The new Cambodian-Chinese restaurant Oun Lido’s (website, instagram, online ordering) is opening for business on Thursday, May 9th. The restaurant is being launched by Vien Dobui and chef Bounahcree Kim from Cong Tu Bot. Oun Lido’s is located at 30 Market Street in the space that was formerly home to Pat’s Pizza. Kim and Dobui are initially launching the restaurant for take-out (Tuesday through Sunday, 11 am – 8 pm) while they continue to renovate the 2nd floor dining room. Seating, table service and a bar program will launch this fall. The draft menu (see below) generally refl ..read more

The Garden, a new 58-seat restaurant at Bissell Brothers on Thompson’s Point, is set to launch this Saturday, May 11th. This second restaurant at the brewery is located in the adjacent room that has previously been the Rosemont Market wine bar. Chef David Rinaldi will be serving a pan-Adriatic menu (see below) which will include dishes like charred caraflex cabbage with taleggio, bavette steak (shown above) and zeppole for dessert. The bar program includes natural wines and cocktails in addition to Bissell Brothers beer. The Garden will initially be open Thursday 5 – 8 pm, Friday ..read more

Jing Yan owners Britt Langford and Leo Zhang, are set to open their new establishment Low Key (instagram) on Thursday, May 9th. The neighborhood bar is located at 89 Congress Street in the space formerly occupied by Blue Spoon. As you can see from the photos above, Zhang and Langford have completed renovations which have added a bar along the street side of the dining room and updated the aesthetics including wall murals painted by Langford. Low Key will also have an ice cream takeout window facing Merrill Street. The ~25-seat Low Key will serve (see menu below) classic a ..read more

Stonewall Kitchen (website, facebook, instagram) has leased a 2,327 sq ft space at 215 Commercial Street where they plan to relaunch their Old Port retail shop. This new larger Stonewall store will enable an wider range of Stonewall products and gifts to be available. The space is under construction and they hope to have the new store stocked and open to the public in mid June. Stonewall Kitchen had been located on Middle Street across from Bard Coffee for many years. They moved out in early 2022 to make way for the construction going on in the building. The post Stonewall Kitchen Returning t ..read more

Wednesday – Magnus on Water will be hosting a Small Dough pizza x Lorne collaboration pop-up in Bideford. Friday – SMCC culinary students are holding a 5-course Spanish wine dinner. Saturday – CiderFeast, an “all-inclusive tasting event celebrates craft ciders from some of the top cider makers in New England and beyond” is taking place. Oak & Ember is holding a pig roast at their restaurant in Buxton as a benefit for the New England Breast Cancer Alliance. Mother’s Day – restaurants are just starting to announce their Mother’s Day plan. We’ll ad to this list as businesses share their ..read more

Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram includes a 4 star review of Paella Seafood. His Valencian-style, traditional paella is smokey (even without chorizo), with patches of crusty soccarat rice on the bottom and precision-cooked proteins (chicken, shrimp, calamari, mussels) that highlight why this deserves to be the restaurant’s eponymous dish. Other standouts include dill-flecked seafood soup; a sandwich of fried pollock nestled into a home-baked roll; and turmeric-tinted, deep-fried whole belly clams served scattered with almost translucent discs of thin-sliced jalapeno peppers. Paella Seafood might ..read more

Welcome to the May 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 st ..read more

The Model T Coffee Company (facebook, instagram) opened for business today. They’re located at 620 Congress Street in the former Coffee by Design space opposite the State Theater. They’ll be open daily 6 am – 3 pm. Matthew and Stephanie Morgan and their family will be serving Coffee by Design coffee, donuts from Tony’s Donuts as well as baked goods from some other local producers. The Morgans also operate the Bru-Thru Coffee Shack (facebook, instagram), a drive through coffee shop in Cumberland. The post Model T Coffee Now Open appeared first ..read more

Mary and Will Sissle, the owners of The Cheese Shop on Washington Ave, have shared plans to open a new business called Sissle and Daughters (instagram). Expect espresso drinks, wine & light fare in the café, and the same great retail offerings you find at The Cheese Shop with the addition of take-and-heat prepared meals made from those same quality ingredients in the market. So stop to see us on your way to work for a cappuccino & a bite, then in the afternoon for a glass of wine, and grab everything you need for a delicious dinner at home while you’re at it. The all-day cafe, wine ba ..read more

Congratulation to Magnus on Water. The Biddeford cocktail bar has been recognized by The Pinnacle Guide for the excellence of their bar program. Magnus is one of 37 cocktail bars in the world and one of only 10 in the US to be honored. The Pinnacle Guide requires bars to submit a detailed self-application and then the establishment is evaluated by a series of anonymous auditors. The post Magnus on Water Pinned appeared first on Portland Food Map ..read more