#moxie is massachusett's state soda
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#darkacademia #boston #janeausten #hermanmelville #evil #chaoticacademia #bostoncore #yankeessuck #edgarallenpoe #words #writing #ink #ivy #hedonism #persephony
#moxie is massachusett's state soda#shitpost#waiting for the bus drinkin a can of warm moxie#bostoncore#and i had a joke in mind and i did it
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Moxie is a brand of carbonated beverage that is among the first mass-produced soft drinks in the United States. It was created around 1876 by Augustin Thompson as a patent medicine called "Moxie Nerve Food"[2] and was produced in Lowell, Massachusetts.[3] The sweet soda is similar to root beer, with a bitter aftertaste.[4] It is flavored with gentian root extract, an extremely bitter substance commonly used in herbal medicine.
Moxie was designated the official soft drink of Maine on May 10, 2005.[5] It continues to be regionally popular today, particularly in New England states.[6] It was previously produced by the Moxie Beverage Company of Bedford, New Hampshire, until Moxie was purchased by The Coca-Cola Company in 2018.[7]
The name has become the word "moxie" in American English, a noun meaning energy, determination, and spunk.[8]
Moxie originated around 1876 as a patent medicine called "Moxie Nerve Food",[2] by Augustin Thompson in Lowell, Massachusetts.[3] Thompson claimed that it contained an extract from a rare, unnamed South American plant, which is now known to be gentian root.[9][10] Moxie, he claimed, was especially effective against "paralysis, softening of the brain, nervousness, and insomnia".[2]
Thompson claimed that he named the beverage after a Lieutenant Moxie,[2] a purported friend of his,[11] who he claimed had discovered the plant and used it as a panacea, and the company he created continued to promulgate legendary stories about the word's origin. It likely derives from an Abenaki word that means "dark water" and that is found in lake and river names in Maine, where Thompson was born and raised.[12]
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Maine for the state personas, please?
ooo sure ! i don't have quite as much as i'd like to have on her, but she was fun to design.
her human name is dorothea de champlain, but she sometimes goes by just thea. she stands at 5'4 1/2 or 164 cm in height, and she's blonde with deep green eyes and pale skin. her hair is just slightly wavy and goes down a few inches past her shoulders, and she rarely puts it up.
she speaks english, french and a few indigenous languages fluently. she speaks some spanish, but isn't fluent in the language.
she is completely unaffected by the cold, and has worn shorts and a tee shirt in 45 degree (7 celsius) weather before. she's friends with canada (and likely a province or two of his).
in terms of personality, maine is kind, hardworking, quiet, reserved, slightly standoffish, creative, polite, practical, generous and honest. she's very good with her hands and tends to be self-sufficient. she's used to being alone, so she doesn't always do well around crowds or lots of people. she enjoys her alone time, but she also enjoys quality time with few people around. she's good at dealing with wild animals, especially moose. she has a slight accent that isn't always super noticeable. she tends to dress for comfort and warmth over style, and doesn't have a good fashion sense. she tends to wear whatever's practical. she's friends with new hampshire and vermont, and she's frenemies with massachusetts.
she likes flannel, lobster, seafood, moxie soda, winter, the cold, snow, whoopie pies, L.L. Bean, ATVs, blueberries, molasses, maple syrup, the outdoors and being outdoors. her main hobbies are skiing, snowboarding, reading and rollerblading. she owns four houses, including two cabins that she spends most of her time at. she spends the most time at her cabin in Lincoln.
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I just realized moxxie name is a joke. moxxie being a term for courage and also
Moxie is a brand of carbonated beverage that is among the first mass-produced soft drinks in the United States. It was created around 1876 by Augustin Thompson as a patent medicine called "Moxie Nerve Food"[2] and was produced in Lowell, Massachusetts.[3] The sweet soda is similar to root beer, with a bitter aftertaste.[4] It is flavored with gentian root extract, an extremely bitter substance commonly used in herbal medicine.
Moxie was designated the official soft drink of Maine on May 10, 2005.[5] It continues to be regionally popular today, particularly in New England states.[6] It was previously produced by the Moxie Beverage Company of Bedford, New Hampshire until Moxie was purchased by The Coca-Cola Company in 2018.[7]
Huh. Neat.
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Some Maine Facts
Maine is the only state that has a state soda: Moxie
One of 3 states to have a state cat: The Maine Coon. Others are Maryland (Calico Cat) and Massachusetts (Tabby Cat).
Maine is the only state to have declared war on a foreign power (The Aroostook War)
Maine has the highest percentage of unorganized territory in the U.S., with 45.5% of the state being unorganized (Meaning no local government, just the state government.)
Maine is one of only two states that can split their electoral votes, the other being Nebraska. Both have done it once, Nebraska in 2008 during Obama vs McCain, with Obama getting one and McCain getting four. Maine, though they had the law longer, didn’t split until 2016, Clinton vs Trump, giving Clinton 3 votes and Trump 1.
Maine has the densest Moose population of the lower 48 States plus Hawai’i. Alaska is the only state with a denser population.
Maine is the only state to border only one other state, that being New Hampshire.
Maine has more shoreline than California. This is due to the various islands and inlets. If measured ‘bird’s eye’, it’s less, but not by much. If inlets and islands are included, Maine has the fourth longest coastline in the United States.
The first lighthouse built under the the U.S. Government was the Portland Headlight, in Cape Elizabeth. Maine has the second most lighthouses in the States, with 80 total.
Maine is the largest producer of wild blueberries in the WORLD!
Maine is the only state who’s name is only one syllable.
Eastport is the eastern most city in America, Lubec is the eastern most town. They are the first to see the sunrise.
Bath is known as ‘The City of Ships’
Maine is the largest New England state. It makes up almost half of the total area of New England. Aroostook County alone is larger than the combined area of Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Maine and New Hampshire are the only New England states not described as ‘strongly democrat’, with New Hampshire being a ‘swing state’ and Maine ‘leaning democrat’. Mainers tend to accept independent/third party more often than any other state.
Maine was one of the first states to legalize same-sex marriage by popular vote. It shares this with Maryland and Washington. The first marriage under the law was in Portland.
The county seat in York County is Alfred, Maine. No, I’m not kidding.
The smallest town in Maine is Frye Island, which has a 0 year round population. NYC alone has about 6 times the population of Maine.
Around 90 percent of the Nation’s Lobster is caught off the coast of Maine.
Acadia National Park is the second most visited national park in the United States.
Around 42% of the state’s total is state and national parks.
One of only two New England states without an official state tartan, the other being Vermont.
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Culture Shock
Okay, so because of a conversation I had with @gracieminabox about Phil Boyce, I had this little idea stuck in my head. I absolutely love the idea of Phil coming from my home state (and from the area I spent a considerable amount of my childhood, no less), so I’m keeping it.
Summary: Phil goes to Boston for med school and during the first week there, notices quite a few differences between his hometown of Waterville, Maine and the massive New England city.
Characters: Phil Boyce
Length: 689 words
Not even close to a comprehensive list on the differences between Maine and Massachusetts. We used to be the same state, but we’re nowhere near being the same state.
I more just needed enough for a quick catch-up convo between siblings who haven’t lived more than half an hour away from each other since they were born.
