According to the Westbrook Diarist, two of Freaky Bean’s locations have closed. Both the store in the Cabela’s mall, and the store on Main Street in Westbrook (which houses their roasting operation) were closed “due to ‘unforeseen circumstances'”. This comes just a few months after Maine Roasters Coffee demerged from Freaky Bean and resumed operation as a separate business.
The Bollard has also published a report on the closings at Freaky Bean and confirms that the location in South Portland and Scarborough are still open.
The Grill Room Review
The Portsmouth Herald has reviewed The Grill Room.
The Grill Room is comfort writ large. Great steaks and specialty dishes, inventive sauces, sides like grandma used to make but you know, your hip grandma, and all in a warm, inviting space that soothes.
Walter's Review
Down East has reviewed Walter’s.
Walter’s seafood-heavy menu hopscotches across cuisines, sometimes within one dish. The grilled fish tacos, for example, consist of haddock over shredded greens, with cheddar and pico de gallo — as well as a sriracha mango tartar sauce and a Fuji apple and jicama slaw. That’s a lot of flavor for one dish.
Coffee Shop Burglaries
According to a report from the Portland Daily Sun, “A Portland man is charged with burglarizing one Coffee by Design store and attempting to break into another one early Wednesday”.
Pizza Villa Interview
Co-owner of Pizza Villa, Tony Regios, was interviewed for the ShopTalk column in today’s Press Herald. Regios along with his brothers Andy and Phil run the business that was started by their father.
Jan Mee Review
Jan Mee received 3 stars from this week’s Eat & Run column in today’s Press Herald.
If done right, a buffet lunch should be both quick and filling. The buffet lunch at Jan Mee Chinese Restaurant in Portland fits that bill. And at $6.75, it’s relatively inexpensive.
Ri-Ra Review
The Portland Bar Guide has reviewed Ri-Ra.
Unless you’ve visited the Ri Ra website you probably didn’t know the bar is a chain with others in Arlington VA, Charlotte NC, Atlantic City, NJ, Evansville, IN, Bethesda, MD, Burlington, VT, Providence, RI and Louisville, KY. Usually, I’m turned off by chain establishments, but Ri Ra has got a killer Happy Hour and I’ve had nothing less than a memorable time when I’ve visited.
Happy Teriyaki Review
The Portland Phoenix has reviewed Happy Teriyaki.
Like Korea itself, Happy Teriyaki has challenges to overcome. The name is misleading. They are burdened by the thin carpet and hulking beverage cooler that plague so many Asian restaurants here in Portland. The Chinese section of the menu, if the Mongolian shrimp is an indication, is not particularly strong. But its other strengths make it worth visiting.
RestaurantWeekME
The Food & Health section in today’s Press Herald has a feature article on next week’s RestaurantWeekME. Author Meredith Goad has ferreted out where some of the better values are among the prix fixe menus and produced a Google map of participating restaurants statewide.
Chef et al Review
Chef et al received 4 stars in a review from Chris2fer.
I don’t even have the words to describe my sandwich. You know if you are cooking something with cheese in it, and the cheese touches the pan, and gets all crispy and tangy and splendid? Yeah – that was what they did to my sandwich, but it was all throughout. The bread was crusty and crispy and light brown, grilled with just enough butter to be delicious, but not too much to be oily. The turkey was filled with briny flavor and the bacon was thick and crunchy. There was an apple and cranberry chutney that married seamlessly with a maple aioli. It was one of the best sandwiches I have ever had. Peerless.