Category: Closings

Cellardoor Winery has announced that they’re closing their Portland tasting room. Their last day in business will be this Sunday.

Their main location in Lincolnville will remain in operation is scheduled to open on Mother’s Day weekend.

Broadway Bowl (website, facebook, instagram) is closing. Their last day in business will be May 17th.

Owner Charlie Mitchell published a statement that reads in part,

After a great deal of thought, we’ve made the difficult decision to close Broadway Bowl at the end of this year’s bowling season. Our final day of operation will be May 17th.

Running a business is a lot like bowling—there are fist-pumping strikes, stubborn splits, and yes, the occasional gutterball. The past few years have brought a little bit of everything. Like many small businesses we’ve been navigating a challenging and unpredictable economic moment, and not every roll has landed where we hoped.

Photos: from November 2023 when Broadway Bowl opened for business.

Il Leone chef/owner Ben Wexler-Waite has announced that his Peaks Island open air pizzeria will not be in operation this season.

We are saddened to share that we will no longer be operating our seasonal summer pop-up at our original Peaks Island location in Maine due to unforeseen circumstances with the site beyond the control of both us and our Landlord the Lions Club.

The Lion’s Club, who have been Il Leone’s landlords on the island, shared,

Due to unforeseen circumstances beyond either parties’ control, we are sorry to see il Leone leave the Club and Peaks Island but are heartened that the business will live on in other forms and forever remain associated to us through its name. We wish il Leone the best in their next chapter. As always, we will continue to support our community and the public through our community burger nights, grants, and scholarships. We warmly invite everyone to join us for these wonderful community events.

Wexler-Waite indicated he’s searching for a spot in Maine to relocate Il Leone to, “[We] are considering a new potential seasonal pop-up location, and encourage those with ideas for potential partnership or collaboration to reach out.”

Il Leone launched on Peaks in the summer of 2021, and last year the businesses expanded with a second location in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn.

Novel has announced that their bookstore/cafe/bar will be going out of business. Their last day in operation will be April 17th. Their statement read in part,

Every great story must come to an end. Novel will be closing at the end of the day on April 17th. It has been our great pleasure to serve Portland as a safe third space. We are grateful for the characters that have helped us make this place a community. While our story may be ending, we know that the bonds made here will live on. Help us celebrate the end of our story by sharing yours: share your best moment at Novel with us in the comments.

For more on the closure read this article in the Press Herald.

Vince Maniaci and Jill Dutton have announced they’ll be closing their Scarborough market and cheese shop, The Cheese Iron. Their last day in business will be May 16th.

Their announcement reads in part,

After 20 years of opening, owning and running The Cheese Iron our lease is up at the end of May. After long consideration, we have decided it is time to close the store, and our last day will be Saturday, May 16th.

We want to thank our customers, many of whom have been coming here since the start. Owning a business is a lot of hard work and sacrifice, but what makes it all worth while is our customers, our beloved cheese makers and our vendors. We truly love our community and have loved connecting with you all, and talking about food all these years.

Most importantly we want to thank all of our employees who have worked with us the last 20 years. This store would not have run without their hard work, great customer service and their ability to spread happiness to all that walked into our store. We learned as much from them as they did from us.

Dutton and Maniaci launched The Cheese Iron in August 2006.

Brant Dadaleares has announced the closure of Gross Bakery. This Sunday will be Gross’s last day in business.

For the past seven years, it’s been a pleasure serving the Portland community. We’re incredibly grateful for all of the support and for everyone who has stopped in along the way.

Gross initially opened on January 4, 2019, with the bakery part of the business coming online in July of the same year. Earlier this year Dadaleares shutdown the dessert bar part of the business to focus on operating the bakery.

Blue Lobster Urban Winery (website, facebook,  instagram) closed down their East Bayside tasting room on Saturday. They plan to continue their wine making operations for sale to retail shops and to be served at restaurants and bars.

BLUW was founded in 2017 and for 7 years had been located in the Rockingham Electric building before opening the tasting room in the summer of 2024.