Terlingua Side Car

| Posted in Under Construction

The team from Terlingua, Terlingua Outpost, and Ocotillo have announced plans for Terlingua Side Car (website). The food truck will be stationed on Washington Ave in the outdoor seating area in front of Oxbow Brewing and Hardshore Distilling.

Side Car will be serving street tacos along with a 7-layer dip and tortilla chips, and frozen fruit pops. The draft menu includes options like Smoked Pork Carnitas tacos topped with Winter Hill cotija, onions, spicy taco sauce, cilantro, and Mushroom tacos made with local mushrooms and topped with refried beans, crispy potato, cilantro and salsa matcha.

Side Car will launch in June and be in operation through the end of October, open Thursday through Sunday.

Kdam Prai from Maine Green Crabs

| Posted in Fisheries

Civil Eats has written about an initiative run by members of Maine’s Cambodian community to make Kdam Prai from invasive green crabs.

A decade later, [Bunly] Uy is bringing kdam prai to Maine. He’s now the food and farm program manager at Khmer Maine, a nonprofit serving Portland’s 2,000-plus Cambodian residents through cultural exchange, community building, and civic engagement. And he’s marrying his past and present by developing a salted crab product featuring an invasive species from the Gulf of Maine, protecting the state’s marine ecosystem while feeding his community.

Upcoming Food & Dining Events

| Posted in Events

Monday – Anoche is holding a Spanish gin and tonic party with guest Natasha Bahrami.

Tuesday – A Cherie pop-up is taking place at Regards, and Blyth & Burrows is holding a Ginworld cocktail party.

Wednesday – Fermin Nunez from Austin, Texas will be the guest chef at a Tuna & Friends dinner.

Friday – This week’s Family Meal at Local 188 will be a Southern Fish Fry prepared by Eventide chef Donny Carrasco.

Friday – May 3 – Maine Seaweed Week is taking place.

April 27 – The Native Maine food show is taking place.

April 30 – Ed Szymanski from Dame, Lords and Crevette in New York City will be the guest chef at a Tuna & Friends dinner.

May 2 – SeaFest is taking place.

May 3 – CiderFeast is taking place.

May 4 – Chaval is holding the annual May the Fourth Star Wars themed dinner.

May 6 – Evo is holding an Austrian wine dinner.

May 9 – The premiere screening of the movie Lunchroom Revolution is taking place.

May 9-10 – The 2026 A Taste of Nations Food Festival is taking place at Mayo Street Arts.

May 16 – The Maine Wine Wine Fest (tickets) is taking place in Freeport.

May 17 – Cafe Mugen is holding a pop-up at at Izakaya Minato.

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.

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

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.

Ugly Ducking Food Truck

| Posted in Under Construction

Ilma Lopez and Damian Sansonetti are launching Ugly Duckling on Wheels (instagram). The food truck will be popping up at several venues this year including Hearts of Pine home games starting this Sunday, the summer sunset series at Thompson’s Point and the weekend farmstand at Bubbleroot Farm in Windham. They also plan to use the food truck for catering.

The menu includes options like an oyster mushroom Cubano, the Capi Lopez sandwich (birria slow braised beef in the chili sauce and Monterey Jack cheese and lime), and cheese cake on a stick. The Charlie Noble, which Sansonetti created for the sandwich board at Blue Rooster, will be making a appearance as will a tater tot dish, the Seoul Tots made with tater tots, pulled pork, roasted garlic aioli and kimchi. Capi Lopez is a reference to the Hearts of Pine team captain Mikey Lopez.

Sansonetti and Lopez also own the West End restaurants Chaval and Ugly Duckling. They have some other fun projects in the works so stay tuned for more information on those soon.

Maine Food & Dining News: Pownal, Falmouth, Augusta, Old Orchard Beach, Limerick, Waldoboro, Brunswick, South Portland

| 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:

  • Hailey Sylvain has taken over the former North Pownal General Store building where she plans to locate XO Bakery & Mercantile (facebook, instagram). The counter service cafe will offer a menu of coffee, tea and a rotating menu of baked goods like bagels, English muffins, sweet treats, cookies, whoopie pies, croissants, tarts, pies as well as ready-made breakfast and lunch sandwiches. The popular XO cinnamon rolls will be available on Saturdays. Sylvain plans to have cinnamon rolls, breads, croissants, pot pies and quiches ready to take and bake-off at home and cakes that she can decorate to order. XO will have table and bar seating as well as a “cozy couch nook”. Renovations are underway with hopes to launch XO on June 1st.
  • Jill Moses and Frank Curran are the new owners of Old Smith Farm (facebook, instagram) in Falmouth. Some renovations are underway with hopes to reopen Old Smith Farm to the public in early May. Nate Feld has joined the team as the OSF’s chef. The new menu will feature farm-to-table cuisine along with a pizza program with the goal of “offering approachable, flavorful dishes designed for all ages—especially families.” The bar will serve craft cocktails and have “an extensive wine list”. Curran and Moses will be working with Rachel Sagiroglu from Experience Maine on event planning for Old Smith Farm. For additional reporting see this article in Mainebiz.
  • Great Wall Buffet in Augusta has announced they’ll be going out of business. Their last day in operation will be April 20th. Their statement reads in part ” We want to take this time to extend a thank you to the community we’ve had the opportunity to serve for all these years. During our time here, it has been an honor to see children grow up, people come together, and milestones celebrated. Your smiles, stories, and loyalty filled our restaurant with warmth and joy, and truly made the Great Wall Buffet a special place. It’s been a privilege to share our food and culture with you. On behalf of our entire staff, thank you for allowing us to be a part of your lives and for supporting us throughout the years.”
  • Rialto in Sanford is opening a second seasonal location in Old Orchard Beach.
  • Auxillary Brewing Company in Limerick is holding their grand opening on May 8th.
  • Maine Scuttlebutt has published an article about Day Boat Cafe in Waldoboro.
  • The Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum at Bowdoin College has an exhibit up entitled Mamaqtuq! It is Delicious!: Traditional Foods of the North. The exhibit description reads in part, “Food is at the heart of Inuit culture. In the Arctic this means food hunted, fished, or gathered from the land, air, and sea. Whales, seals, caribou, muskox, fish, and birds, as well as berries and other plants, have provided untold generations with all the healthy nourishment they needed to thrive. These foods continue to be important to Inuit, and many consider hunting, gathering, sharing, and eating these traditional foods to be central to Inuit identity.”
  • As previously reported, Broadway Bowl in South Portland will be going out of business on May 17th.

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