It’s not really even that big as far as cities go, but Boston was worlds away from Augusta or even Portland in terms of size. The towering buildings dotted every inch of the skyline as Phil approached from I-95, gazing out over the water from where the shuttle sat stuck in traffic on the Tobin Bridge.
He was cutting it all pretty close with only a few days to settle into his shared apartment, officially meet his new roommates, and learn the best train route from his apartment to campus. Originally, he planned to get there at least a week before classes were set to start, but the tantrum his oldest niece threw when she found out he was leaving the state took days to soothe. She only stopped with the hysterics when he promised weekly video calls.
Really, he only had himself to blame according to his sister. He was the one who spoiled her. In a million years, Phil would never say that was a bad thing even with the proof wailing (quite literally) in his face.
The first week was a trial. Actually… Trial was too mild a term. The entire week was a test of his determination and character. By the time he was waiting for Sarah to pick up the phone, he was beyond exhausted. It was only the excited voice of the 3-year-old Olivia exclaiming, “Unca Phil!” that finally gave him the shot of second hand energy needed to grace her with a warm smile.
“Hey there, munchkin! You having a good week?”
“Uh-huh.” She immediately launched into a disorganized toddler babble about everything she did (real or imagined) during the week he’d been gone. He indulged her with surprised gasps and exaggerated ‘really?’s until she seemed to ramble herself into a light doze.
Sarah released the breath she’d probably been holding since he left the state. “Finally… Do you know how hard it is to get her to sleep when she wants to ask a million questions about everything always? Reminds me of you.”
Phil just offered a mild smile as Sarah’s husband came to collect their daughter for bed, allowing her to turn her attention back to her brother. “So how’s your first week been?”
“Why didn’t you tell me there were so many ‘Maine things’ they don’t do in Boston?” His face had scrunched a little as he spoke. “About the third day, I realized no one actually talks to each other on the T.”
He couldn’t help but feel she was laughing at him. She shook with it until tears leaked from her eyes before she finally calmed down and was able to give him an answer. “Dad said we couldn’t. Part of some rite of passage when you visit away the first time. There’s no Moxie, either. Not that you drink soda.”
“There’s a corner store up the road apiece that has it if I ever decide to start,” he chuckled before looking thoughtful again. “You wouldn’t think things would be so different, being in the same region.”
“Boston’s just shy of ten times the size of Portland in terms of population, Philly,” she countered easily. “But really, you doing okay? Mum wanted me to ask if you needed us to send you anything. I mean… She’s gonna send it whether you want it or not, but at least I can tell her I asked.”
“I’m okay for now, I think. I wouldn’t say no to some of dad’s whoopie pies to endear me to the roommates, though. I’d try, but…”
“You’d burn the place down. Yeah, I can ask him to whip up a batch.”
“Thanks, sis.” He glanced up at the clock with a sigh. “I gotta go. If you think regular college is bad, try med school sometime.”
“No thanks. I’ll leave that to you.”
He barked out laugh at that and offered up a bright smile. “Probably a smart choice. Let mom know I’ll call her tomorrow, okay?”
“Sure thing, Philly. I’ll tell Livie you said good night. You know she’ll be offended we didn’t wake her up to say it. Night.”
“Night Sarah.”
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New England News: New Hampshire’s Got a New Speakeasy Hidden Behind a Barbershop
And other regional food and beverage updates beyond Massachusetts
Broadening the scope a bit, here’s the latest restaurant news from beyond Greater Boston; we’re keeping an eye out for dining developments throughout New England. This piece is updated on a rolling basis, covering restaurant openings, closures, and more in Portsmouth, Providence, Portland, and elsewhere.
Check back for updates — the most recent ones will always be at the top — and email [email protected] with any news tips pertaining to New England restaurant news beyond Boston.
Note: Jump to the bottom of this page for a list of other links pertaining to New England dining, including a guide to Portsmouth and Kittery, an archive of Maine news, a map of the hottest new restaurants in Providence, and more.
February 13, 2018
CHESTER, CONNECTICUT — Grano Arso(6 Main St.) is now open within a former bank building in Chester, and it showcases a “modern yet familiar approach to traditional Italian cooking.” Chef Joel Gargano mills grain in-house for pasta and bread and has created a menu consisting of crostini, pasta dishes, and entrees ranging from monkfish stew to grilled pork loin with polenta and pesto. There are also cocktails, wines, and beer.
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Chuck’s BARbershop(90 Low Ave.) is a new speakeasy-style bar from the team behind Codex in Nashua, serving up classic cocktails in a space hidden behind an actual barbershop.
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT — The newly opened Lo Sano Restaurant & Bar (678 Maple Ave.) has a menu full of Latin American classics, including mofongo (made with fried plantains), skirt steak with chimichurri, fried chicken, and tres leches flan for dessert.
NORTH WOODSTOCK, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Pemi Public House (115 Main St.) is a new option for those visiting the White Mountains. The restaurant serves sandwiches, soups, flatbreads, and hearty entrees like mac and cheese and pot pie, plus salads and appetizers. The restaurant also has open mic nights.
February 6, 2018
Katie Chudy/Eater
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — A new cocktail bar has opened in the former Red Door space at 107 State St. The Nice is the work of Kevin Walsh and Bryan Emerson, alums of Moxy and Franklin Oyster House, and they’re running the bar from 6 p.m. on, six days a week (closed Tuesday). Drinks include the Venetian Monk (Bully Boy gin, chartreuse, aperol, lemon, and Peychaud’s) and Pearl Harbor (vodka, jalapeño-infused green chartreuse, pineapple, and melon).
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — Coffee fans may soon get the chance to drink their favorite beverage in the presence of a double-decker bus. The Burgundian: Coffee and Waffles is a Rhode Island company that specializes in (as the name suggests) coffee and Liege-style waffles. Founder Shane Matlock purchased a double-decker British bus to restore and convert into a mobile coffee shop, where customers will be able to place orders through a service window but will also be able to enter the bus and partake in coffee and waffles on the second level. Matlock has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the bus conversion.
Xaco Taco is now open in Providence (370 Richmond St.), with ten versions of tacos (available as singles or platters) and a wide selection of tequila, plus beer, wine, and churro doughnuts for dessert.
A pop-up that serves sandwiches has debuted in Providence, from the same folks behind UMelt, a sandwich shop with locations at the University of Rhode Island and Brown. The aptly named Sandwich (stylized as ‘sandwich.’) pop-up operates out of the Brown UMelt location (267 Thayer St.) and offers build-your-own options, breakfast sandwiches, and 15 pre-set menu items.
SMITHFIELD, RHODE ISLAND — Laura’s Bar and Grill (945 Douglas Pke.) debuted in Rhode Island recently, with a menu of flatbreads, burgers, sandwiches, and other pub fare. There’s a selection of cocktails, plus sangria.
WARWICK, RHODE ISLAND — New Haven’s famous Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana (which has a location near Boston, in Chestnut Hill) plans to expand to Rhode Island, opening in Warwick some time in April or May, the Providence Journal reports. The restaurant will feature a specialty brick, coal-fired oven that requires seasoning.
