lobster Shack. The 1,548 sq ft turnkey restaurant space is available to lease for $44.92/sq ft (MG).
*17 Free St – this Subterranean space is located in the same building as Sur Lie. The 2,495 sq ft are available for $13/sq ft (NNN).
75 Market/157 Middle St – Portland Trading Company has moved around the corner to 83 Market Street which will free up their 2,025 sq ft space for $27.95/sq ft (MG). It’s one of 4 spaces available at this address. In total there’s 1,071 – 6,356 sq ft for lease.
15 Middle St – a 954 sq ft retail space on the first floor of one of the new buildings off of India Street for $27/sq ft (NNN).
1 Monument Square – The owners of 1 Monument Square have a large first floor space available for a restaurant. 4,385 sq ft for lease at $25/sq ft (NNN). You can see some artist sketches of what a restaurant in this spot could look like in the full listing.
15 Monument Square –Others went out of business on September 25th. The 900 sq ft space is available for $3,800/month (MG).
2 Portland Square – Walter’s closed May 31st and is for sale. The business and equipment are listed for $250k or just the furniture, fixtures and equipment are available for $175k. The current lease which runs through March 2020 is $24.98/sq ft (NNN).
India Street
100 Fore St – 2 spaces are available in a new building planned for Fore Street. 1,245 and 2,056 sq ft respectively, $27 – 30/sq ft (NNN).
Forest Ave
449 Forest Ave – a 5,923 sq ft space is available in the Forest Ave Plaza across the street from Rose Foods. It’s listed at $21/sq ft (NNN).
509 Forest Ave – 6,000 sq ft of space near Bow Street Beverage is available for $12.75/sf ft (MG).
949 Forest Ave – the former Maelily Ryleigh’s is for lease. The 4,185 sq ft restaurant is available at $19/sq ft (NNN).
1053 Forest Ave – the former Papa John’s on Forest Ave is available, 1,200 sq ft at $18/sq ft (NNN).
1569 Forest Ave – a former gas station on outer Forest Ave is available for $1-99/sq ft (NNN). The building is $1,352 sq ft in size.
Other
170 Brighton Ave – the former 7-11 building at the corner of Brighton and Saint John Street is for sale for $550,000. The building is 2,173 sq ft in size and comes with onsite parking spaces.
559 Brighton Ave – with Rosemont Market centralizing their kitchen, warehouse and office space in one building the retail space in their original building on Brighton is now available for lease, 3,648 sq ft at $12/sq ft (NNN).
90 Congress St – Lolita went out of business on September 2nd. The fixtures are for sale for $275,000 and the lease for 30-seat 877 sq ft restaurant is $2,700 (NNN).
431 Congress St – the Mainely Wraps on Congress Street closed earlier this year. The 1,800 sq ft space is now available for $18/sq ft (MG).
280 Saint John St – 3 spaces are available in the Union Station Plaza. The 4,400, 2,600 and 4,004 sq ft spaces are available for $8/sq ft (NNN), $12/sq ft (NNN) and $14/sq ft (NNN) respectively.
75 Washington Ave – a 1,925 sq ft space in the Nissen Bakery building which is also home to Cong Tu Bot, Drifters/Maine & Loire, Maine Mead Works, Oxbow Brewing and Hardshore Distilling. $18/sq ft (NNN). A hood can’t be installed at this address but it can serve as a food retail space.
1041 Washington Ave – years ago this building was the home of Allspeed Cycling. The 1,800 sq ft space is now available for lease at $12/sq ft (NNN).
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.
Monday – Anoche (website, instagram) opens today at 4 pm. Last Call author Brad Thomas Parsons will be at the Portland Hunt and Alpine Club for a book signing and cocktail party.
Wednesday – Evo is serving a 3-course Austrian inspired menu paired with Von Trapp Beers for $50, and the Monument Square Farmers’ Market is taking place.
Saturday – the Deering Oaks Farmers’ Market is taking place.
For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.
If you are holding a food event this week that’s not listed above, publicize it by adding it as a comment to this post.
The Maine Sunday Telegram has reviewed Quiero Cafe.
If you visit, start with a pulled-pork-and-fried-plantain Puerco empanada and move on to aioli-topped yucca fries and either a toasty, chorizo-stuffed choripan sandwich or the uncompromisingly indulgent Colombiano hot dog, loaded with mayo, pineapple salsa and crushed potato chips. Skip dessert, but don’t miss one of the smoothies or milkshake-style juices, especially the bracing lulo, blended with whole milk into an icy, Creamsicle-like treat.
A new restaurant called The Knotted Apron (instagram) is slated for the storefront at 496 Woodford Street which was formerly occupied by JP’s Bistro.
Chef/owner Ryan Hickman (instagram) has most recently been on staff at the Chebeague Island Inn, and prior to that he helped launch the Pine Point Grille. Hickman worked at Arrows and the Back Bay Grill earlier in his career.
Hickman hopes to open The Knotted Apron early next year. The restaurant will serve dinner Thursday through Sunday, and brunch on Saturdays and Sundays.
Here’s a look at the draft menu:
