Chocolats Passion Expanding

| Posted in Under Construction

Chocolats Passion (website, facebook, instagram) has leased a larger space for their West End chocolate shop. The new Chocolats Passion will be located at 144 State Street in the former Mercy Hospital building. The building is being completely renovated and has three retail spaces on the first floor, 171 apartments in the upper floors and a patio at the corner of Spring and Winter Streets (above).

Owner Catherine Wiersema, lead chocolatier Sarah Levine and their team are looking to have the 1100 sq ft space ready for a late October move. The 2x increase in space for Chocolats Passion will enable them to grow their team and significantly increase production of their excellent award-winning chocolates.

Hours for the shop will likely remain the same, Wednesday through Sunday, 1 – 6 pm. Catherine Wiersema opened Chocolats Passion at 189 Brackett Street in 2018.

To get caught up on all the new restaurants, bars and other hospitality businesses in development visit our Under Construction List.

Modestman Brewing in SoPo

| Posted in Under Construction

New Hampshire-based brewery Modestman Brewing is opening a Maine location in South Portland. Modestman (instagram) has leased the Fore River Brewing tasting room on Huntress Ave. They’ll be making some renovations and hope to be open in early summer.

Owner Ash Sheehan lives on Peaks and is originally from Wells. He’s excited to open an outpost of his brewery in his home state. Sheehan plans to do some brewing onsite. The tasting room will serve food and, in addition to Modestman beer, will also offer wine and spirits.

To get caught up on all the new restaurants, bars and other hospitality businesses in development visit our Under Construction List.

Closing Season

| Posted in Closings

We’re always excited to report on new places under development. However at the other end of the small business lifecycle—for a variety of reasons—businesses do eventually close. Here’s news of four spots closing in the greater Portland area:

Bruce’s Burrito’s in Yarmouth has closed and the owners are “searching for the right person” to buy the restaurant and re-open it. For more information read this article in the Press Herald.

The Old Port Pat’s Pizza has announced they’re closing after a final service this Sunday. For more information read this article in the Press Herald.

Louie’s Grill in Yarmouth is closing on April 14th after 10 years in business. The owner is retiring and it sounds like has found a buyer for the restaurant—no details on that just yet. For more information read this article in The Forecaster.

Captain Sam’s has closed their ice cream shop on Commercial Street. The owners are “moving to other businesses.”

The End at 229 Congress Street

| Posted in Under Construction

A new bar called The End (instagram) is under development at 229 Congress Street in the space formerly occupied by Saint Joe’s Restobar.

Johnny Althoff, Andrew Roseman, Celeste Parke, and Benbazi plan to open a friendly neighborhood bar for the Munjoy Hill and Washington Ave communities serving classic cocktails along with canned beer and whiskey. The draft food menu includes snack mix, an open face cheese melt, veggie chili and a rotating cupcake special.

The bar’s name is a nod to being located across the street from the Eastern Cemetery. When it launches—hopefully sometime in May—The End will be open 4 pm to Midnight, Wednesday through Sunday.

To get caught up on all the new restaurants, bars and other hospitality businesses in development visit our Under Construction List.

Freedom’s Edge Cider Co.

| Posted in Under Construction

Freedom’s Edge Cider (website, facebook, instagram) has leased space at 31 Diamond Street in East Bayside where they plan to open a tasting room for their Albion-based cidery. Co-owners Andrew Kaplan and Ned Ervin hope to build out the 3,288 sq ft space in time for a summer launch.

There will be a 50+ seat tasting room with an additional 20 outdoor seats in the summer, and a big part of the Diamond Street location will be used for barrel aging and bottle conditioning of their limited release ciders. Kaplan and Ervin are planning to expand their barrel-aged premium cider offerings with the launch of their Portland location.

Freedom’s Edge currently produces 5 varieties of cider: original blend, redfield rose, sweet mull-et, 3 o’clock twilight, and freedom’s edge gold. For more information on Freedom’s Edge read this 2020 article in the Waterville Sentinel.

Freedom’s Edge will be joining three other existing cider producers in East Bayside: Apres, Urban Farm Fermentory, and Blue Lobster Urban Winery. For a complete list of Maine cideries see our Guide to Maine Cider.

An Update on Vertical Harvest

| Posted in Under Construction

If you’ve driven through Westbrook recently, you can’t help but have noticed that construction of Vertical Harvest (website, facebook, instagram, twitter) is underway. The project was announced back in 2020, construction began in 2022 and the urban farm will harvest its first crops in early next year.

We recently had the chance to join a tour and see the building with co-founder Caroline Estay to hear how plans for Westbrook and VH overall are progressing. It’s an impressive building and an even more impressive initiative. When it goes online in 2024 the 70,000 square foot indoor farm will produce more than 2,000,000 pounds of lettuces and greens a year.

Vertical Harvest is currently accepting general applications via their website and plans to employ a team of 40 – 50 FTEs to operate the greenhouse when they open next year. Co-founders Nona Yehia and Caroline Estay will fill about half of those positions with people who have intellectual and physical disabilities. Their goal is to help people that often encounter barriers to meaningful work, have increased opportunity for economic independence. For more on VH and their employees watch the documentary Hearts of Glass.

The lettuces and microgreens VH grows will be sold through distributors like Native Maine and Sodexo as well as at Hannaford and to hospitals, corporate cafeterias, and schools across the state. There may also be a Vertical Harvest retail shop in Westbrook.

The original Vertical Harvest building was built in Jackson Hole and served as a proof of concept for the technology, employment and business model. Vertical Harvest Westbrook is the first full scale location, and the blueprint moving forward. They plan to build 15 more urban farms across the country over the next 5 years.

Photos: a view of the construction site from across William Clarke Drive (above), a view of the 3rd floor, co-founder Caroline Estay leading a tour of the ground floor produce processing area, 2nd floor front-facing windows, a view of downtown Westbrook from the greenhouse, the front corner where the plant elevator will be located, another view of the 2nd floor of the building where produce will be grown.

Upcoming Events

| Posted in Events

Tuesday – Roma is holding a Central Italian wine dinner.

Sunday – it’s the grand opening of Bread and Friends (instagram).

April 10 – FAME is holding a financial wellness program at Apres for people in the hospitality industry.

April 12 – Evo is serving a 5-course Italian wine dinner.

April 13 – Room for Improvement (instagram) will be opening.

April 16 – Turamali will be serving two seatings of an 8-course Mexican dinner at the Knotted Apron.

April 17 – there will be a meeting of the Portland Restaurant Sustainability Council.

April 18 – Avery Yale Kamila will be giving a talk on the 300 year history of vegetarianism in Maine in Buxton.

April 20 – The April Fun With Ferments meet-up is taking place at Mast Landing.

April 20-22 – chef Johnny Spero from the Michelin-starred Reverie in Washington DC will be serving a 9-course dinner at Hugo’s.

April 21 – The Good Food Awards will take place, there are 12 finalists from Maine in the running this year.

April 21-30 –Maine Seaweed Week is taking place; visit seaweedweek.org for information on related events and participating restaurants.

April 21 – the Thirsty Pig is hosting a Sand Hill Bagel pop-up.

April 30 – the Casco Bay chapter of the American Culinary Foundation is holding their annual gala.

May 1 – Scratch Baking is teaching a bagel baking class, and the Garden Bar (instagram) is scheduled to open in Biddeford.

May 20 – Maine Wild Wine Fest is taking place in Freeport.

June 5 – the James Beard Awards ceremony will take place. Nezinscot Farm will receive an American Classics award and The Quarry in Monson will learn if they have won in the Outstanding Hospitality category.

June 12-18 – Portland Wine Week is taking place with events at restaurants all over the Portland area.

July 23 – Open Farm Day.

August 23 – an Outstanding in the Field dinner is taking place at Dandelion Spring Farm. Tickets go on sale March 20th.

September 10 – Maine Cheese Festival.

October 8 – Maine Open Creamery Day.

Restaurant Real Estate: April 2023

| Posted in Under Construction, Real Estate

Welcome to the April 2023 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 monthly column 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

2 Pine St – the former Treasure Chest space in Longfellow Square is for lease. Call (207) 773-7100 for more details.

64 Pine St – The former Aurora Provisions space is for lease. The 4,629 sq ft is listed at $4,950/month (NNN).

156 State St – 1,250 – 7,550 sq ft of space on the first floor of the Portland Club is available for $13.50 – 24/sq ft (NNN).

235 Vaughan St – the 700 sq ft space most recently occupied by Other Side Deli and which had been the longtime home of Vaughan Street Variety is for lease. Call (207) 650-0846 for more information.

Arts District

549 Congress St – the 1,397 sq ft space currently occupied by the Portland Downtown offices is available to lease for $3,200/month (NNN).

554 Congress St – 1,621 sq ft former Dunkin’ Donuts space with hood for $2,301/month (NNN).

582 Congress St – the longtime home of Harmon’s Floral Company will be available for lease starting in May. The 1,550 sq ft space is for lease for $5,850/month (NNN).

25 Forest Ave – Portland Stage is looking for a restaurant partner to co-develop a 2,700 sq ft restaurant space in their Forest Ave building; $19.50/sq ft (MG).

44 Oak St – 4,347 sq ft of space in a beautiful historic building at the corner of Oak and Free Streets is available for $20/sq ft (NNN).

Bayside

75 Chestnut St – a 2,100 sq ft ground floor retail space under construction in Bayside is for sale for $649,999.

73 Cove St – a 5,519 industrial space in East Bayside is listed for $35/sq ft; it’s expected to become available in 2024.

46 Elm St – this 385 sq ft corner space in the parking garage at the corner of Elm Street and Cumberland Ave. It’s available for $13/sq ft (MG).

52 Hanover St – a new building set to open in April 2023. On the first floor will be 1,500 – 4,500 sq ft retail space available for $30/sq ft (NNN).

65 Hanover St – 1,800 sq ft of space is available for $20/sq ft (NNN).

82 Hanover St – the 3,067 sq ft former Yard space in Bayside is available for $30/sq ft (NNN); the sale includes all FF&E inventory.

178 Kennebec St – 2,644 sq ft of space are available in a newly constructed Bayside building for $25/sq ft (NNN).

34 Portland St – the 3,400 sq ft building that was formerly occupied by Candy’s is for sale for $649,000.

Old Port

1 Canal Plaza – 3,605 – 7,757 sq ft of ground floor retail space will be available as part of upcoming renovations; $30/sq ft (NNN).

1 Commercial St – the original location of Benkay at the corner of Commercial and India Streets is undergoing renovations and is expected to be available in 2023. The 900-2,950 sq ft is for lease at $35/sq ft (NNN).

185 Commercial St – a new building under construction will include 2,229 sq ft of ground floor retail space that will be available in 2024; $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).

215 Commercial St – 2,189 sq ft of retail space near the corner of Commercial and Dana Streets is available for $65/sq ft (MG).

441 Congress St – the 2,400 sq ft former Guitar Grave retail space is available for $15/sq ft (MG).

43 Exchange St – the 1,717 sq ft space occupied by Peruvian Link is for lease for $60/sq ft (MG). It’s located midway down lower Exchange Street.

201 Federal St – 2 retail spaces will be available in the new 18-story building under construction at the corner of Temple and Federal Streets. The 527 and 2,300 sq ft spaces are listed at $40/sq ft (MG).

368 Fore St – the former 5,458 sq ft Old Port Tavern is available for $32/sq ft (NNN).

40 Free St – the new building constructed by JB Brown has four storefronts ranging in size from 1,473 to 3,024 sq ft for $27.50/sq ft (NNN).

30 Market St – the Old Port location of Pat’s Pizza is available to lease; 5,116 sq ft for $25/sq ft (NNN).

55 Market St – this 3,700 sq ft space on Market Street was formerly occupied by the Big Easy. It’s available for $24/sq ft (NNN).

157 Middle St – 1,091 – 5,155 sq ft of retail space is available for $27 – 29.95/sq ft (MG).

176 Middle St – the former Starbucks store at the crossroads of the Old Port at the intersection of Middle and Exchange Streets is for lease. The 1,675 sq ft space is for lease for $75 (MG).

1 Monument Square – 1,500 sq ft of first floor space adjacent to Cera is available for $3,125/month (MG).

28 Monument Square – two spots are available in the Public Market House. A space on the 2nd floor (143 sq ft with a base rent of $1,185 + utilities and CAM charges—call  413-636-9688 for details) and a 400 sq ft space on the first floor available for $2,250/month (NNN).

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).

144 State St – 3 retail spaces will be available in the development in the former Mercy Hospital building on State Street. The 1,100, 1100 and 2,566 spaces are available for $26/sq ft (MG).

15 Temple St – the 2,086 sq ft space formerly occupied by Bubble Maineia is available for $26/sq ft (MG).

110 Thames St – two spots (2,700 and 3,200 sq ft) are now available in the newly constructed building in the Portland Foreside development. Both are listed at $35/sq ft (NNN).

42 Wharf St – this 3,770 sq ft space in the Old Port includes a 2,000 sq ft patio, $45/sq ft (MG).

India Street

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 1,537 – 21,911 sq ft of space available for $24-29/sq ft (NNN).

47 India St – 1,000 sq ft of the former Lois’ Market building is for lease, $3,333/month (NNN).

Forest Ave

369 Forest Ave – a 5,040 sq ft building on Forest Ave is available for $14.50/sq ft (MG).

500 Forest Ave – the 900 sq ft space formerly occupied by Starbird is for lease for $1,800/month (MG).

671-675 Forest Ave – a retail building in the center of Woodfords Corner is for sale for $675,000.

701 Forest Ave – 3,147 – 6,405 with parking available for $18/sq ft (NNN).

1871 Forest Ave – the former Tortilla Flat building is for sale for $3,100,000.

Deering Center

476 Stevens Ave – the Elsmere BBQ building in Deering Center is for sale for $1,450,000; the sale includes all FF&E inventory.

502 Stevens Ave – a 516 sq ft space is available in Deering Center; $27/sq ft (NNN) available July 1.

Elsewhere in Portland

1091 Congress St – the former Denny’s building and parking lot are available to lease; 4,901 sq ft at $25.50/sq ft (NNN).

1339 Washington Ave – the 4,068 sq ft former Parker’s Restaurant building in North Deering is for lease ($9-11k/month) or for sale ($2,295,000).

Northgate Shopping Center – 2,200 to 5,700 sq ft of space is available.

Westgate Shopping Center – four spaces are for lease at $18-40/sq ft (NNN).

Sammy’s Scoops – the Woodfords Corner ice cream shop is for sale. Call John Medici at (207) 400-7140 for more information.

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

Bath – the former  home of Salt Pine Social is available. The 3,535 sq ft building is available for $23/sq ft (NNN).

Biscuits & Co, Biddeford – Biscuits & Co closed on October 16th and the business and equipment is for sale. Contact Biscuitsandcompany@gmail.com for more information.

18 Ocean St, South Portland – the 4,351 sq ft former Snow Squall is for lease for $12/sq ft (NNN).

372 Cottage Rd, South Portland – the former Omi’s Coffee Shop is available for lease. Call Jennifer Davies at (207) 650-9944 for more information.

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.

Cong Tu Bot Unionized

| Posted in General News, People

The Press Herald has a report on the newly formed union at Cong Tu Bot.

Employees at Portland’s Cong Tu Bot restaurant voted to unionize this week, making it the state’s first independent unionized restaurant in more than 40 years.

Workers and union officials hope others will follow suit.

Cong Tu Bot’s 21 employees voted unanimously to join UNITE HERE, a union that represents 300,000 workers in the hotel, food service, gaming, manufacturing, textile, distribution, laundry, transportation and airport industries.

Fire at Brea Lu Construction Site

| Posted in General News

A fire broke out last night in Westbrook at the construction site for the new Brea Lu Cafe (website, facebook, instagram) . The fire centered in the back right part of the building which will likely need to be replaced or removed, and it destroyed the newly delivered hood and walk-in.

Owner Christian DeLuca has been in the process of building out a new larger cafe at the 511 Main Street site. The cafe was originally located in Portland and moved to Westbrook after a fire damaged the building they were in on Forest Ave.