Category: Openings

The Rooting Pig (website, facebook, instagram) is set to re-open on Thursday, July 9th. The farm-to-table restaurant is located in a renovated barn at Broad Arrow Farm in Bristol.

Owners Dan and Maggy Sullivan shared,

We’re excited to welcome the community back to Broad Arrow Farm. Our goal has always been to reconnect our guests to their food: how it’s raised, how it tastes, and, perhaps most importantly, how it’s shared. The farm’s relaxed, pastoral setting is integral to that goal. The barn restoration complements the outdoor dining, and allows us to remain open year-round. We invite people to slow down and stay awhile: eat and drink the bounty Maine has to offer, visit with the pigs and turkeys, bring the kids and pooch (outside) and enjoy a lawn game or hand of cribbage.

The Rooting Pig now seats 50 people indoors with a mix of table, bar and lounge seating plus a 30-seat screened-in dining area as well as an outdoor bar and tables with room for several dozen more.

Chef/butcher Red Hauge and his team are serving a menu that taps into meats from Broad Arrow and locally sourced produce and seafood. His approach is expected to “center on thoughtful whole-animal utilization, seasonal Maine ingredients, preservation techniques, and rustic cooking”. Shown above are the butcher board, market salad, and the tuna carpaccio served at a soft opening over the weekend. Hauge’s resume includes working at Publican Quality Meats in Chicago and Rialto in Cambridge. Most recently he worked at Bleeker & Greer in Rockport.

The beverage menu created by The Rooting Pig’s general manager and beverage director, Hugh Crickmore, includes cocktails, draft beer, cider, seltzer, nonalcoholic options, wines by the glass and a bottle list of primarily old world wines. Crickmore’s resume includes running the bar programs at Diner and at Blanca and Roberta’s.

Colocated at The Rooting Pig is an in-house market run by Ginger Dermott which features wine, beer, locally produced foods and cheeses as well as meats and charcuterie from the Broad Arrow Farm.

The restaurant and market will initially be open Thursday through Sunday, noon – 7 pm. Reservations are available on Resy.

Here’s a look at the wine list and abbreviated version of the menu served at a soft opening over the weekend. Hauge will be expanding the menu, check The Rooting Pig’s social media accounts later this week and in the future for the latest version.

The Velvet Dog (facebook, instagram) has opened for business. The 70-seat restaurant and bar is located at 24 Preble Street next to Dutch’s and across the street from Za Pizza. They’re open Wednesday through Sunday, 3 – 9 pm, and until 10 pm on Friday and Saturday.

Chef Matt Burns and his family are serving a menu (see below) of small plates like fried sardines and corn ribs, entrees like the grilled white fish with butter bean and sausage ragu shown above. The bar menu includes wines by the glass ($9) and bottle ($32), beer, seltzer, cider, non-alcoholic drinks and a selection of classic cocktails. Shown here are the Paper Plane and Almond Sour.

Burns has has worked at a number of Portland area restaurants including Nonesuch River Brewing in Scarborough, and most recently Paper City Barbecue and Legends Rest in Westbrook. He envisions The Velvet Dog as a restaurant for local residents. “We are here for the people of Portland. Tourists are nice but I care about the people in the apartments next door, the industry workers and the people that commute in and out of this town a lot more. I want those people to always feel welcome and to get to know us as we know them.”

It’s a banner year for new food trucks. In addition to the two Ugly Duckling trucks (1, 2), Terlingua Sidecar at Oxbow, and Reef’s Real Fruit Ice Cream at Rising Tide, there are three other food trucks to tell you about:

Sammy’s Scoops (instagram) on Ocean Street has launched a new food truck on Washington Avenue. They’re located in the parking lot next to Sissle & Daughters. Hours will be Monday through Thursday, noon –8 pm and Friday through Sunday, noon –9 pm.

Matcha Mood on Congress Street has launched a food truck called Matcha Mood on the Go (instagram). You can find them today on the Western Prom near Maine Med.

Hank & Arties (instagram) is soon to launch a second food truck. When it does you will be able to find them alongside the Bard Coffee and Not a Bakery food truck near Twelve and Eastern Prom walking trail.

For daily accurate tracking of all food trucks in Portland download the Food Truckalico app.

Barkada (website, instagram) is opening for business on Saturday May 30th. The new Filipino fast casual restaurant is located at 425 Fore Street in the space formerly occupied by Paper Tiger. It will be open Tuesday through Sunday, 11 am – 9 pm and until 10 pm on Fridays and Saturdays.

Chefs Nicole and Ben Bowers and business partners Margaret and Luka Dow are serving a menu house designed bowls like the Spicy Baddie shown above as well as a Build Your Own option where customers select a base of grain or greens, a protein, toppings and sauce. Lumpia rolls and a noodle dish called pancit are available as sides.  In addition to soft drinks Barkada also serves an ube pina colada slush, and Singha, Tsingtao and Sapporo beer.

Nicole and Ben Bowers are the chefs for Barkada. Nicole Bowers is originally from the Philippines. She and Ben Bowers met while attending the Institute of Culinary Education in NY. They’ve worked in Michelin-starred restaurants including for Daniel Boulud. Prior to moving to Maine they worked as private chefs in Florida. The Dows also have a background in the hospitality industry including operating a cafe in Boston and in food distribution.

Barkada initially launched as a food truck late last June.

Isaac MacDougal has announced he’s relaunching Cocktail Mary (instagram). It will now be located at 30 Market Street on the third floor of the building above Oun Lido’s. Cocktail Mary will initially be open Fridays and Saturdays at 9 pm. In June MacDougal expect to expand the hours of operation to Thursday through Saturday, 5 pm – 1 am.

In an interview with the Press Herald, MacDougal shared,

“One of the thing that’s important about having queer spaces is the broader community coming in and experiencing queer joy,” he said. “I don’t want to be a gatekeeper. I want everyone to feel comfortable coming in and being a part of what we’re building here.”

Cocktail Mary first launched at 229 Congress Street in 2019 and MacDougal closed that location in January 2025.