Maine Food & Dining News: Topsham, Scarborough, South Portland, Kittery, Kennebunk, Ogunquit, Dresden Mills, Rockport, Bridgewater, Swanville, Freedom, Belfast, Wiscasset

| 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:

  • Knead & Nosh (website, facebook, instagram) launched their new Topsham bagel shop on Saturday. It’s located at 4 Bowdoin Mill Island and will initially be open Friday through Sunday 7:30 am – 2 pm. Owner Jeff Mao and his team produce a wide range of flavors from standards like poppyseed and sesame to house specials like Sichuan Dragon. The Knead & Nosh menu (see below) offers a variety of breakfast and lunch sandwiches as well as Dou Shao Bao and Char Siu Bao. Shown above are the Midcoast Heritage sandwich on a Sichuan Dragon bagel, and a photo of Mao and team member Caitlyn Laffley at the bagel shop on opening day.
  • A new Indian restaurant called Coastal Curry (website, instagram) is under construction in Scarborough. Owners Kiran Kumar Vellanki and David Patel hope to launch the business on Saturday August 15th. Cosastal Curry will specialize in South Indian cuisine like Hyderabad Dum Biryani and dosas, and will also offer some popular dishes from North India. They’re located at 300 Gallery Blvd, Unit B and they plan to be open Monday through Thursday 11 am – 2:30 pm and 4:30 – 10 pm, and Friday through Sunday 11 am – 10 pm.
  • Himalayas on the Bay (instagram) is planning to initially open this Friday, August 7th serving a limited menu. The restaurant is located in Knightville at 60 Ocean Street in the buidling formerly occupied by Taco Trio. It’s is being launched by owners Sachet Timilsina, Pushpa Regmi, and Dipesh Karki with chefs Raj Kumar Karki and Laxman Neupane. Watch for their grand opening announcement when the full menu of Nepali/Tibetan dishes will be available.
  • Maine Meat (website, facebook, instagram) has shared a look at the construction site for their new location. Owners Shannon Hill and Jarrod Spangler purchased the 3,400 sq ft former Best Auto space at 5 Whipple Road in Kittery. They anticipate relocating their butcher shop to there and opening a restaurant and bar on Whipple Street.
  • A launch party for Virginia Shaffer’s book Oyster Society is taking place at Lambs in South Portland on August 10th. “Part culinary adventure, part personal awakening—one woman’s story of how chasing oysters across North America led her to discover an entire hidden community and her own true path.” The book is being published by Islandport Press.
  • Wandering Lost and Hungry has published a field report from the new Kennebunk restaurant Signal (website, instagram). It is located at 27 Western Avenue in the building formerly occupied by Via Sophia by the Sea.
  • The Portsmouth Herald has a report on the relaunch of the Five-O restaurant in Ogunquit. Five-O had been put of commission by a fire in March 2025. They’ve relocated to the former Northern Union building and reopened in mid June.
  • The Lincoln County News reports that a new gluten-free cafe called the Tin Roof Diner (facebook) recently opened in Dresden Mills. The diner is located at 542 Gardiner Road, and is open Wednesday through Monday, 6 am. – 2 pm. According to the article, “Somerville resident Candice Kennedy is flipping the allergen script. Rather than offering a few options for gluten-free food, at Kennedy’s Tin Roof Diner in Dresden, customers have to specify if they want food containing gluten.”
  • The Pen Bay Pilot has published an article about the new Rockport coffee shop, Kiri Coffeehouse in Rockport. “Kirí typically offers two rotating specialty single-origin coffees. Depending on availability, they may feature coffees from Kenya, Ethiopia, Colombia, or other producing regions. Their program focuses on lighter roast profiles, highlighting the unique characteristics of each origin.”
  • The Bangor Daily News reports that a new restaurant called The Cooperage (facebook) opened in Bridgewater earlier this summer. Owners Joe Dube and Amanda Adams moved to Aroostook County from Worcester, Massachusetts “Dube and Adams are developing a new menu and there will be an entire poutine section, including the traditional, country fried chicken with sausage gravy and cheese curds that everyone has loved.”
  • The Midcoast Villager has published a feature on Niweskok (website, facebook, instagram), a multifaceted project being run by Wabanaki people in Swanville. The Villager has also publisher articles on the 50th anniversary of the Belfast Co-op (website, facebook, instagram) and an article about Vesper Bread (website, instagram) in Freedom.
  • The Lincoln County News reports that Jodie’s in Wiscasset has closed, “Closing Jodie’s Cafe and Bakery wasn’t simply closing a business. It felt like giving up a part of myself,” [Jodie] Roquemore said in the post. “This restaurant has been my heart, my dream, my stress, my pride, and my home for the last several years. Making the decision to let it go has honestly been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.”
  • Town & Country magazine has published A Snob’s Guide to Midcoast Maine.

