We’ve begun building the 2025 Maine Thanksgiving List   . It already includes 150+ Thanksgiving dinners, free community meals and food baskets, special takeout and take home options from restaurants, bakeries butcher shops and markets from all of Maine’s 16 counties. We’re adding to the list every day as businesses and organizations publish details on their plans for the holiday. Please drop us a line if you know of any restaurants, community meals, markets, or other food businesses or events that should get added. |
Hospitality and Housing
The Maine Monitor has explored the connection between housing costs and staffing challenges for restaurants.
Honey’s Fried Chicken Palace was an expansion of Bedell’s first fried chicken restaurant, Ancho Honey, which opened in Tenants Harbor in 2019. With five years under his belt and two finalist awards for best burger and best fried chicken in the state, Bedell started to expand, with the hope of starting a Maine-based chain.
Instead, just one year after he opened his new counter-service restaurant, Bedell made the decision to shut down Ancho Honey — a choice that was fueled in large part by problems finding staff.
And he’s not alone.
Upcoming Food & Dining Events
Monday – Pulutan is holding a Filipino pop-up at the Big Tree Event space at the former Local 188. Chefs Nathan Steinauer and Sydney Boulanger are holding a pop-up dinner called Sleepy Fish.
Wednesday-Saturday – Goodfire Brewing in Freeport will be serving a set of Wabanaki-inspired dishes developed in collaboration with Penobscot chef Joseph Robbins.
Friday – Members of the public and industry professionals have until midnight on Friday to submit a recommendation to the James Beard Foundation for the 2026 Awards. Asia House Kitchen and Bar (instagram) is scheduled to open in South Portland. Angoor Wine Bar is holding a 3-course wine dinner.
Saturday – Onggi will be serving a kelp noodle lunch featuring noodles from the Mar Mar Noodle Company (instagram).
November 26 – It’s the last day of the outdoor Portland Farmers’ Market in Deering Oaks Park. Little Spruce will be holding a pop-up at the former Local 188.
Thanksgiving – See the Maine Thanksgiving List for details on 150+ options for community meals, restaurants serving Thanksgiving dinners and buffets, and where you can pre-order turkeys, sides, pies and other dishes to serve at your home meal.
November 28 – The VFW on Forest Ave is holding a tequila tasting.
December 3 – En-Noble and SMCC are holding a taste and talk event focused on the food of Papua New Guinea.
December 6 – It’s the first day of the indoor Portland Farmers’ Market at Stevens Square Community Center (631 Stevens Ave).
January 24 – Courntey Loreg from Woodford’s Food & Beverage will be the guest chef at a Flanagan Farm Supper Club dinner.
January 30 – Adrian Arvizu from Big Tree Hospitality will be the guest chef at a steakhouse themed Flanagan Farm Supper Club dinner.
February 8 – Ilma Lopez and Damian Sansonetti will be the guest chefs at a Flanagan Farm Supper Club dinner where they’ll celebrate the menu of their former restaurant Piccolo.
February 13 – Devin Finigan from Aragosta on Deer Isle will be the guest chef at a Flanagan Farm Supper Club dinner.
March 6 – The Maine Craft Brew Summit 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 Portland and Midcoast pocket guides are now for sale in packs of 25 on our online store. |
Best Bakeries
Eater has named Not a Bakery in their 2025 shortlist of Best Bakeries.
Georgia Macon found a sweet home when she moved to Portland, Maine, from St. Louis during the pandemic. The pastry chef quickly rose through the ranks within Prentice Hospitality Group, which includes restaurants like the Good Table and Twelve. After creating a local following for baked goods at the latter, Macon and other pastry chefs from the lauded restaurant launched a food truck — not a bakery — near the restaurant, offering a range of pastries inspired by Macon’s time in France, memories of her grandmother, a reverence for Southern cooking, and a love for the baking traditions of her newfound New England home.
Macon recently left her position at the Prentice Hospitality Group, but you can experience her baked good by placing a pre-order with her directly for sweet potato pie, apple butter stack cake, or dinner roles to enjoy for Thanksgiving.
Cooking at Wayside Food Programs
Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram includes an article about how chef Eric Bufo at Wayside Food Programs uses donated ingredients to prepare meals for members of the community.
Bufo isn’t running a fancy farm-to-table restaurant. He’s kitchen manager and head chef at Wayside Food Programs, where he works with a rotating volunteer crew to cook as many as 800 free meals a week for Greater Portland homeless shelters, schools, senior homes and other community centers where Mainers need hot, nourishing meals.
Cuties in Punch
Punch has published an interview with two of the owners of Cuties—the all-day bar on Market Street that opened back in April.
Mast Landing Closing in South Portland
Mast Landing Brewing has announced they will be closing their South Portland location at the end of the year.
We want to share an important update with our community. After much reflection, we’ve decided to close our South Portland taproom at the end of 2025. This was not an easy choice, but it will allow us to dedicate our focus and resources to strengthening our Freeport and Westbrook locations.
We’re deeply grateful to everyone who spent time with us in South Portland. The support, moments, and drinks shared have meant so much to our team. While we’ll miss this unique space, we’re looking forward to welcoming our South Portland family (including all SoPo taproom staff) in Westbrook and Freeport in the new year!
The 2,647 sq ft space at 185 Cottage Road is now listed for lease for $15.30/sq ft (NNN). It includes a parking lot space for ~20 cars.
Maine Food & Dining News: Rockland, Brunswick, South Portland, Sanford, Hallowell, Kittery
New food and dining developments are taking place all across Maine. Here are some recent updates to keep you in the know:
- Carly and Wesley Summers have launched their wine and cocktail bar Lemon Bar (website, instagram) in Rockland. The menu (see below) features natural wines, spirit forward cocktails, spritzs, snacks and a selection of boilermakers. They’ll be open Wednesday through Saturday, 5 – 10 pm. You can read more about the Summers and their plans for Lemon Bar in this Midcoast Villager article from September.
- Kyle Rogers, the baker who formerly operated the Brunswick bakery pop-up Bread Pedlar, is launching a new bakery called Porteur Breads. Porteur will be open beginning this Wednesday with bread, croissants, pastries, and Tandem espresso and drip coffee. Moving forward Porteur will be open Wednesday through Sunday, 7 am – 3 pm.
- Asia House Kitchen and Bar (instagram) are planning to open their Knightville restaurant in South Portland on November 21st. The restaurant is located in the former Judy Gibson space at 171 Ocean St. They’ll be serving a pan-Asian menu and will be open daily 11 am – 9 pm.
- The Sanford Springvale News has published a report on Flat Top Burgers (instagram) which opened in Sanford in late August.
- Belle Boulangerie in Hallowell will be teaching a trio of cooking classes this month on baguettes and sourdough, brioche and challah, and eclairs and dinner rolls.
- Eating Through The Seacoast has posted a look at the new Warren’s Seafood in Kittery. Warren’s relaunched in Kittery under new management with the name Warren’s Seafood and More (website, facebook, instagram). The menu includes a range of lobster dinners, fried seafood, sandwiches and appetizers like clam chowder, steamers and shrimp cocktail. They’re located at 11 Water Street.
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