Maine Food & Dining News: New Gloucester, Rockport, Blue Hill, Brooksville, Rockland, Belfast, Northport, Cape Elizabeth, Brunswick, Lisbon, Cushing, Swanville, Kennebunk, Bristol

| Posted in Maine

New food and dining developments are taking place all across Maine. Here are some recent updates to keep you in the know:

  • The New Gloucester Village Store (website, facebook) has re-opened (above). Owner Sam Coggeshall and his team are serving a limited menu that includes pizza (12 and 16 inch pies, slices and Sicilian slabs), salads, sandwiches and entrees like pulled pork plate on polenta with slaw as well as beer, wine and nonalcoholic drinks. Coggershell expects to add additional hours, menu items and to stock their market shelves in the coming weeks. For now they’re open Wednesday through Saturday, 11 am – 8 pm. It’s located at 405 Intervale Road in New Gloucester. This is a relaunch of the village store which Coggershell ran 2008-2022. It has has been supported by $250k gathered from members of the local community.
  • A new Nigerian-inspired coffee shop called Kirí Coffeehouse (instagram) recently opened in Rockport. The Midcoast Villager reports that owner Ebinumo Amabebe is serving coffee “from a pair of micro-roasters in Brooklyn, Devoción and Sey, that are known for pushing at the margins of what coffee can taste like, with roasts that tend more toward the acidic and fruity side of the flavor spectrum than what most people are accustomed to.” Kirí is located at 47 West Street in Rockport and is open Monday and Wednesday through Saturday, 6:30 am – 2 pm, and Sunday 9 am – 2 pm.
  • The Deer Isle Oyster Company has launched The Stoop (instagram). The new Blue Hill oyster bar is serving a menu of tinned fish, cheese, salad, pretzels, and oysters as well as wine, beer and cocktails. It is located at 27 Water Street an will be open Friday through Tuesday, 4 – 8 pm.
  • In nearby Brooksville a new coffee and ice cream shop called The Old Post Office (instagram) has opened. They’re serving 44 North coffee, baked goods from Ebee’s Sweets (instagram) in Castine, and ice cream from John’s Ice Cream Factory (instagram) in Liberty. The Old Post Office is located at 715 Coastal Road and is open Tuesday through Sunday, 7:30 am – 4 pm.
  • A new food truck called Beaux Reves (facebook, instagram) has launched in Rockland. They’re located at the corner of Park Drive and Main Street and are open daily 11 am – 4 pm (except Wednesday and Sunday). The self described Southern Acadian Street Kitchen is serving a menu that includes po’boys, crab cake sandwiches, lobster rolls, muffulettas, and shrimp and gritts.
  • Stacy and Radu Fulea have launched The Idle Hour (instagram) in Rockland. It is located at 273 Main Street and open Friday through Tuesday, 11 am – 9 pm.
  • The Bangor Daily News reports that a new herb and tea shop called Tender Nettle Herb Company (instagram) has opened in Belfast in the spot formerly occupied by Daily Soup at 118 High Street. The BDN also reports that Lone Star Latte (instagram) has opened at 473 Shore Road in Northport and that The Scone Goddess in Northport will be closing their retail shop at the end of this summer and continue operating out of their production kitchen in Belfast.
  • Rabbit Rabbit Wine Company (website, instagram) has released of their first wine. Owners Lindsay Benson-O’Caoimh and Colm O’Caoimh have produced 22 cases of Étaín’s Pour. It is a blend of Verona, LaCrescent, Sabrevois harvested in Maine and Vermont. You can find it at Oyster River Wine Growers in Warren, Crooked Face Creamery in Skowhegan, and at both Winona’s and First Fig in Camden.
  • Sweetgrass Winery & Distillery, in collaboration with Mossy Ledge Spirits, has relaunched their award winning Back River Gin.
  • The Prentice Hospitality Group has relaunched The Good Table (website, facebook, instagram) in Cape Elizabeth as a pizzeria and pastry cafe. They’re holding a soft opening today (noon – 8 pm) with a full official opening scheduled for Friday. They’re serving pizza, salads, breadsticks, pastries, beer, wine and non-alcoholic drinks.
  • Morning Glory Natural Foods has announced they’ll be launching their new Brunswick Landing location on August 1st.
  • The Midcoast Villager has released the results of their 2026 Best of the Best readership poll. It includes a number of food and beverage categories like Lobster Dinner (Claws), Asian Restaurant (Long Grain) and Cocktails (Lemon Bar).
  • The Moxie Festival is taking place in Lisbon this weekend, Friday through Sunday.
  • Rachel Alexandrou is holding a Wild Foods Picnic on July 18th at the Langlais Art Preserve in Cushing.
  • Circumstance in Swanville is holding a wine dinner on July 18th featuring natural wines from Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary.
  • The Animal Welfare Society is holding Woofstock on July 25th in Kennebunk. 10 food trucks and 9 Maine breweries are participatign in the event.
  • As previously reported, The Rooting Pig in Bristol relaunched on Thursday.

