Little Easy Snoballs Launched

A new food truck called Little Easy Snoballs (websiteinstagramfacebook) launched yesterday at Back Cove.

Owner Lauren Gauthier offers up 30+ flavors of snoballs (classic snoball flavors and some house specials) you can also get yours topped with marshmallow fluff, condensed milk or “stuffed” with ice cream. I got a peach flavored snoball with ice cream.

Gauthier plans to locate Little Easy on Back Cove on weekdays and on the Eastern Prom on weekends.

NFC Now Open

NewYork Fried Chicken is now open. NFC is located at the corner of Cumberland and Washington in the former Bob’s Clam Hut space. The signage indicates they’ll be selling a menu of fried chicken, kebabs, gyro, seafood, subs and ice cream.

There are restaurants by the same name according to Wikipedia they are not a chain or a franchise despite operating a very similar concept.

Truck Tracking Merger

Two of the food truck tracking platforms we wrote about in late June have joined forces. Food Trux which has just recently launched in Denver, Colorado has acquired Maine Food Truck Tracker, a Portland company that provided a web-based app/service for Maine food trucks.

FoodTrux CEO Matthew Noone is also excited about the possibilities presented by this deal: “Because Maine Food Truck Tracker was first in the local market with more than 50% of the state’s food trucks signed up, I couldn’t be more excited to merge with them. The fact that both companies are based here in Portland, our home market for FoodTrux.co, just makes this collaboration all the more beneficial for us and the food truck operators.

Craft, Willie & Chet’s, Mayan Cafe, Mu Noi Brunch

Here are a few restaurant updates from elsewhere in Maine:

  • Craft restaurant in Gray has passed their final inspections and opening for outdoor dining starting Wednesday July 15th. They’re located at  81 West Gray Road, Gray, Maine.
  • Tulsi North in Wells, the 2nd location of the Kittery-based Indian restaurant Tulsi, has changed concepts and is now serving Latin American food under the name Mayan Cafe & Grill.
  • Chef Ali Waks Adams is launching a weekly Saturday pop-up series call Willie & Chet’s (instagram) which will be held at Dog Bar Jim in Brunswick. The first pop-up is taking place this Saturday, July 11th with a menu that’s “an ode to Turkey & the Wolf“.
  • Mu Noi Brunch (instagram) is opening for business today serving a menu of Lao-American comfort food. Mu Noi is located at 1056 Center Street, Auburn, Maine. This is the second restaurant from chef Sayvepen Sengsavang who also operates Le Mu Eats in Bethel.

Tacos La Poblanita x Dos Naciones

The Mexican/Salvodoran restaurant Dos Naciones, and the Tacos La Poblanita food truck have joined forces to “bring you the best of authentic Mexican and Salvadorian food and drinks”.

Dos Naciones is located at 649 Congress Street in Longfellow Square. The name of the restaurant will change to Dos Naciones y La Poblanita. The partners will be collaborating on some changes to the restaurant  menu.

Pizzeria Radici Opens Friday

Pizzeria Radici (websiteinstagram) is scheduled to open on Friday. Owners Randy and Ally Forrester have renovated the former Terlingua space. They’ve already sold out of pre-order capacity for takeout on Friday. They plan to open up ordering for Saturday in the near future.

The word “radici” means root in Italian and indicates the restaurants intent to pair ancestral food traditions with the “sustainability and versatility of Maine’s harvest from the land and sea”. The Forresters hope to open the pizzeria this coming summer.

The Forresters moved to Portland from Allentown, New Jersey where they operated Osteria Radici. Osteria Radici was a James Beard awards semifinalist for Best New Restaurant in 2018, and Randy Forrester was a semifinalist for Best Chef in the Mid-Atlantic in 2019.