there was a fire at the Otto’s Pizza at 576 Congress on Sunday,
Sprinklers in the three-story building, which also houses Otto’s administrative offices on the upper floors, turned on and kept the fire from spreading. However, the water damage caused by the sprinklers was widespread and forced the business to close Sunday, Walsh said.
The Portland Press Herald has reviewed Noble Barbecue,
I’ve waited and waited for the day when Portlanders would finally get to experience truly excellent pulled pork. Now I think I’ve finally found it. This is no slap in the face to other places around town that put out perfectly fine pulled pork. But the pork at Noble Barbecue, the new restaurant on outer Forest Avenue, is on a whole other level. It’s tender and incredibly juicy. It’s aggressively smoky. And there is plenty of bark.
the Portland Press Herald has published a bar review of Little Giant, and
Little Giant is looking to be the West End’s one-stop shop for good food, great drinks and carefully curated sundries. The newly opened restaurant component will be sure to add a little hipness to the Danforth Street lineup.
Peter Peter Portland Eater has reviewed the Roma Cafe.
I think Roma will stand with the big boys in the Italian food scene here in Portland. They are a little more on the traditional side than some, but their classic food is strong. Their atmosphere is warm, service friendly, and they offer a pretty comprehensive selection of traditional favorites. I’m confident they’ll be a very welcome addition to the food scene in this city.
Wall Street Journal editor Polya Lesova has written about here eating trip to Maine for The Australian.
She mentions: The Holy Donut, Eventide, The Lobster Shack, Long Grain, Suzuki and The Lost Kitchen, Vena’s Fizz House, Young’s Lobster Pound, Beal’s Lobster Pier and MDI Ice Cream.
I wake up hungry. Fortunately, I am in a town that is able to satiate a big appetite. My husband Paul and I have flown to Portland, Maine, from New York late the previous night for a five-day road trip up the coast. We want to savour the state’s spring beauty, hike some seaside trails, dip our toes in the still-icy Atlantic. But mostly we plan to eat.
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.
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Otto Pizza is one of 12 Maine companies on Inc. magazine’s list of the 5000 fastest growing companies.
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:
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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.
The Portland Phoenix has published their annual cheap eats guide.