For a statewide guide to eating and drinking see the Maine Food Map—a list of more than 100 coffee shops, bars, restaurants, bakeries, cafes, plus other food and dining businesses in all of Maine’s 16 counties.

The Rooting Pig Opens Thursday

| Posted in Openings

The Rooting Pig (website, facebook, instagram) is set to re-open on Thursday, July 9th. The farm-to-table restaurant is located in a renovated barn at Broad Arrow Farm in Bristol.

Owners Dan and Maggy Sullivan shared,

We’re excited to welcome the community back to Broad Arrow Farm. Our goal has always been to reconnect our guests to their food: how it’s raised, how it tastes, and, perhaps most importantly, how it’s shared. The farm’s relaxed, pastoral setting is integral to that goal. The barn restoration complements the outdoor dining, and allows us to remain open year-round. We invite people to slow down and stay awhile: eat and drink the bounty Maine has to offer, visit with the pigs and turkeys, bring the kids and pooch (outside) and enjoy a lawn game or hand of cribbage.

The Rooting Pig now seats 50 people indoors with a mix of table, bar and lounge seating plus a 30-seat screened-in dining area as well as an outdoor bar and tables with room for several dozen more.

Chef/butcher Red Hauge and his team are serving a menu that taps into meats from Broad Arrow and locally sourced produce and seafood. His approach is expected to “center on thoughtful whole-animal utilization, seasonal Maine ingredients, preservation techniques, and rustic cooking”. Shown above are the butcher board, market salad, and the tuna carpaccio served at a soft opening over the weekend. Hauge’s resume includes working at Publican Quality Meats in Chicago and Rialto in Cambridge. Most recently he worked at Bleeker & Greer in Rockport.

The beverage menu created by The Rooting Pig’s general manager and beverage director, Hugh Crickmore, includes cocktails, draft beer, cider, seltzer, nonalcoholic options, wines by the glass and a bottle list of primarily old world wines. Crickmore’s resume includes running the bar programs at Diner and at Blanca and Roberta’s.

Colocated at The Rooting Pig is an in-house market run by Ginger Dermott which features wine, beer, locally produced foods and cheeses as well as meats and charcuterie from the Broad Arrow Farm.

The restaurant and market will initially be open Thursday through Sunday, noon – 7 pm. Reservations are available on Resy.

Here’s a look at the wine list and abbreviated version of the menu served at a soft opening over the weekend. Hauge will be expanding the menu, check The Rooting Pig’s social media accounts later this week and in the future for the latest version.

Upcoming Food & Dining Events

| Posted in Events

July 17 – The Pierogi Prince is holding a pop-up at the Local 188 event space. Tickets are now on sale.

July 23 – The Brunswick-based Reverie Coffee House will be holding a pop-up at Botanically Curious on Congress Street where they’ll be serving a menu of coffee, matcha and chai. The pop-up will take place 7 am – noon.

July 24 – En-Noble and Ugly Duckling are collaboration on a global dinner series celebrating the food of Asia, Africa and Latin America. The focus of the July dinner is the food of Asia.

July 24-26 – The Kneading Conference is taking place in Skowhegan.

July 26 – It’s Open Farm Day, see the Real Maine website for a list of participating farms.

August 15 – En-Noble and Ugly Duckling are collaboration on a global dinner series celebrating the food of Asia, Africa and Latin America. The focus of the August dinner is the food of Afrian.

August 22 – The Maine State Cake Decorating Championship is taking place in South Paris.

August 28-30 – Maine Apple Camp is taking place in Hope. The biennial event covers a wide range of topics including “innovative orcharding methods, identifying and preserving heritage varieties, foraging wild fruit, cider making and lots more.”

August 29 – Dinner x Friends is holding their next event.

September 13 – The 10th Annual Maine Cheese Festival is taking place in Pittsfield.

September 19 – PoutineFest is taking place. En-Noble and Ugly Duckling are collaboration on a global dinner series celebrating the food of Asia, Africa and Latin America. The focus of the September dinner is the food of Latin America.

September 25-27 – The 50th Annual Common Ground Fair is taking place in Unity.

October 8 – The Maine Food Producers Showcase & Golden Fork Awards is taking place in Portland.

October 24 – The 21st Annual Veg Fest is taking place.

Planning a wedding, holding a business event, or hosting visitors from away? Our printed guides are a great resource to help your guests explore the Maine restaurant scene.

The 2026 Portland and Midcoast pocket guides are now for sale in packs of 25 on our online store.