January 30, 2018
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Gelato Fiasco
BRUNSWICK, MAINE — The Gelato Fiasco— a Maine-based gelato producer that’s previously popped-up in Boston and has been “eyeing properties in Boston for a while” for a potential permanent location here — has first landed on a site a little bit more southern: Orlando, Florida. After producing gelato for distribution and gaining traction in Florida thanks to the state’s beloved grocery store, Publix, Gelato Fiasco has signed a lease for a space at 25 West Crystal Lakes St., planning to open in spring 2018.
LONDONDERRY, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Long Blue Cat Brewing (298 Rockingham Rd.) is up and running with pints, flatbreads, and snacks. Operating varied hours from Wednesday through Sunday, the brewery is the work of two friends, Jason Knight and Shane Sorenson, who are serving several different beers, including a honey ale, a traditional porter, and a kolsch, among others.
MANCHESTER, VERMONT — Mystic Cafe & Wine Barhas opened in Manchester (4928 Main St.), serving lunch and dinner — both cafe fare and entrees, including salmon tartine, Cuban sandwiches, pastries, grilled cheese and tomato soup, salads, and mussels. The restaurant also offers a full bar and wines by the glass.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Poke hit Portsmouth with the opening of Ohana Kitchen several weeks ago (800 Islington St., Plaza 800). The restaurant serves customizable bowls of the Hawaiian dish, in addition to sushi burritos.
January 23, 2018
Dan Watkins for By Chloe
By Chloe in Providence
MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Suzette Crepes & Waffles (62 Lowell St.) is a recent addition to Manchester, and it serves what diners might expect from the name. With stuffed crepes and waffles topped with various items (including Nutella), the restaurant is connected to Gaucho’s Brazilian Steakhouse.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Seacoast Online shares the history and longevity of restaurateur John Mikolajcyk, who was born in Portsmouth 80 years ago and is still involved in the industry, as manager of the Portsmouth Elks Lodge.
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — By Chloe, a New York City-born restaurant chain that has spawned locations in Los Angeles and Boston (with a couple opening soon in London), officially opened a new location in Providence last week at 223 Thayer St. The entirely vegan menu includes everything from avocado pesto pasta to various burgers, sandwiches, and breakfast items.
January 16, 2017
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Wow Barbecue skewers
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — Wow Barbecue got its start as a food truck in Boston before opening restaurants in Malden and Brookline. Now, there’s a new restaurant in play in Providence, open at 183 Angell St., and it’s serving a menu of Chinese barbecue dishes, rice bowls, noodles, and several appetizers.
SEABROOK, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Brown’s Lobster Pound closed down in August 2017 after a fire, but the restaurant is on the verge of reopening, slated to make its return by April 1.
WEST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT — A full-service restaurant and bar specializing in vegan food has opened in Connecticut from the same people behind Rooster Co. in Newington. Flora uses seasonal ingredients for its food and drink menu (there’s a juice bar in addition to wine and beer). In addition to falafel wraps, flatbreads, “mac-no-cheese,” and an avocado bowl, Flora serves the plant-based Impossible Burger. For any meat eaters who visit, Flora offers what it calls “viable fauna” or “sustainable and responsibly raised animal products,” like grass-fed beef, wild shrimp, and arctic char.
January 9, 2018
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Bissell Brothers
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Lunch Lady Food Truck debuted at the end of 2017 in Concord, serving a school-themed menu featuring items named for grades one through 10. There are burgers, barbecue pork nachos, Buffalo wings, and Reuben egg rolls, among many other items, including sides and drinks. Find it by the Everett Arena (15 Loudon Rd.), and keep an eye on social media for other locations.
DURHAM, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Burger joint Hop + Grind (7 Madbury Rd. — Madbury Commons) opened at the end of November. The restaurant butchers and grinds its own meats and makes its soda in-house. There are beef, chicken, and pork burgers and two versions of veggie burgers, plus chicken fried mac and cheese and a Nashville hot chicken sandwich. Hop + Grind also serves craft beer and ice cream malts.
MAINE — As a new year kicks off, Portland Food Map takes a look back at the year in 2017 — exploring new restaurants, notable events, trends, and obituaries — while looking ahead towards openings slated for 2018.
PORTLAND, MAINE — The Rock apparently has great taste in beer and sent an assistant to procure some. The famed Bissell Brothers Brewing Company (4 Thompsons Pt.) shared the story on Twitter: “An assistant for The Rock just showed up, he took a private jet here to pick up Substance cans. Got shown some credentials… either we just got massively played or THAT IS AWESOME!!”
Also in Portland, Definitive Brewing Company is under construction and could open in the spring at 35 Industrial Wy., near Allagash Brewing Company, according to the Portland Food Map. Few other details are available at this point, but stay tuned for more from Maine.
SOUTH PORTLAND, MAINE — The poke trend is creeping its way north to South Portland: Big Fin Poke, which specializes in the Hawaiian raw fish dish, is now open at 29 Western Ave., with this location joining a second in Westbrook, Maine. In addition to rice and salad bowls topped with seafood, chicken, beef, or tofu, Big Fin Poke also serves poke burritos, or seaweed wraps stuffed with sushi rice and proteins.
December 19, 2017
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Smoked pork loin chop at Nibblesworth in Portsmouth
KITTERY, MAINE — The Caribbean-inspiredBlue Mermaid Island Grill, which was previously open in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for over 20 years, returns to the dining scene this week, opening its new Kittery location at 10 Shapleigh Rd. on Thursday, December 21, right next to Tributary Brewing Company. Opening weekend is reservation-only; call (207) 703-2754.
Checkout our beautiful, brand new store front, isn’t she gorgeous?! … . . #bluemermaid #bluemermaidkittery #kitteryme #kittery #newlocation #storefront #restaurantdesign
A post shared by Blue Mermaid (@bluemermaid_kittery) on Dec 16, 2017 at 10:26am PST
NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Biryani Pot, which has a location in Framingham, Massachusetts, will add a location in Nashua (295 Daniel Webster Hwy.), and the grand opening will happen soon. The restaurant specializes in Hyderabadi cuisine, including biryani with chicken, goat, egg, shrimp, or vegetables.
PORTLAND, MAINE — Tuscan Table arrives at 390 Gorham Rd. in South Portland on Wednesday, December 20. The restaurant has ties to Royal River Grillhouse in Yarmouth, Maine, and Tuscan Brick Oven Bistro in Freeport, Maine. The restaurant will serve Italian cuisine.
In other Portland news, Bon Appetit recently featured a look at six of the city’s newest restaurants to check out, including Hunt & Alpine Club’s little sibling Little Giant (211 Danforth St.), which is both a restaurant and a market; Noble Barbecue (1706 Forest Ave.), which serves a “formidable” brisket sandwich and more; and Belleville (1 North St.), home of “legitimate Roman-style pizza.”
Eater Maine is also currently featuring some of the hottest new spots in Portland and beyond in the latest updated Heatmap; check it out here.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — A restaurant with a wonderfully silly name opened recently in New Hampshire, and it specializes in wood-fired cooking. Nibblesworth (409 The Hill) was started by wife-and-husband team Jenny and Tom Nelson, who launched the restaurant with a goal of taking “classic recipes and rejuvenat[ing] them for today’s palate.” The menu includes items like poutine, pierogi, seafood stew, and lobster tacos. As previously reported, it has taken the place of Blue Mermaid Island Grill, which closed in June and reopens in Kittery this week, as mentioned above.
