Category: Closings

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.

Chef/owner Betsy Spinillo has announced she’s closing down her restaurant Quanto Basta. You can see her full statement on this instagram post. It reads in-part,

5 years ago, I had an idea for a food truck. It was fulfilling and exciting, and I wanted more. 3 years ago, I had an even crazier idea and got to work on opening up this little pizzeria. It has been successful beyond my expectations, wildly exhausting, and endlessly inspiring. But something inside of me changed this past year. The things that 1 loved most about being a sole-owner/ operator, the drive that once sustained me and gave me the energy every day to show up and be the right kind of boss, friend, server. listener, maker, greeter, educator – it was waning.

It was becoming harder and harder to live up to the expectations / had set for myself in this space, and harder to push away the nagging voice in my head that was telling me that somethings got to give…Throughout my time here in Portland, both personally and professionally, I’ve learned how incredibly important it is to honor that voice. It has guided me towards making some of the most profound decisions that have led to an even truer, richer life than I could have ever imagined for myself…

Spinillo also wrote that, “On February 1st, 249 Congress St. will have a new tenant, but I will let them share that news with you all when they are ready. What I can say is that I feel incredibly honored that they were interested in taking over my space, with that beautiful oven being put to use in ways you have yet to see…”

Spinillo launched the Quanto Basta food truck in 2021. The Quanto Basta restaurant launched in July 2023. The Maine Sunday Telegram gave Quanto Basta 4 star rating.

Don Lindgren has announced he’ll be winding down the Rabelais pop-up bookstore on Washington Ave. Rabelais will be open daily 10 – 5—except Christmas and New Year’s Day—through their last day of operations on January 4th.

When we opened the tiny shop on Washington Avenue in July of 2024, we expected it to be a short-lived pop-up with just a three-month life span. That first few months we had so many great conversations and saw so many friendly faces that we extended our lease an extra fifteen months through the end of this year. The conversations and friends old and new have continued but we’re looking forward to getting back to the cataloguing desk and concentrating on the rare books and our private and institutional clients.

Rabelais will continue selling rare culinary books and ephemera privately, at book fairs, and online at www.rabelaisbooks.com.

Taking over the Rabelais spot on Washington Ave will be Total Loss Books (instagram) which will be run by longtime Rabelais staff member Emma Cousins and by Sam Wells.

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.