Category: Openings

The Teal Duck (facebook, instagram) opened for business on Friday. The cocktail bar is located at 8 Exchange Street in the space formerly occupied by Portland Bar and Bites. The renovated 1,800 sq ft space includes bar, table and booth seating for ~70 people. Classic films are being screened on the back wall of the room—Saturday afternoon was a screening of I’ll Give Million from 1938.

Owner Brandon James Allegue and his team are serving a menu (see below) of house cocktails, draft beer, wine by the glass and bottle, and a selection of meat and cheese board options. Shown above is the Big Sexy World made with rum, fig syrup, lime juice and clarified with rhubarb and strawberry yogurt.

The Teal Duck will be open Monday through Saturday, 5 pm – 1 am.

Bad Neighbors (website, instagram) is holding their grand opening on Wednesday. It’s located in the Arts District at the corner of Congress and Brown Streets. The listening bar and restaurant is being launched by the owners of Arcadia—Dave Aceto, Nicole Costas and Dennis Gaines.

The former Soakology space has undergone a complete makeover and now features a mix of bar, table and booth seating with space for 75 including a counter wrapped around the dual turntable DJ space in the center of the room. Gaines created the sound design for the Bad Neighbors.

Costas has developed a bar menu (see below) with a selection of 15 cocktails like the Yacht Club Martini and The Neighbor’s Dog (both shown above) as well beer, wine by the glass, nonalcoholic cocktails and soft drinks. The excellent martini is made with Saint George Valley Gin, kombu vermouth, and avocado herbed oil.

Chef Erasmo Benavides along with consulting chef Evan Richardson developed the food menu. It offers a variety of small plates as well as “proper meals” like a french dip sandwhich and fried chicken dinner. The menu also includes a pancake with salted maple syrup for dessert. Shown above are the daily Cold Fish & Firecrackers prepared with bluefin tuna, and the Dressed Cucumbers plated with granny smith apples and a garlic chilli crisp dressing.

Starting next week Bad Neighbors will be open Wednesday through Sunday, 5 pm – midnight. While they’re not fully open until Wednesday, you can stop by this evening and Saturday for their soft opening hours, 6 pm – midnight.

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.

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.

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.

The Other Side Diner (facebook, instagram) is holding their grand reopening Saturday, August 1st. The diner is under the new ownership of 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 in the Portland area.

The layout of the room remains the same, and Washington and Dubois are taking a very similar approach with the menu (see below) continuing to serve dishes like the lamb gyro, Monte Cristo sandwich, falafel eggs benedict and pancakes. Other Side offers coffee, tea and other soft drinks as well as a selection of local beers, cider, kombucha and brunch drinks like mimosas. Dubois and Washington hope to eventually open the diner for dinner. Shown above are the turkey club sandwich and a side of Greek donuts.

The diner is located at 500 Washington Avenue and will be open Monday through Friday 8 am – 2 pm, and Saturday/Sunday 8 am – 3 pm.

Founders Peter and Jessica Sueltenfuss sold the business to Washington and Dubois in June. They initially opened it in April 2019.

A Somali restaurant called Zaitun (instagram) is under construction on Forest Ave in the building formerly occupied by Loco Taco. Owner Abdulrahman Idow plans to launch Zaitun this Saturday, August 1st at noon.

Idow hopes Zaitun can “be a place where people can experience authentic Somali cuisine, whether they’re reconnecting with the flavors of home or trying them for the very first time. We look forward to bringing our community together and introducing more of Maine to the rich culture of Somalia.”

The restaurant will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner (see menus below) with options like Hummus Oodkac (hummus topped with Somali spiced beef jerky), injera-based dishes prepared with chicken, lamb or vegetables, Channa Masala (chickpeas simmered in tomato and onion gravy with ginger, garlic, cumin and coriander), shwarma wraps, sambusas, and desserts.

Zaitun is located at 849 Forest Avenue and will be open Monday through Thursday, 9 am – 9 pm, and Friday/Saturday, 9 am – 11 pm.