December 12, 2017
Bill Addison for Eater
Sally’s Apizza
BIDDEFORD, MAINE — Nuts & Bolts Brewing Company inches closer to an opening this winter at 7 York St. in the Pepperrell Mill, per the Portland Food Map. The brewery is the work of Patrick Doherty and Deedra Zeeh, and they’re providing progress updates on social media.
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — A new collaboration aims to bring tortillas made with local corn to a pair of restaurants in New Hampshire. Vida Tortilla unites the owners of Vida Cantina (2456 Lafayette Rd., Portsmouth) and Dos Amigos Burritos (26 N Main St., Concord, and other locations) with Tuckaway Farm (36 Captain Smith Emerson Rd., Lee), and they’ve launched a Kickstarter campaign to help pay for the equipment needed to produce the tortillas.
NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT — One of New Haven’s oldest and best pizza restaurants, Sally’s Apizza(237 Wooster St.), has been sold to new owners, as Eater reports. The names of those now involved will not be made public until January, but they apparently plan to try to expand the restaurant nationwide.
PORTLAND, MAINE — The Portland Harbor Hotel (468 Fore St.) will lean into the cold of winter with an ice bar and ice sculptures in its courtyard garden. From January 25 to 27, the Ice Bar will be open from 5 to 9 p.m., and tickets can be purchased online. There will be specialty cocktails and small bites available.
December 5, 2017
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Whiskey & Wine Concord
BIDDEFORD, MAINE — Elda opens its doors today, arriving at 140 Main St. with regional-inspired small plates from Bowman Brown, who relocated to the Northeast from Salt Lake City and is a James Beard-nominated chef. The restaurant is named for Brown’s grandmother and will initially serve food only, with wine, beer, and a full bar menu coming soon.
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — From the same owners behind Gale Motor Co. in Manchester, Whiskey & Wine has been open for nearly a month in Concord (148 N. Main St.), and it serves exactly that, with 34 varieties of whiskey and American and European wines. The varied food menu includes items like miso and tonkotsu ramen, pulled pork tacos, sushi rolls, chicken potstickers, and seared scallops.
PORTLAND, MAINE — The Highroller Lobster, a popular food truck in Portland, now has a permanent home at 104 Exchange St. The restaurant opened over the weekend and will officially begin operations Wednesday through Thursday, starting on December 6, serving lobster in several different forms (including lobster grilled cheese), plus corn dogs, burgers, and a surf n’ turf option.
November 29, 2017
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The Wilder, Portsmouth
BIDDEFORD, MAINE — Rover Wood Fired Bagels and Pizza is now open at 111 Elm St. Founders Kimberly Chaurette and Alec Rutter, both alums of Somerville’s Forge Baking Company, started Rover as a bagel pop-up, appearing in Salem at Bambolina and local farmers markets. They’re now in business as a brick-and-mortar up in Maine, serving up bagels and sandwiches, with wood-fired pizza on the way before the end of the year.
Instagram
A brunch burger at Sonny’s, closing on December 31
PORTLAND, MAINE — Sonny’s, a nearly decade-old restaurant in Old Port (83 Exchange St.), will close at the end of the year. Taking its place: Black Cow, a burger-and-shake shop with an old-fashioned soda fountain. Jay Villani and Garry Bowcott, who own Sonny’s, Local 188, and Salvage BBQ, are behind the new project, and longtime Local 188 chef Nicholas Nappi (who took a hiatus from the group and worked at Eventide and Hugo’s in the interim) is partnering with them for Black Cow. December 31 is the final day for Sonny’s, and Black Cow could open as soon as mid-February.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — The team behind the Wallingford Dram — an excellent cocktail bar in Kittery, Maine — has opened a new spot in Portsmouth. The Wilder, a “no-rules New England gastropub,” is now open at 174 Fleet St., the site of the former United Kingdom-themed Coat of Arms bar. It’s open daily, with bar service starting at 3:30 p.m. with snacks, the full menu available starting at 5 p.m., and a late-night menu offered until 1 a.m. Dishes include everything from Scotch duck eggs to braised kid ragu, which most likely refers to goats, not children. For dessert? Apple cider beignets with maple sauce. And shakshuka makes an appearance on the late-night menu.
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — A food hall slated for Providence just met its fundraising goal through a Kickstarter campaign. The forthcoming West Park Food Hall (233 West Park St.) will have a number of restaurants, a brewery, and a roastery, with communal seating and a roof deck. It raised more than $120,000, which will go towards various expenses, including design and legal costs.
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The second level at Thee Red Fez is now White Rabbit
In other Providence news, Thee Red Fez (49 Peck St.) is changing things up, converting the upstairs dining room into a cocktail bar with its own name, White Rabbit. Get dinner at the Fez Tuesday through Saturday, starting at 5 p.m., and drink snazzy cocktails upstairs Thursday through Saturday, starting at 5 p.m.
And in other Providence news, North is now up and running at its new location, the first floor of the Dean Hotel (122 Fountain St.). Stay tuned for details on what the team plans to do with the original space at 3 Luongo Sq. — owner James Mark promises a simpler neighborhood spot that could open in a few short months.
Further Reading
Rachel Leah Blumenthal for Eater
Spicy miso ramen at Anju Noodle Bar in Kittery, Maine
New England’s 38 Essential Restaurants: A guide to the best of the best throughout New England, compiled by Eater restaurant editor Bill Addison with the help of food writers from around the region.
The 9 Hottest New Restaurants in Providence, Rhode Island: Updated in October 2017, this map highlights some of the hot new spots to hit the Providence dining scene in 2017.
Eater Maine: Eater Boston’s sister site to the north has been largely retired, but stop by the homepage now and then for updates to major maps, such as the Heatmap, which tracks some of the hottest new openings.
Maine Restaurant News Archive on Eater Boston: While most Maine news going forward will appear right here in this New England news round-up, older stories are archived at the Maine Restaurant News Archive link.
A Guide to Dining and Drinking in Portsmouth and Kittery: Take a trip up to the New Hampshire-Maine border.
Eater Recommends: What to Eat and Drink in Portsmouth and Kittery: Don’t have time to read the whole guide mentioned above? Skip to this map, which highlights some of the Eater Boston team’s Portsmouth and Kittery favorites.
Where to Drink Beer in Portsmouth, New Hampshire: And here’s the beer-specific accompaniment to the above two links.
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New England News: New Hampshire’s Got a New Speakeasy Hidden Behind a Barbershop
And other regional food and beverage updates beyond Massachusetts
Broadening the scope a bit, here’s the latest restaurant news from beyond Greater Boston; we’re keeping an eye out for dining developments throughout New England. This piece is updated on a rolling basis, covering restaurant openings, closures, and more in Portsmouth, Providence, Portland, and elsewhere.
Check back for updates — the most recent ones will always be at the top — and email [email protected] with any news tips pertaining to New England restaurant news beyond Boston.
Note: Jump to the bottom of this page for a list of other links pertaining to New England dining, including a guide to Portsmouth and Kittery, an archive of Maine news, a map of the hottest new restaurants in Providence, and more.
