Judy Gibson chef/owner Chris Wilcox has announced he’ll be permanently closing the South Portland restaurant. November 19th will be their last day in business.
I cannot begin to express the sadness I feel as I write this. The last four years of my life have been wholly dedicated to Judy Gibson. We opened on March 4th of 2020 and were forced to close ten days later because of the global pandemic. We lost 80% of our operating capital in those first four months. Once we were able to open again for outdoor dining we saw a strong surge in revenue and had a great summer to help keep us pushing through. We did not receive any large federal financial assistance and have been riding the highs and lows of seasonality in Maine ever since. We’ve fried chicken and made corndogs to allow for Judy Gibson to continue as we always wanted to be. This past summer was good, but not good enough to sustain us through the slower months of winter. The decision to close now is so that we can guarantee that our staff can get paid while they figure out what is next and that all of our vendors are paid in full. All gift cards with remaining balances after we close will also be reimbursed in full.
The Maine Sunday Telegram selected Judy Gibson as the Best New Restaurant of 2021 and restaurant critic Andrew Ross gave it a four star rating (excellent) in a review in 2022.