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.

Sawyer’s to Open Friday

| Posted in Openings

The grand opening for Sawyer’s Butcher & Delicatessen (website, instagram) is set for Friday August 7th. Sawyer’s is whole animal butcher shop and counter service sandwich cafe with a small market offering grab and go items and pantry standards.

Owner Chris Wilcox leased the 4,606 sq ft former Thistle & Grouse space at 10 Cotton Street earlier this year and has renovated the first floor which now includes a large open kitchen, dry aging refrigerator, meat counter, market area and seating for customers enjoying one of their sandwiches on site. In addition to the 15-seat indoor seating area, Sawyer’s also has an enclosed patio.

The menu includes a selection of six sandwiches produced with housemade meats. Shown here is the rosemary ham and cheese sandwich, and the house salad.

Wilcox is exclusively sourcing animals from Maine farms tapping into the relationships he’s built over the past decade of working as a chef. He’s developed an in-house charcuterie program that will produce prepared meats like mortadella, pates, and terrines.

Wilcox formerly owned and operated Judy Gibson in South Portland, and previously had been the chef de cuisine at Eventide.

Sawyer’s will be open Wednesday through Saturday 11 am – 6 pm, and Sunday 10 am – 4 pm.

Pho Viet on Forest Ave

| Posted in Openings

Pho Viet Restaurant opened last Friday. They’re located at 865 Forest Ave in the space formerly occupied by Mekong Asian Bistro. The restaurant features a bar and dining room overlooking Forest Ave as well as a second upper level dining area. They’re open daily, 11 am – 9 pm.

Owner Chau Dang and his team serve 10 different types of pho (vegetable, tofu, seafood, rare steak, etc), several other soups like Bun Bo Hue as well as a wide range of noodle salads, noodle and rice dishes, and stir fries. Shown above are a big bowl of shrimp pho, and a plate of the chicken spring rolls.

Picnic at Belleflower Brewing

| Posted in Openings

Belleflower Brewing has launched a food truck called Picnic at their location on Cove Street in East Bayside.

Picnic will be serving a menu (see below) of sandwiches, burgers, lobster rolls, salads and fries. Paul Baldacci, formerly with the Mama’s Baldacci’s food truck, is operating the truck for Belleflower.

Watch for Picnic to be open Monday through Thursday,  2 – 7 pm.

Upcoming Food & Dining Events

| Posted in Events

Friday – MOFGA will be at the Bold magazine shop for the release of their book Fifty Years of Common Ground: The Posters of the Common Ground Country Fair.

Sunday – Bakery Mari is celebrating the 2026 fruit season with the 2nd Annual Fruit Forward market.

August 13 – Twelve is serving a 5-course dinner featuring nightshades.

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

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 12 – Orange Bike Brewing is hosting a Gluten-Free Market & Expo.

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 collaborating 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 are taking place in Portland.

October 11 – Chef and author Erin French will be speaking at the State Theatre. The $50 tickets include a copy of her The Lost Kitchen: Seize the Supper.

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: August 2026

| Posted in Real Estate

Welcome to the August 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).

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).

201 Federal St – The 2,300 sq ft space with a patio in the Casco building formerly occupied by Milly’s Market is available for $25/sq ft (MG). The building owners are seeking a business to open a market in that space. Contact Sasha Phillips for more information (sphillips@boulos.com, 860-387-3408).

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).

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).

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.

1435 Forest Ave – The 2,910 sq ft former Fortune Garden building is for sale for $550,000.

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. The Portsmout Herald reports that Bandaloop property is under contract and the sale expected to close later this year.

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.

53 Pleasant St, Lubec – The 400 sq ft former Morano’s Authentic Pizza building is for sale for $349,900.

74 Carry Rd, Oquossoc – Portage Tap House is for sale for $1.9M.

200 US Route One, Scarborough – The 1,421 sq ft space formerly occupied by The Cheese Iron is available.

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.