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 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.

F&W: Use of Salt in Cocktails

| Posted in People, Distilling & Cocktails

Both Magnus on Water in Biddeford and Bold Coast Spirits’s new Marine 01 oyster shell vodka were mentioned in a new Food & Wine article about the use of salt in cocktails which in part read,

Other products, like Bold Coast Spirits from Maine, infuse the spirit with a salty ingredient, like the brand’s Marine 01, an oyster shell–infused vodka…Brian Catapang, beverage director and co-owner of Magnus on Water in Biddeford, Maine, likes Marine 01 because it comes “properly seasoned” straight from the bottle. “I do not think of it as adding overt savory notes so much as contributing texture and minerality,” he says. “In a great Martini, texture is everything. The difference between something exceptional and something forgettable often comes down to mouthfeel.”

Photo Credit: Photograph courtesy of Bold Coast Spirits.

Maine Food & Dining News: Waldoboro, Monson, Deer Isle, Nobleboro, Eastport, Brunswick, South Portland, Old Orchard Beach, Cape Neddick, Bridgton, York Beach, Kennebunk, Rockland, Lincolnville, Biddeford, Perry, Wiscasset, Norway

| 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:

  • Farms are starting to announce their 2026 summer dinner schedules. Lakin’s Gorges Cheese will be holding their Cowside Dinners at their Waldoboro farm June through September. Turning Page Farm and Brewery will be holding farm to table dinners June through September in Monson. Yellow Birch Farm on Deer Isle is holding a series of guest chef dinners July through September—Georgia Macon will be the guest chef for dinners taking place July 30th and 31st. Wanderwood will be holding a dinner series  June through October at their farm in Nobleboro with guest chefs from Huskyboi and Greenleaf & Sonder.
  • A new cocktail bar called The Rumery (facebook) held their grand opening last Saturday in Eastport. They’re located at 56 Water Street nearly across the street from Phoenix Fine Wines. The Rumery serves a extended selection of martinis and manhattans and signature cocktails as well as raw bar options and small plates like warm olives and a sardine salad. They plan to be open this Saturday 4:30 – 9:30 pm, and starting in June will be open Fridays and Saturdays 4:30 – 9:30 pm.
  • Chef Devin Finigan’s new book A Kitchen on Goose Cove: Recipes from the Heart of Maine went on sale last week. Finigan is the chef/owner of Aragosta on Deer Isle. She has been a Beard Award nominee and her restaurant has been recognized by Food & Wine on their Global Tastemakers list for the last three years.
  • Hug Sen Noodle Bar (website, facebook) opened recently in Brunswick in the space formerly occupied by Bao Bao and Tao Yuan. They’re open daily, 11 am – 9 pm. The menu includes a range of pan-Asian dishes like ramen, kimchi fried rice, dan dan noodles, and khao soi (shown above).
  • The Maine Jamaican Kitchen recently opened in Souht Portland. They’re located at 85 Western Avenue in the space formerly occupied by Elevation Burger. The menu includes options like jerk chicken wings, a chickpeas and cabbage stir fry, fried plantains and a kid’s menu.
  • A new restaurant called Woody’s Seafood Shake (website, facebook) is slated to open soon in Old Orchard Beach. Billed as a Cajun-style seafood restaurant and bar, the menu includes items like po’boys, jambalya, and crawfish fried rice.
  • Swell Kitchen (instagram) has opened for business in Cape Neddick. As we previously reported, it’s being launched by Swell House (website, instagram) offering grab-and-go foods as well a build-a-bowl option and house signature bowls. Eating Through the Seacoast has published a field report from Swell Kitchen.
  • The Bridgton restaurant Standard Gastropub in Bridgton is rebranding their business and will now be known as The Last Chair. They shared that they’ve “always really been an Aprés ski bar at heart” and that the new business name better reflects that. The Last Chair will be serving the same menu that their Standard Gastropub customers already enjoy. Watch for their new covered outdoor oyster and cocktail bar to launch in the next few weeks. The interior design of the restaurant will shift towards the new brand’s ski theme over the next several months.
  • Moderation Brewing (website, facebook, instagram) in Brunswick has been holding a series of soft openings at their new location at 21 Town Hall Place. Watch their social media for an announcement on their grand opening. The Maine Brewers Guild has published a field report with photos from the soft opening.
  • Two new businesses being launched by the owners of the Sand Dollar Bar & Grille (instagram) have opened in York Beach. The Flounder (instagram) is a counter service cafe serving sushi, poke, lobster rolls, chowder, and offering a raw bar. Shorties Beach Cafe (instagram) is a coffee and bagel shop with full line of brewed and espresso coffee drinks plus breakfast sandwiches and burritos.
  • A new restaurant called Signal (website, instagram) is under construction at 27 Western Avenue in Kennebunk. It will be in the building formerly occupied by Via Sophia by the Sea. Their website shares that the menu will be “anchored in responsibly sourced local seafood and premium cuts of steak – prepared with a balance of simplicity and refinement.” The owners hope to open Signal in June.
  • A new bar and restaurant called The Idle Hour (instagram) is under construction in Rockland. Owners Stacy and Radu Fulea have been longtime members of staff at Ada’s. The Idle Hour will be located at 273 Main Street. The Fuelas hop to launch it in July.
  • Cellardoor owner Bettina Doulton has announced that she’s sold the winery’s farmhouse and vineyard to Matt and Evalina Haskell. The announcement reads in part, “Over the past several months, a confluence of events, many gut-wrenching and others simply forcing reflection, has led me to step aside now so two eager, next-generation people can assume the mantle of caretaking for this beautiful place. Matt and Evalina Haskell have purchased the Farmhouse and Vineyard property, to be called Cellardoor Farm. Matt sees what this property can be in its next phase – it speaks to him, as it has spoken to me.” Moving forward the business will be known as Cellardoor Farm (instagram).
  • The Biddeford Gazette reports that longtime Biddeford pub Mulligan’s closing. Their last day in business will be Sunday. Mulligan’s originally opened in 1997.
  • As previously reported, there was a fire Makoto in South Portland. A timeframe for the relaunch of the restaurant is still to be determined.
  • The 5th Annual Rhubarb Festival is taking place on June 6th in Perry. There will be classes on baking with rhubarb and making rhubarb wine and using it in coktails as well as talks on growing rhubarb and other topics all celebrating this year’s them of “Rhubarb is Sexy”.
  • The Maine Tasting Center in Wiscasset is holding a series of events on edible insects this year. The event series is kicking off on May 30th with a Edible Insect Happy Hour. For more reporting on the subject, see this article from The Lincoln County News.
  • The Sun Journal has published an article about Alicia Plummer and John Avola and their business the Norway Pizza Exchange.
  • Five new entries have been added to the Maine Food Map: Perch in Waldoboro, Suzuki in Rockland, Saint George Pizza in Warren, The Parlor in Bath, and Walkers Maine in Cape Neddick.

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.

Menu Prices

| Posted in General News

The Maine Sunday Telegram has written an article about the increasing price—and underlying costs for restaurants—of dining out.

But soaring food costs are just one piece of the puzzle for restaurant and bar owners struggling to keep their menu prices in check. Since the pandemic, they’ve been at the mercy of upsurges to practically all of their costs, including labor, rent, utilities, taxes, insurance, swipe fees and packaging.