Spartan Grill –> A Victory Cafe & Harbor Scoops

The Spartan Grill is expanding. Owner Mike Roylos has purchased Zarra’s, and plans on moving his sandwich stall from next door at the Public Market House into the coffee shop. The combined operation will be renamed A Victory Cafe. The change frees up some prime real estate on the first floor of the Market.
If that weren’t enough to keep him busy, Roylos is also opening the Harbor Scoops ice cream shop on the corner of Cumberland and Washington. Harbor scoops will be serving Smiling Hill Farms ice cream.

Spartan Grill –> A Victory Cafe & Harbor Scoops

The Spartan Grill is expanding. Owner Mike Roylos has purchased Zarra’s, and plans on moving his sandwich stall from next door at the Public Market House into the coffee shop. The combined operation will be renamed A Victory Cafe. The change frees up some prime real estate on the first floor of the Market.

If that weren’t enough to keep him busy, Roylos is also opening the Harbor Scoops ice cream shop on the corner of Cumberland and Washington. Harbor scoops will be serving Smiling Hill Farms ice cream.

Review of the Downtown Lounge

Portland Bar Guide has published a review of the Downtown Lounge, one of a trio of establishments owned by Norm Jabar (Norm’s Bar & Brill, Norm’s East End Grill, Downtown Lounge).

For such a small space, the skinny Lounge can generate a large experience. Unlike other neighborhood nooks, where folks of questionable odor can cramp easy, the ornate alley funnels its energy and celebrates its cozy confines with loud speakers.

More Press for Backyard Farms

Backyard Farms has been profiled in the new issue of Maine Ahead magazine.

What’s not to like about a tomato? It’s red-ripe and round, delicious and nutritious. You can’t make a BLT without the “T”. It’s the blood in a bloody Mary, the sauce on a pizza, the garnish on a backyard burger in the summertime. Cult movie history would be much different had a group of young filmmakers in the 1970s decided instead to make Attack of the Killer Cauliflowers.

This comes just a couple days after a feature article on Backyard Farms appeared in the New York Times.

Review of Pie in the Sky Pizza

The Press Herald has published a review of Pie in the Sky Pizza, the pocket sized pizzeria located on the second floor of the Public Market House.

I sampled the Margherita. I saw it being made, and sat by a window gazing onto Monument Square while it cooked. The crust was more like a bread than your average pizza crust. There were big dabs of fresh mozzarella melted onto the sauce, with tomato slices and a generous portion of basil leaves.

Overall it was a very nice, and filling, lunch for $5.50. I didn’t need one, but I also had a Big Sky oatmeal raisin cookie, which was the size of a small dinner plate.