Portland Food Map

10/16/2026

This week’s Maine Food & Dining Report includes word of Crouse House Coffee Roasters’s plans to open a cafe☕️ on Lisbon Street (photo below) in Lewiston, a new Maine Grains Miller’s Table cafe🌾 under construction at Colby College in Waterville, the upcoming closure (October 30th) of Back River Bistro in Wiscasset, a Native American Heritage Celebration Dinner being prepared by chef Joe Robbins in Bangor on November 21st, and other news and information from Old Orchard Beach, Kittery, Yarmouth, Freedom, Van Buren and Oxford. Visit our website (link in profile) to read the full article for all the details.

10/14/2026

The Veranda Group has leased the space at 425 Fore Street next to Barkada where they plan to open Veranda Kitchen & Bar. They shared in a city permit application that the new restaurant will “operate as a full-service, sit-down restaurant, offering our established menu of Thai, Vietnamese, and Asian-inspired cuisine.”

Hai Pham and Sonka Nguyen have operated a Veranda Kitchen & Bar in Westbrook for more than a decade. They hope to launch the 38-seat Portland edition later this year and be open daily for lunch and dinner.

Nguyen and Pham launched their first restaurant, Veranda Thai, in April 2008, followed by Veranda Noodle Bar in 2009, Veranda Market in 2013 and have opened several other restaurants.

The space they’re moving into on Fore Street had been leased by 66S Fusion in 2016 and undergone a full buildout but the business never launched.

10/07/2026

This week’s Maine Food & Dining Report includes word of the upcoming closures of Home Kitchen Cafe in Rockland (right) and Corner Bar in Rangeley (left), links to a Scientific American article about the identification of a rare apple tree🍎🌳 on Verona Island and a Tomato Tomato article about The Alna Store, word of a new coffee shop in Boothbay (Grounded coffee) and a book bar📚🍻 under construction in Bangor (The Fireheart Tavern, LLC), details on the 2nd Annual Bagel-Off🥯 and Brunswick W**e Week🍷, and additional news from Skowhegan, S**o, New Harbor, Waterboro, Westbrook, Biddeford. Visit our website (link in profile) to read the article for all the details.

10/06/2026

Joceline Lesso has leased the former Tokyo Sushi Ramen space at 11 Brown Street where she plans to open Chez Biso. The name of the 26-seat restaurant means “at our home” in the Lingala language.

Lesso shared her plan is for Chez Biso to serve “organic and delicious African Food for take-out and sit-down dining [to] both African immigrants and non-immigrants alike. Our vision is to serve meals with fresh, organic ingredients in a dining atmosphere that reminds all our diners of Africa.” She hopes Chez Biso can become the “flagship restaurant in Portland for African cuisine.”

The menu (see website linked to below for full menu) features Congolese dishes like Ntaba na Kwanga (sauteed goat with steamed casava bread), smoked fish stew, and Pondu (slow cooked casava leaves) as well as some popular local dishes like fish and chips, hamburgers and grilled cheese sandwiches. The restaurant received City Council approval last night for a full liquor license.

Lesso hopes to launch the restaurant October 17th and plans to be open daily noon to 10 pm.

See full menu here: https://chezbisorestaurant.com/menu

10/02/2026

Hannah Maltby and Cathy Hayward are leasing a 627 sq ft space in the Equality Commons building on Casco Street where they plan to launch The Cafe by Twin Tide. The menu is still under development but is expected to include grab-and-go soups🥣, salads🥗, sandwiches🥪, and baked goods like cookies, brownies, blondies, muffins, whoopies, and pie.

Hayward and Maltby look forward to being a resource to the building residents as well as office workers and people who live in the area. They plan to be open from breakfast through to 6 pm. They hope to launch the cafe before the end of the year.

Hayward and Maltby launched Twin Tide Kitchen this summer and since July have operated The Hut by Twin Tide on Commercial Street serving sandwiches, salads, baked goods, ice cream and drinks.

09/30/2026

The James Beard Foundation has kicked-off the 2027 Awards process with an Open Call for recommendations from the general public and industry professionals.

You can learn more about the process, read through the award categories and find a link to send in your recommendations in this article below.

The James Beard Foundation has launched their annual Open Call for the 2027 Beard Awards (facebook | instagram). Recommendations from the general public, industry professionals, and regional judges are considered by the awards subcommittee as they put together the list of semifinalists for each year...

09/28/2026

This week’s Maine Food & Dining Report includes word of the relaunch of Sonder & Dram🍸 in Lewiston and Rift Arcade🕹️ in Biddeford, of the opening of The Mustard Public House in Buxton, of The Kingtide restaurant under development in Freeport and a second location for Ani's Bagel Cafe🥯 under construction in Wells. It also shares news about the Maine Canned Fish cannery in Topsham, a Champagne🍾 dinner taking place at Aragosta in October, and additional reports from Brunswick, Kennebunk, Auburn, South Portland, Gardiner, and Cumberland. Visit our website (link in profile) to read the article for all the details.

09/26/2026

Georgia Macon has launched her bakery cafe Mère today. It’s located at 204 Gray Road in Cumberland across the street from Skillins Greenhouses.

She describes Mère as a “a technique-driven comfort bakery” making the “best possible version of foods people already know and love…we do not bow to topical trends, and we do not fear butter.”

The bakery menu (see below) includes naturally leavened breads, pastries, cakes, cardamon buns and a full brewed and espresso-based coffee program. Beans for the drip coffee are sourced from Coffee by Design, and espresso☕️ drinks will be made with coffee from Townie Coffee Roasters. Shown here are the pain au chocolat and a cortado.

The savory menu includes options like a turkey pesto sandwich🥪 and baby gem and buttermilk salad (shown below), farro verde, croque madame, quiche lorraine and a ploughman’s sandwich on sprouted rye.

Macon and her team have renovated the 2,000 sq ft building with seating for ~30 people as well as a small market that sells b**r, w**e, house-made jams and preserves, take-and-bake meals, and pantry staples. Mère is open daily 7 am – 7 pm.

Macon was formerly the executive pastry chef for the Prentice Hospitality Group. She attend Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, and worked at Tartine Bakery in San Francisco and was part of the team that launched Tartine Manufactory. In 2023 she was recognized as a Rising Star Pastry Chef by Star Chefs.

09/22/2026

This week’s Maine Food & Dining Report includes word of a new Harvest Moon Delis under construction in Auburn, news that speakers at the upcoming TedX Coopers Mills conference will include chefs Paolo Laboa and Melissa Kelly, oyster farmer Sadia Crosby and land farmer Anson Biller, the closure of the Portland Pie Company - Westbrook location in Westbrook, Color Field Coffee Co.’s plans to open a second cafe in Edgecomb next year, links to articles about Knead & Nosh, Maine Ocean BUZZ coffee•house , and Mel's Hilltop Restaurant, and information on several upcoming food events in Biddeford, Brunswick, Lewiston and a bartending class taking place in Waterville this fall. Visit our website (link in profile) to read the article for all the details.

09/16/2026

A fast casual cafe called Oat Mode is under construction at 25 Pearl Street in the space that a few years ago had been home to a Subway sandwich shop.

Owners Kevin MacDonald and Brie O’Malley plan to serve a menu of oatmeal and yogurt bowls, and smoothies all of which can be customized with a wide variety of mix-ins like blackberries, kale, dates, almonds, mint, honey, cacao nibs, flaxseeds and granola.

The ~30-seat cafe is under construction. O’Malley and MacDonald hope to launch Oat Mode sometime in November. When they do, it will be open Monday through Friday 7 am – 2 pm, and Saturdays and Sundays 8 am – 1 pm.