February 13, 2018
CHESTER, CONNECTICUT — Grano Arso(6 Main St.) is now open within a former bank building in Chester, and it showcases a “modern yet familiar approach to traditional Italian cooking.” Chef Joel Gargano mills grain in-house for pasta and bread and has created a menu consisting of crostini, pasta dishes, and entrees ranging from monkfish stew to grilled pork loin with polenta and pesto. There are also cocktails, wines, and beer.
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Chuck’s BARbershop(90 Low Ave.) is a new speakeasy-style bar from the team behind Codex in Nashua, serving up classic cocktails in a space hidden behind an actual barbershop.
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT — The newly opened Lo Sano Restaurant & Bar (678 Maple Ave.) has a menu full of Latin American classics, including mofongo (made with fried plantains), skirt steak with chimichurri, fried chicken, and tres leches flan for dessert.
NORTH WOODSTOCK, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Pemi Public House (115 Main St.) is a new option for those visiting the White Mountains. The restaurant serves sandwiches, soups, flatbreads, and hearty entrees like mac and cheese and pot pie, plus salads and appetizers. The restaurant also has open mic nights.
February 6, 2018
Katie Chudy/Eater
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — A new cocktail bar has opened in the former Red Door space at 107 State St. The Nice is the work of Kevin Walsh and Bryan Emerson, alums of Moxy and Franklin Oyster House, and they’re running the bar from 6 p.m. on, six days a week (closed Tuesday). Drinks include the Venetian Monk (Bully Boy gin, chartreuse, aperol, lemon, and Peychaud’s) and Pearl Harbor (vodka, jalapeño-infused green chartreuse, pineapple, and melon).
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — Coffee fans may soon get the chance to drink their favorite beverage in the presence of a double-decker bus. The Burgundian: Coffee and Waffles is a Rhode Island company that specializes in (as the name suggests) coffee and Liege-style waffles. Founder Shane Matlock purchased a double-decker British bus to restore and convert into a mobile coffee shop, where customers will be able to place orders through a service window but will also be able to enter the bus and partake in coffee and waffles on the second level. Matlock has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the bus conversion.
Xaco Taco is now open in Providence (370 Richmond St.), with ten versions of tacos (available as singles or platters) and a wide selection of tequila, plus beer, wine, and churro doughnuts for dessert.
A pop-up that serves sandwiches has debuted in Providence, from the same folks behind UMelt, a sandwich shop with locations at the University of Rhode Island and Brown. The aptly named Sandwich (stylized as ‘sandwich.’) pop-up operates out of the Brown UMelt location (267 Thayer St.) and offers build-your-own options, breakfast sandwiches, and 15 pre-set menu items.
SMITHFIELD, RHODE ISLAND — Laura’s Bar and Grill (945 Douglas Pke.) debuted in Rhode Island recently, with a menu of flatbreads, burgers, sandwiches, and other pub fare. There’s a selection of cocktails, plus sangria.
WARWICK, RHODE ISLAND — New Haven’s famous Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana (which has a location near Boston, in Chestnut Hill) plans to expand to Rhode Island, opening in Warwick some time in April or May, the Providence Journal reports. The restaurant will feature a specialty brick, coal-fired oven that requires seasoning.
January 30, 2018
Facebook
Gelato Fiasco
BRUNSWICK, MAINE — The Gelato Fiasco— a Maine-based gelato producer that’s previously popped-up in Boston and has been “eyeing properties in Boston for a while” for a potential permanent location here — has first landed on a site a little bit more southern: Orlando, Florida. After producing gelato for distribution and gaining traction in Florida thanks to the state’s beloved grocery store, Publix, Gelato Fiasco has signed a lease for a space at 25 West Crystal Lakes St., planning to open in spring 2018.
LONDONDERRY, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Long Blue Cat Brewing (298 Rockingham Rd.) is up and running with pints, flatbreads, and snacks. Operating varied hours from Wednesday through Sunday, the brewery is the work of two friends, Jason Knight and Shane Sorenson, who are serving several different beers, including a honey ale, a traditional porter, and a kolsch, among others.
MANCHESTER, VERMONT — Mystic Cafe & Wine Barhas opened in Manchester (4928 Main St.), serving lunch and dinner — both cafe fare and entrees, including salmon tartine, Cuban sandwiches, pastries, grilled cheese and tomato soup, salads, and mussels. The restaurant also offers a full bar and wines by the glass.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Poke hit Portsmouth with the opening of Ohana Kitchen several weeks ago (800 Islington St., Plaza 800). The restaurant serves customizable bowls of the Hawaiian dish, in addition to sushi burritos.
January 23, 2018
Dan Watkins for By Chloe
By Chloe in Providence
MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Suzette Crepes & Waffles (62 Lowell St.) is a recent addition to Manchester, and it serves what diners might expect from the name. With stuffed crepes and waffles topped with various items (including Nutella), the restaurant is connected to Gaucho’s Brazilian Steakhouse.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Seacoast Online shares the history and longevity of restaurateur John Mikolajcyk, who was born in Portsmouth 80 years ago and is still involved in the industry, as manager of the Portsmouth Elks Lodge.
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — By Chloe, a New York City-born restaurant chain that has spawned locations in Los Angeles and Boston (with a couple opening soon in London), officially opened a new location in Providence last week at 223 Thayer St. The entirely vegan menu includes everything from avocado pesto pasta to various burgers, sandwiches, and breakfast items.
January 16, 2017
Facebook
Wow Barbecue skewers
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — Wow Barbecue got its start as a food truck in Boston before opening restaurants in Malden and Brookline. Now, there’s a new restaurant in play in Providence, open at 183 Angell St., and it’s serving a menu of Chinese barbecue dishes, rice bowls, noodles, and several appetizers.
SEABROOK, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Brown’s Lobster Pound closed down in August 2017 after a fire, but the restaurant is on the verge of reopening, slated to make its return by April 1.
WEST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT — A full-service restaurant and bar specializing in vegan food has opened in Connecticut from the same people behind Rooster Co. in Newington. Flora uses seasonal ingredients for its food and drink menu (there’s a juice bar in addition to wine and beer). In addition to falafel wraps, flatbreads, “mac-no-cheese,” and an avocado bowl, Flora serves the plant-based Impossible Burger. For any meat eaters who visit, Flora offers what it calls “viable fauna” or “sustainable and responsibly raised animal products,” like grass-fed beef, wild shrimp, and arctic char.
January 9, 2018
Facebook
Bissell Brothers
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Lunch Lady Food Truck debuted at the end of 2017 in Concord, serving a school-themed menu featuring items named for grades one through 10. There are burgers, barbecue pork nachos, Buffalo wings, and Reuben egg rolls, among many other items, including sides and drinks. Find it by the Everett Arena (15 Loudon Rd.), and keep an eye on social media for other locations.
DURHAM, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Burger joint Hop + Grind (7 Madbury Rd. — Madbury Commons) opened at the end of November. The restaurant butchers and grinds its own meats and makes its soda in-house. There are beef, chicken, and pork burgers and two versions of veggie burgers, plus chicken fried mac and cheese and a Nashville hot chicken sandwich. Hop + Grind also serves craft beer and ice cream malts.
MAINE — As a new year kicks off, Portland Food Map takes a look back at the year in 2017 — exploring new restaurants, notable events, trends, and obituaries — while looking ahead towards openings slated for 2018.
