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New food and dining developments are taking place all across Maine. Here are some recent updates to keep you in the know:
- Knead & Nosh (website, facebook, instagram) launched their new Topsham bagel shop on Saturday. It’s located at 4 Bowdoin Mill Island and will initially be open Friday through Sunday 7:30 am – 2 pm. Owner Jeff Mao and his team produce a wide range of flavors from standards like poppyseed and sesame to house specials like Sichuan Dragon. The Knead & Nosh menu (see below) offers a variety of breakfast and lunch sandwiches as well as Dou Shao Bao and Char Siu Bao. Shown above are the Midcoast Heritage sandwich on a Sichuan Dragon bagel, and a photo of Mao and team member Caitlyn Laffley at the bagel shop on opening day.
- A new Indian restaurant called Coastal Curry (website, instagram) is under construction in Scarborough. Owners Kiran Kumar Vellanki and David Patel hope to launch the business on Saturday August 15th. Cosastal Curry will specialize in South Indian cuisine like Hyderabad Dum Biryani and dosas, and will also offer some popular dishes from North India. They’re located at 300 Gallery Blvd, Unit B and they plan to be open Monday through Thursday 11 am – 2:30 pm and 4:30 – 10 pm, and Friday through Sunday 11 am – 10 pm.
- Himalayas on the Bay (instagram) is planning to initially open this Friday, August 7th serving a limited menu. The restaurant is located in Knightville at 60 Ocean Street in the buidling formerly occupied by Taco Trio. It’s is being launched by owners Sachet Timilsina, Pushpa Regmi, and Dipesh Karki with chefs Raj Kumar Karki and Laxman Neupane. Watch for their grand opening announcement when the full menu of Nepali/Tibetan dishes will be available.
- Maine Meat (website, facebook, instagram) has shared a look at the construction site for their new location. Owners Shannon Hill and Jarrod Spangler purchased the 3,400 sq ft former Best Auto space at 5 Whipple Road in Kittery. They anticipate relocating their butcher shop to there and opening a restaurant and bar on Whipple Street.
- A launch party for Virginia Shaffer’s book Oyster Society is taking place at Lambs in South Portland on August 10th. “Part culinary adventure, part personal awakening—one woman’s story of how chasing oysters across North America led her to discover an entire hidden community and her own true path.” The book is being published by Islandport Press.
- Wandering Lost and Hungry has published a field report from the new Kennebunk restaurant Signal (website, instagram). It is located at 27 Western Avenue in the building formerly occupied by Via Sophia by the Sea.
- The Portsmouth Herald has a report on the relaunch of the Five-O restaurant in Ogunquit. Five-O had been put of commission by a fire in March 2025. They’ve relocated to the former Northern Union building and reopened in mid June.
- The Lincoln County News reports that a new gluten-free cafe called the Tin Roof Diner (facebook) recently opened in Dresden Mills. The diner is located at 542 Gardiner Road, and is open Wednesday through Monday, 6 am. – 2 pm. According to the article, “Somerville resident Candice Kennedy is flipping the allergen script. Rather than offering a few options for gluten-free food, at Kennedy’s Tin Roof Diner in Dresden, customers have to specify if they want food containing gluten.”
- The Pen Bay Pilot has published an article about the new Rockport coffee shop, Kiri Coffeehouse in Rockport. “Kirí typically offers two rotating specialty single-origin coffees. Depending on availability, they may feature coffees from Kenya, Ethiopia, Colombia, or other producing regions. Their program focuses on lighter roast profiles, highlighting the unique characteristics of each origin.”
- The Bangor Daily News reports that a new restaurant called The Cooperage (facebook) opened in Bridgewater earlier this summer. Owners Joe Dube and Amanda Adams moved to Aroostook County from Worcester, Massachusetts “Dube and Adams are developing a new menu and there will be an entire poutine section, including the traditional, country fried chicken with sausage gravy and cheese curds that everyone has loved.”
- The Midcoast Villager has published a feature on Niweskok (website, facebook, instagram), a multifaceted project being run by Wabanaki people in Swanville. The Villager has also publisher articles on the 50th anniversary of the Belfast Co-op (website, facebook, instagram) and an article about Vesper Bread (website, instagram) in Freedom.
- The Lincoln County News reports that Jodie’s in Wiscasset has closed, “Closing Jodie’s Cafe and Bakery wasn’t simply closing a business. It felt like giving up a part of myself,” [Jodie] Roquemore said in the post. “This restaurant has been my heart, my dream, my stress, my pride, and my home for the last several years. Making the decision to let it go has honestly been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.”
- Town & Country magazine has published A Snob’s Guide to Midcoast Maine.
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For a statewide guide to eating and drinking see the Maine Food Map—a growing list of coffee shops, bars, restaurants, bakeries, cafes, plus other food and dining businesses in all of Maine’s 16 counties.