Restaurant Real Estate: July 2026

| Posted in Real Estate

Welcome to the July 2026 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 step just a little bit easier.

West End/Libby Town/Parkside

770 Congress St – A 2,602 sq ft building near Bramhall Square is for sale for $850,000.

785 Congress St – A 1,619 sq ft retail space near Bramhall Square is available for $23/sq ft (NNN).

251 Danforth St – A 1,143 sq ft retail space across the street from Ugly Duckling is available for $2,500/month (MG).

Arts District

25 Casco St – A 627 sq ft cafe space in the Equality Commons building is available to lease for $20/sq ft (MG).

540 Congress St – The 25,800 sq ft building formerly occupied by Reny’s is for lease for $7.50/sq ft (NNN).

555 Congress St – The 1,908 sq ft former Five Fifty-Five dining room and mezzanine are available to lease for $20/sq ft (NNN). The entire building at 55 Congress St is for sale for $1M.

582-584 Congress St – The 680-1,555 sq ft space formerly occupied by Harmon’s is for lease for $2,500 – $5,850/month (NNN).

649 Congress St – The 3,850 sq ft former Novel is available for $20/sq ft (MG).

East End

1 North St – The 1,200 sq ft space formerly occupied by Belleville is available for $45/sq ft.

Bayside/Inner Washington

239 Congress St – The Tiny Tim’s space is available. Call (207) 450-6610 for more information.

251 Congress St – LB Kitchen is making this space adjacent to their restaurant available for pop-ups.

52 Hanover St – 1,500 sq ft of retail space on the first floor of the Armature building is available for $30/sq ft (NNN).

65 Hanover St – The 1,800 sq ft space that had formerly been occupied by the When Pigs Fly retail shop in 2024 is available for $25/sq ft (NNN).

127 Marginal Way – The 8,170 sq ft space formerly occupied by West Marine is available for $32/sq ft (NNN).

65-67 Portland St – The 2,750 sq ft former Thai Esaan/Back Bay Grill space is available for $16/sq ft (MG).

114 Preble St – The former Coals building is available to lease. The 4,424 sq ft turnkey restaurant is listed at $26/sq ft (NNN) and includes onsite parking and outdoor seating.  For more information on the building and its history see this post on instagram.

Old Port

327 Commercial St – The 6,981 – 7,981 sq ft space currently occupied by Tiqa is available for lease or to buy. The lease rate is $25/sq ft (NNN). The sale price is $2,900,000.

57 Exchange St – The 2,754 sq ft former Gross Confection space is available for $45/sq ft (MG).

368 Fore St – The 5,458 sq ft former Old Port Billiards space is available for $20/sq ft (NNN).

375 Fore St – The 2,500 sq ft central bar and dining area of the former Henry’s Public House is available to lease for $9,500/month (MG).

416 Fore St – The 1,100 sq ft former Mark’s Place is available for  $5,500/month (MG).

420 Fore St – The 2,200 sq ft former Old Port Slice Bar space is available for $50/sq ft (MG).

425 Fore St – This 1,381 sq ft space had been built as a restaurant which never opened. It’s located between Barkada and Gelato Fiasco, and is now available for $70/sq ft (MG).

127 Middle St –The 3,512 sq ft former Cellardoor tasting room is for lease for $43/sq ft (NNN).

157 Middle St – A 2,039 – 5,155 sq ft retail space is available for $27.95/sq ft (MG).

191 Middle St – The 1,500 sq ft retail space formerly occupied by Crystal Joys is for lease for $60/sq ft (MG).

15 Monument Square – The 1,000 sq ft former Sisters Gourmet Deli space is available to lease for $3,600/month (NNN).

28 Monument Square – The building owner is seeking someone to lease the Public Market House and develop the food hall as an incubator space for new food businesses. The 8,064 sq ft space spans the 1st and 2nd floors and has a commercial kitchen in the basement. The well-loved Jamaican restaurant Yardie Ting already occupies part of the first floor and Bub’s Home Kitchen has moved in on the second floor with the remainder of the building vacant and already built out with kitchen infrastructure needed for new businesses. 28 Monument Square is listed at $12/sq ft (NNN), the market portion of the building is also for sale for $1,699,000. For more information on the building and its history see this post on instagram.

66 Pearl St – The 5,796 sq ft space that was the former home of Bull Moose is available for $15.75/sq ft (MG).

Outer Forest Ave Area

332 Forest Ave – A 2,309 sq ft space in a building at the corner of Bedford Street and Forest Ave is available for $16/sq ft (NNN).

634 Forest Ave – the 1,364 former Abbiocco space is available. The property includes 13 parking spots and a fully built out kitchen and cafe space.

683 Forest Ave – a space in Woodford’s Corner most recently occupied by a restaurant called Merveille is for lease. Call (207) 766-8845 for more information.