PORTLAND, MAINE — The Rock apparently has great taste in beer and sent an assistant to procure some. The famed Bissell Brothers Brewing Company (4 Thompsons Pt.) shared the story on Twitter: “An assistant for The Rock just showed up, he took a private jet here to pick up Substance cans. Got shown some credentials… either we just got massively played or THAT IS AWESOME!!”
Also in Portland, Definitive Brewing Company is under construction and could open in the spring at 35 Industrial Wy., near Allagash Brewing Company, according to the Portland Food Map. Few other details are available at this point, but stay tuned for more from Maine.
SOUTH PORTLAND, MAINE — The poke trend is creeping its way north to South Portland: Big Fin Poke, which specializes in the Hawaiian raw fish dish, is now open at 29 Western Ave., with this location joining a second in Westbrook, Maine. In addition to rice and salad bowls topped with seafood, chicken, beef, or tofu, Big Fin Poke also serves poke burritos, or seaweed wraps stuffed with sushi rice and proteins.
December 19, 2017
Facebook
Smoked pork loin chop at Nibblesworth in Portsmouth
KITTERY, MAINE — The Caribbean-inspiredBlue Mermaid Island Grill, which was previously open in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for over 20 years, returns to the dining scene this week, opening its new Kittery location at 10 Shapleigh Rd. on Thursday, December 21, right next to Tributary Brewing Company. Opening weekend is reservation-only; call (207) 703-2754.
Checkout our beautiful, brand new store front, isn’t she gorgeous?! … . . #bluemermaid #bluemermaidkittery #kitteryme #kittery #newlocation #storefront #restaurantdesign
A post shared by Blue Mermaid (@bluemermaid_kittery) on Dec 16, 2017 at 10:26am PST
NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Biryani Pot, which has a location in Framingham, Massachusetts, will add a location in Nashua (295 Daniel Webster Hwy.), and the grand opening will happen soon. The restaurant specializes in Hyderabadi cuisine, including biryani with chicken, goat, egg, shrimp, or vegetables.
PORTLAND, MAINE — Tuscan Table arrives at 390 Gorham Rd. in South Portland on Wednesday, December 20. The restaurant has ties to Royal River Grillhouse in Yarmouth, Maine, and Tuscan Brick Oven Bistro in Freeport, Maine. The restaurant will serve Italian cuisine.
In other Portland news, Bon Appetit recently featured a look at six of the city’s newest restaurants to check out, including Hunt & Alpine Club’s little sibling Little Giant (211 Danforth St.), which is both a restaurant and a market; Noble Barbecue (1706 Forest Ave.), which serves a “formidable” brisket sandwich and more; and Belleville (1 North St.), home of “legitimate Roman-style pizza.”
Eater Maine is also currently featuring some of the hottest new spots in Portland and beyond in the latest updated Heatmap; check it out here.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — A restaurant with a wonderfully silly name opened recently in New Hampshire, and it specializes in wood-fired cooking. Nibblesworth (409 The Hill) was started by wife-and-husband team Jenny and Tom Nelson, who launched the restaurant with a goal of taking “classic recipes and rejuvenat[ing] them for today’s palate.” The menu includes items like poutine, pierogi, seafood stew, and lobster tacos. As previously reported, it has taken the place of Blue Mermaid Island Grill, which closed in June and reopens in Kittery this week, as mentioned above.
December 12, 2017
Bill Addison for Eater
Sally’s Apizza
BIDDEFORD, MAINE — Nuts & Bolts Brewing Company inches closer to an opening this winter at 7 York St. in the Pepperrell Mill, per the Portland Food Map. The brewery is the work of Patrick Doherty and Deedra Zeeh, and they’re providing progress updates on social media.
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — A new collaboration aims to bring tortillas made with local corn to a pair of restaurants in New Hampshire. Vida Tortilla unites the owners of Vida Cantina (2456 Lafayette Rd., Portsmouth) and Dos Amigos Burritos (26 N Main St., Concord, and other locations) with Tuckaway Farm (36 Captain Smith Emerson Rd., Lee), and they’ve launched a Kickstarter campaign to help pay for the equipment needed to produce the tortillas.
NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT — One of New Haven’s oldest and best pizza restaurants, Sally’s Apizza(237 Wooster St.), has been sold to new owners, as Eater reports. The names of those now involved will not be made public until January, but they apparently plan to try to expand the restaurant nationwide.
PORTLAND, MAINE — The Portland Harbor Hotel (468 Fore St.) will lean into the cold of winter with an ice bar and ice sculptures in its courtyard garden. From January 25 to 27, the Ice Bar will be open from 5 to 9 p.m., and tickets can be purchased online. There will be specialty cocktails and small bites available.
December 5, 2017
Facebook
Whiskey & Wine Concord
BIDDEFORD, MAINE — Elda opens its doors today, arriving at 140 Main St. with regional-inspired small plates from Bowman Brown, who relocated to the Northeast from Salt Lake City and is a James Beard-nominated chef. The restaurant is named for Brown’s grandmother and will initially serve food only, with wine, beer, and a full bar menu coming soon.
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — From the same owners behind Gale Motor Co. in Manchester, Whiskey & Wine has been open for nearly a month in Concord (148 N. Main St.), and it serves exactly that, with 34 varieties of whiskey and American and European wines. The varied food menu includes items like miso and tonkotsu ramen, pulled pork tacos, sushi rolls, chicken potstickers, and seared scallops.
PORTLAND, MAINE — The Highroller Lobster, a popular food truck in Portland, now has a permanent home at 104 Exchange St. The restaurant opened over the weekend and will officially begin operations Wednesday through Thursday, starting on December 6, serving lobster in several different forms (including lobster grilled cheese), plus corn dogs, burgers, and a surf n’ turf option.
November 29, 2017
Facebook
The Wilder, Portsmouth
BIDDEFORD, MAINE — Rover Wood Fired Bagels and Pizza is now open at 111 Elm St. Founders Kimberly Chaurette and Alec Rutter, both alums of Somerville’s Forge Baking Company, started Rover as a bagel pop-up, appearing in Salem at Bambolina and local farmers markets. They’re now in business as a brick-and-mortar up in Maine, serving up bagels and sandwiches, with wood-fired pizza on the way before the end of the year.
Instagram
A brunch burger at Sonny’s, closing on December 31
PORTLAND, MAINE — Sonny’s, a nearly decade-old restaurant in Old Port (83 Exchange St.), will close at the end of the year. Taking its place: Black Cow, a burger-and-shake shop with an old-fashioned soda fountain. Jay Villani and Garry Bowcott, who own Sonny’s, Local 188, and Salvage BBQ, are behind the new project, and longtime Local 188 chef Nicholas Nappi (who took a hiatus from the group and worked at Eventide and Hugo’s in the interim) is partnering with them for Black Cow. December 31 is the final day for Sonny’s, and Black Cow could open as soon as mid-February.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — The team behind the Wallingford Dram — an excellent cocktail bar in Kittery, Maine — has opened a new spot in Portsmouth. The Wilder, a “no-rules New England gastropub,” is now open at 174 Fleet St., the site of the former United Kingdom-themed Coat of Arms bar. It’s open daily, with bar service starting at 3:30 p.m. with snacks, the full menu available starting at 5 p.m., and a late-night menu offered until 1 a.m. Dishes include everything from Scotch duck eggs to braised kid ragu, which most likely refers to goats, not children. For dessert? Apple cider beignets with maple sauce. And shakshuka makes an appearance on the late-night menu.
