2026 Portland Pocket Guide

| Posted in PFM

The 2026 Portland Pocket Guide is now available—see below for where to pick one up. As in past years the guide highlights a cross section of the restaurants, bakeries, breweries, coffee shops, cocktail bars, and cafes that make eating and drinking in Portland so compelling.

Use the guide as a starting point for your ongoing exploration of the Portland and Maine food scenes. See the Portland Food Map directory for full list of independent eateries in the city to put together your own selection. We’d enjoy seeing your list and hearing about your eating adventures.

Are you holding a wedding, running a business event, operating a hotel, or simply want a bunch of the guides on hand for out of town visitors? The pocket guides are now for sale online in packs of 25 at our online store.

Many thanks to our sponsors! Their support is essential to making this resource available: : Evergreen Credit Union, The Boulos Company, the Canopy by Hilton Waterfront, Wine Wise, Allagash Brewing Company, The Longfellow Hotel, and Portland Downtown.

While supplies last you can pick-up a free copy of the guide at these local businesses:  Tandem Coffee Roasters, Portland Trading Company, Allagash Brewing, Rose Foods, Oxbow Brewing, Onggi, Ugly Duckling, the Portland Yoga Collective, the offices of Portland Downtown, and starting this weekend at  Bresca and the Honey Bee in New Gloucester.

One final note: This dining guide wouldn’t be as good as it, in fact it wouldn’t exist at all, without the skills and contributions of graphic designer Sofija Razgaitis and of Dawn Hagin. Congratulate them on their work the next time you see them.

2026 Good Food Awards

| Posted in Reviews

The Good Food Foundation has released the list of winners for their 2026 awards program. Five food producers from Maine were honored:

Seven Maine food producers were named as finalists earlier this year.

Plum Bakery in Gardiner

| Posted in Maine

Kristen Lamontagne has leased 347 Water Street in Gardiner where she plans to locate her new business Plum Bakery (instagram). It will be located in the space currently occupied by Stone Broke Bread and Books, and Lamontagne hopes to launch the bakery by mid-August.

At Plum Bakery, she will offer sourdough breads, cookies, cakes by the slice and pastries including malted chocolate chip cookies, honey cake, ricotta pie, zucchini bread, and seasonal loaf cakes. Drink options will include hot and iced coffee, tea and soft drinks.

There will be indoor seating and a small market selling a selection of pantry items, kitchen utensils, and goods made by local artists. Lamontagne shared “When you walk through the door, my hope is for it feel whimsical and sweet, like a little respite from busy everyday life. I think that’s also the goal of a good pastry.” 

Lamontagne had previously been the baker and pastry chef at The Alna Store from when it launched in late 2022. Plum Bakery will initially be open Wednesday through Saturday, 9 am – 2 pm, with plans to eventually add sourdough pizza dinner service on Saturday evenings.

Munjoy Hill Belleville to Close

| Posted in Closings

Belleville has announced plans to close their location on Munjoy Hill. They’ll continue to operate out of their Forest Avenue bakery. The last day of operations on Congress Street will be June 8th. Their statement reads in part,

We understand this seems like strange timing with high season ready to begin in Portland, but we simply don’t have enough trained bakers to maintain our quality standards and produce enough pastries to continue operations as normal.

Additional factors that played into this tough decision include the financial strains of the overhead costs of maintaining two locations. We have also struggled with the logistics of supporting teams at two separate locations. We’re nearing the end of our 10 year lease at 1 North St and we were feeling ready to make changes. Lastly, Amy and I have hustled hard for many years and surprise, surprise, we have less energy. We’re older now too!

The Forest Ave location opened in 2023 and is currently open on Saturdays and Sundays, 8 – 11 am. Owners Chris Deutsch and Amy Fuller expect to expand hours of operations there in the near future.

Deutsch and Fuller launched Belleville at the corner of North and Congress Streets in 2017.

New Owners at Other Side Diner

| Posted in Under Construction

Peter and Jessica Sueltenfuss announced that they’ve sold the Other Side Diner. Their last day as owners of the business was Sunday.

The Diner has been such a huge part of our lives, and we are beyond grateful for every guest who walked through our doors, every staff member who worked alongside us, and every friendship and memory made over the years. Your support, loyalty, and kindness helped shape this restaurant into something truly special.

The diner is being taken over by Danielle Dubois and Dan Washington. Dubois has been a member of the Other Side kitchen staff for the last year, and Washington has several years experience cooking at the Miss Portland Diner. They plan on maintaining continuity with the food and atmosphere at the Other Side Diner while bringing some of their own ideas to the menu. They hope to relaunch the Other Side Diner in July.

Other Side Diner opened 7 years ago in April 2019. The Sueltenfusses previously operated two locations of the Other Side Deli on Veranda and Vaughan Streets.

Upcoming Food & Dining Events

| Posted in Events

Saturday – Absolem will be at Anoche for the release of their collaboration cider Last Night.

June 8 – Scratch Baking Company is teaching a corn baking workshop.

June 11 – Lucky Cheetah will be holding a Champagne tasting class.

June 15 – The James Beard Foundation will be announcing the 2026 award winners. Thomas Takashi Cooke from Izakaya Minato and Dana Street from Fore Street, Scales, Standard Baking, and Street & Company are this year’s nominees from Maine.

June 17 – Twelve is holding a 5-course dinner featuring wines from Staglin Family Vineyards.

June 25-27 – The Greek Festival is taking place.

June 27 – Mast Landing is holding the 2026 Wavy Days Beer Fest at Thompson’s Point.

June 28 – The Good Food Foundation will be announcing the winners of their 2026 awards program. 7 Maine food producers are finalists.

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

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.”

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

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

Providence Journal on Portland

| Posted in Reviews

The Providence Journal has published an article about dining in Portland that features Izakaya Minato and Scales. Minato and Dana Street’s family of restaurants (including Scales) are both nominees for this years James Beard Awards.

It’s fair to say, Portland would not be the restaurant city it is today without the groundwork laid by Street and Hayward. They have inspired a generation of chefs to open restaurants in Maine. They preached sustainability from the day they opened Fore Street in 1996. They staff their restaurants well. They are good neighbors.