1871 Forest Ave – The former Tortilla Flats is for sale. The 8,771 sq ft building is on 3.43 acres of property and is listed for $1,750,000.

Elsewhere in Portland

144 Fore St – several retail space in the same building as Madrid’s are available. They run from 1,527 to 3,544 sq ft and are listed at $17.50 – $19/sq ft.

375 Riverside St – several retail spots ranging from 3,050 – 26,285 sq ft are available to lease for $16-19/sq ft (NNN).

123 Washington Ave – The space formerly occupied by Maine Craft Distilling is being subdivided into 4 retail spaces and 2 earmarked for bars or restaurants. They range in size from 1,005 to 2,542 sq ft and are available for $18 – $33 (NNN). For more information contact Brice O’Connor at (207) 553-1725 or boconnor@boulos.com.

Westgate Shopping Center – 1,340 – 3,200 sq ft of space are available. The lease rates are negotiable.

Other Spaces – Some vacated restaurant spaces haven’t yet been formerly listed for by the owner. Check the closing announcements for insights on where those opportunities may be.

South Portland

323 Broadway – The Ferry Village Market and th building/land it occupies is for sale for $1,300,000.

725 Broadway – The 15,524 sq ft former Broadway Bowl building is for sale for $3,200,000, and also available to lease.

185 Cottage Rd – The 2,647 sq ft former Mast Landing tasting room is for lease for $15.30/sq ft (NNN). It includes 20 parking spaces.

465 Maine Mall Rd – a 6,350 sq ft restaurant building formerly occupied by Chili’s is available for $35/sq ft.

Elsewhere in Maine

Bandaloop, Arundel – After 20 years in business the owners of Bandaloop have shared plans to sell the restaurant property.

186 Main St, Auburn – A new building under construction along the Androscoggin River will include a 4,776 sq ft space that the owners hope to lease to a brewery or restaurant. It’s available for $18.50/sq ft (NNN). An additional 1,340 sq ft space will also be available when construction is completed.

111 Bath Rd, Brunswick – The Fat Boy Drive-In business and property are for sale for $695,000. Fat Boy has been in business since 1955.

200 US Route One, Scarborough – The 1,421 sq ft space formerly occupied by The Cheese Iron is available for $32/sq ft (NNN).

267 Scarborough Downs Rd, Scarborough – Six retail spaces in a new building at The Downs are available. They range in size from 1,091 – 5,248 sq ft. They’ll be available to occupy in the spring of 2027.

4 & 7 Dana St, Westbrook – A 5,085 sq ft restaurant space is available in a new building that is under construction with plans to open in 2027.

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.

Portland Schools Summer Meals Program

| Posted in General News

The Portland public school district is starting up their free Summer Meals program on Monday. It provides free meals to children and teens under 18 years old at a dozen location around the City. Some of the venues are serving both breakfast and lunch. Information on hours and locations can be found on the Portland Public Schools website.

The USDA has a directory of summer meal programs from around the country that list dozens of communities in Maine that offer free meals during the summer.

2026 Maine Apple Camp

| Posted in Events

Tickets are now on sale for Maine Apple Camp. This is a biennial event organized by MOFGA and the Maine Heritage Orchard where apple and cider professionals and enthusiasts gather and learn about “innovative orcharding methods, identifying and preserving heritage varieties, foraging wild fruit, cider making and lots more.”

The 2026 programminng will include panel discussions covering  a range of topics from apple genetics to cider co-ferments to growing wild and seedling trees. There will also be apple pie baking class and a cider tasting.

Aple Camp is taking place in late August at Camp Bishopswood on Megunticook Lake in Hope, Maine.

The Velvet Dog Has Opened

| Posted in Openings

The Velvet Dog (facebook, instagram) has opened for business. The 70-seat restaurant and bar is located at 24 Preble Street next to Dutch’s and across the street from Za Pizza. They’re open Wednesday through Sunday, 3 – 9 pm, and until 10 pm on Friday and Saturday.

Chef Matt Burns and his family are serving a menu (see below) of small plates like fried sardines and corn ribs, entrees like the grilled white fish with butter bean and sausage ragu shown above. The bar menu includes wines by the glass ($9) and bottle ($32), beer, seltzer, cider, non-alcoholic drinks and a selection of classic cocktails. Shown here are the Paper Plane and Almond Sour.

Burns has has worked at a number of Portland area restaurants including Nonesuch River Brewing in Scarborough, and most recently Paper City Barbecue and Legends Rest in Westbrook. He envisions The Velvet Dog as a restaurant for local residents. “We are here for the people of Portland. Tourists are nice but I care about the people in the apartments next door, the industry workers and the people that commute in and out of this town a lot more. I want those people to always feel welcome and to get to know us as we know them.”