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — A food hall slated for Providence just met its fundraising goal through a Kickstarter campaign. The forthcoming West Park Food Hall (233 West Park St.) will have a number of restaurants, a brewery, and a roastery, with communal seating and a roof deck. It raised more than $120,000, which will go towards various expenses, including design and legal costs.
Instagram
The second level at Thee Red Fez is now White Rabbit
In other Providence news, Thee Red Fez (49 Peck St.) is changing things up, converting the upstairs dining room into a cocktail bar with its own name, White Rabbit. Get dinner at the Fez Tuesday through Saturday, starting at 5 p.m., and drink snazzy cocktails upstairs Thursday through Saturday, starting at 5 p.m.
And in other Providence news, North is now up and running at its new location, the first floor of the Dean Hotel (122 Fountain St.). Stay tuned for details on what the team plans to do with the original space at 3 Luongo Sq. — owner James Mark promises a simpler neighborhood spot that could open in a few short months.
Further Reading
Rachel Leah Blumenthal for Eater
Spicy miso ramen at Anju Noodle Bar in Kittery, Maine
New England’s 38 Essential Restaurants: A guide to the best of the best throughout New England, compiled by Eater restaurant editor Bill Addison with the help of food writers from around the region.
The 9 Hottest New Restaurants in Providence, Rhode Island: Updated in October 2017, this map highlights some of the hot new spots to hit the Providence dining scene in 2017.
Eater Maine: Eater Boston’s sister site to the north has been largely retired, but stop by the homepage now and then for updates to major maps, such as the Heatmap, which tracks some of the hottest new openings.
Maine Restaurant News Archive on Eater Boston: While most Maine news going forward will appear right here in this New England news round-up, older stories are archived at the Maine Restaurant News Archive link.
A Guide to Dining and Drinking in Portsmouth and Kittery: Take a trip up to the New Hampshire-Maine border.
Eater Recommends: What to Eat and Drink in Portsmouth and Kittery: Don’t have time to read the whole guide mentioned above? Skip to this map, which highlights some of the Eater Boston team’s Portsmouth and Kittery favorites.
Where to Drink Beer in Portsmouth, New Hampshire: And here’s the beer-specific accompaniment to the above two links.
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New England News: New Hampshire’s Got a New Speakeasy Hidden Behind a Barbershop
And other regional food and beverage updates beyond Massachusetts
Broadening the scope a bit, here’s the latest restaurant news from beyond Greater Boston; we’re keeping an eye out for dining developments throughout New England. This piece is updated on a rolling basis, covering restaurant openings, closures, and more in Portsmouth, Providence, Portland, and elsewhere.
Check back for updates — the most recent ones will always be at the top — and email [email protected] with any news tips pertaining to New England restaurant news beyond Boston.
Note: Jump to the bottom of this page for a list of other links pertaining to New England dining, including a guide to Portsmouth and Kittery, an archive of Maine news, a map of the hottest new restaurants in Providence, and more.
February 13, 2018
CHESTER, CONNECTICUT — Grano Arso(6 Main St.) is now open within a former bank building in Chester, and it showcases a “modern yet familiar approach to traditional Italian cooking.” Chef Joel Gargano mills grain in-house for pasta and bread and has created a menu consisting of crostini, pasta dishes, and entrees ranging from monkfish stew to grilled pork loin with polenta and pesto. There are also cocktails, wines, and beer.
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Chuck’s BARbershop(90 Low Ave.) is a new speakeasy-style bar from the team behind Codex in Nashua, serving up classic cocktails in a space hidden behind an actual barbershop.
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT — The newly opened Lo Sano Restaurant & Bar (678 Maple Ave.) has a menu full of Latin American classics, including mofongo (made with fried plantains), skirt steak with chimichurri, fried chicken, and tres leches flan for dessert.
NORTH WOODSTOCK, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Pemi Public House (115 Main St.) is a new option for those visiting the White Mountains. The restaurant serves sandwiches, soups, flatbreads, and hearty entrees like mac and cheese and pot pie, plus salads and appetizers. The restaurant also has open mic nights.
February 6, 2018
Katie Chudy/Eater
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — A new cocktail bar has opened in the former Red Door space at 107 State St. The Nice is the work of Kevin Walsh and Bryan Emerson, alums of Moxy and Franklin Oyster House, and they’re running the bar from 6 p.m. on, six days a week (closed Tuesday). Drinks include the Venetian Monk (Bully Boy gin, chartreuse, aperol, lemon, and Peychaud’s) and Pearl Harbor (vodka, jalapeño-infused green chartreuse, pineapple, and melon).
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — Coffee fans may soon get the chance to drink their favorite beverage in the presence of a double-decker bus. The Burgundian: Coffee and Waffles is a Rhode Island company that specializes in (as the name suggests) coffee and Liege-style waffles. Founder Shane Matlock purchased a double-decker British bus to restore and convert into a mobile coffee shop, where customers will be able to place orders through a service window but will also be able to enter the bus and partake in coffee and waffles on the second level. Matlock has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the bus conversion.
Xaco Taco is now open in Providence (370 Richmond St.), with ten versions of tacos (available as singles or platters) and a wide selection of tequila, plus beer, wine, and churro doughnuts for dessert.
A pop-up that serves sandwiches has debuted in Providence, from the same folks behind UMelt, a sandwich shop with locations at the University of Rhode Island and Brown. The aptly named Sandwich (stylized as ‘sandwich.’) pop-up operates out of the Brown UMelt location (267 Thayer St.) and offers build-your-own options, breakfast sandwiches, and 15 pre-set menu items.
SMITHFIELD, RHODE ISLAND — Laura’s Bar and Grill (945 Douglas Pke.) debuted in Rhode Island recently, with a menu of flatbreads, burgers, sandwiches, and other pub fare. There’s a selection of cocktails, plus sangria.
WARWICK, RHODE ISLAND — New Haven’s famous Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana (which has a location near Boston, in Chestnut Hill) plans to expand to Rhode Island, opening in Warwick some time in April or May, the Providence Journal reports. The restaurant will feature a specialty brick, coal-fired oven that requires seasoning.
January 30, 2018
Facebook
Gelato Fiasco
BRUNSWICK, MAINE — The Gelato Fiasco— a Maine-based gelato producer that’s previously popped-up in Boston and has been “eyeing properties in Boston for a while” for a potential permanent location here — has first landed on a site a little bit more southern: Orlando, Florida. After producing gelato for distribution and gaining traction in Florida thanks to the state’s beloved grocery store, Publix, Gelato Fiasco has signed a lease for a space at 25 West Crystal Lakes St., planning to open in spring 2018.
LONDONDERRY, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Long Blue Cat Brewing (298 Rockingham Rd.) is up and running with pints, flatbreads, and snacks. Operating varied hours from Wednesday through Sunday, the brewery is the work of two friends, Jason Knight and Shane Sorenson, who are serving several different beers, including a honey ale, a traditional porter, and a kolsch, among others.
MANCHESTER, VERMONT — Mystic Cafe & Wine Barhas opened in Manchester (4928 Main St.), serving lunch and dinner — both cafe fare and entrees, including salmon tartine, Cuban sandwiches, pastries, grilled cheese and tomato soup, salads, and mussels. The restaurant also offers a full bar and wines by the glass.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Poke hit Portsmouth with the opening of Ohana Kitchen several weeks ago (800 Islington St., Plaza 800). The restaurant serves customizable bowls of the Hawaiian dish, in addition to sushi burritos.
January 23, 2018
Dan Watkins for By Chloe
By Chloe in Providence
MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Suzette Crepes & Waffles (62 Lowell St.) is a recent addition to Manchester, and it serves what diners might expect from the name. With stuffed crepes and waffles topped with various items (including Nutella), the restaurant is connected to Gaucho’s Brazilian Steakhouse.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Seacoast Online shares the history and longevity of restaurateur John Mikolajcyk, who was born in Portsmouth 80 years ago and is still involved in the industry, as manager of the Portsmouth Elks Lodge.
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — By Chloe, a New York City-born restaurant chain that has spawned locations in Los Angeles and Boston (with a couple opening soon in London), officially opened a new location in Providence last week at 223 Thayer St. The entirely vegan menu includes everything from avocado pesto pasta to various burgers, sandwiches, and breakfast items.
January 16, 2017
Facebook
Wow Barbecue skewers
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — Wow Barbecue got its start as a food truck in Boston before opening restaurants in Malden and Brookline. Now, there’s a new restaurant in play in Providence, open at 183 Angell St., and it’s serving a menu of Chinese barbecue dishes, rice bowls, noodles, and several appetizers.
SEABROOK, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Brown’s Lobster Pound closed down in August 2017 after a fire, but the restaurant is on the verge of reopening, slated to make its return by April 1.
WEST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT — A full-service restaurant and bar specializing in vegan food has opened in Connecticut from the same people behind Rooster Co. in Newington. Flora uses seasonal ingredients for its food and drink menu (there’s a juice bar in addition to wine and beer). In addition to falafel wraps, flatbreads, “mac-no-cheese,” and an avocado bowl, Flora serves the plant-based Impossible Burger. For any meat eaters who visit, Flora offers what it calls “viable fauna” or “sustainable and responsibly raised animal products,” like grass-fed beef, wild shrimp, and arctic char.
January 9, 2018
Facebook
Bissell Brothers
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Lunch Lady Food Truck debuted at the end of 2017 in Concord, serving a school-themed menu featuring items named for grades one through 10. There are burgers, barbecue pork nachos, Buffalo wings, and Reuben egg rolls, among many other items, including sides and drinks. Find it by the Everett Arena (15 Loudon Rd.), and keep an eye on social media for other locations.
DURHAM, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Burger joint Hop + Grind (7 Madbury Rd. — Madbury Commons) opened at the end of November. The restaurant butchers and grinds its own meats and makes its soda in-house. There are beef, chicken, and pork burgers and two versions of veggie burgers, plus chicken fried mac and cheese and a Nashville hot chicken sandwich. Hop + Grind also serves craft beer and ice cream malts.
MAINE — As a new year kicks off, Portland Food Map takes a look back at the year in 2017 — exploring new restaurants, notable events, trends, and obituaries — while looking ahead towards openings slated for 2018.
PORTLAND, MAINE — The Rock apparently has great taste in beer and sent an assistant to procure some. The famed Bissell Brothers Brewing Company (4 Thompsons Pt.) shared the story on Twitter: “An assistant for The Rock just showed up, he took a private jet here to pick up Substance cans. Got shown some credentials… either we just got massively played or THAT IS AWESOME!!”
Also in Portland, Definitive Brewing Company is under construction and could open in the spring at 35 Industrial Wy., near Allagash Brewing Company, according to the Portland Food Map. Few other details are available at this point, but stay tuned for more from Maine.
SOUTH PORTLAND, MAINE — The poke trend is creeping its way north to South Portland: Big Fin Poke, which specializes in the Hawaiian raw fish dish, is now open at 29 Western Ave., with this location joining a second in Westbrook, Maine. In addition to rice and salad bowls topped with seafood, chicken, beef, or tofu, Big Fin Poke also serves poke burritos, or seaweed wraps stuffed with sushi rice and proteins.
December 19, 2017
Facebook
Smoked pork loin chop at Nibblesworth in Portsmouth
KITTERY, MAINE — The Caribbean-inspiredBlue Mermaid Island Grill, which was previously open in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for over 20 years, returns to the dining scene this week, opening its new Kittery location at 10 Shapleigh Rd. on Thursday, December 21, right next to Tributary Brewing Company. Opening weekend is reservation-only; call (207) 703-2754.
Checkout our beautiful, brand new store front, isn’t she gorgeous?! … . . #bluemermaid #bluemermaidkittery #kitteryme #kittery #newlocation #storefront #restaurantdesign
A post shared by Blue Mermaid (@bluemermaid_kittery) on Dec 16, 2017 at 10:26am PST
NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Biryani Pot, which has a location in Framingham, Massachusetts, will add a location in Nashua (295 Daniel Webster Hwy.), and the grand opening will happen soon. The restaurant specializes in Hyderabadi cuisine, including biryani with chicken, goat, egg, shrimp, or vegetables.
PORTLAND, MAINE — Tuscan Table arrives at 390 Gorham Rd. in South Portland on Wednesday, December 20. The restaurant has ties to Royal River Grillhouse in Yarmouth, Maine, and Tuscan Brick Oven Bistro in Freeport, Maine. The restaurant will serve Italian cuisine.
In other Portland news, Bon Appetit recently featured a look at six of the city’s newest restaurants to check out, including Hunt & Alpine Club’s little sibling Little Giant (211 Danforth St.), which is both a restaurant and a market; Noble Barbecue (1706 Forest Ave.), which serves a “formidable” brisket sandwich and more; and Belleville (1 North St.), home of “legitimate Roman-style pizza.”
Eater Maine is also currently featuring some of the hottest new spots in Portland and beyond in the latest updated Heatmap; check it out here.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — A restaurant with a wonderfully silly name opened recently in New Hampshire, and it specializes in wood-fired cooking. Nibblesworth (409 The Hill) was started by wife-and-husband team Jenny and Tom Nelson, who launched the restaurant with a goal of taking “classic recipes and rejuvenat[ing] them for today’s palate.” The menu includes items like poutine, pierogi, seafood stew, and lobster tacos. As previously reported, it has taken the place of Blue Mermaid Island Grill, which closed in June and reopens in Kittery this week, as mentioned above.
December 12, 2017
Bill Addison for Eater
Sally’s Apizza
BIDDEFORD, MAINE — Nuts & Bolts Brewing Company inches closer to an opening this winter at 7 York St. in the Pepperrell Mill, per the Portland Food Map. The brewery is the work of Patrick Doherty and Deedra Zeeh, and they’re providing progress updates on social media.
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — A new collaboration aims to bring tortillas made with local corn to a pair of restaurants in New Hampshire. Vida Tortilla unites the owners of Vida Cantina (2456 Lafayette Rd., Portsmouth) and Dos Amigos Burritos (26 N Main St., Concord, and other locations) with Tuckaway Farm (36 Captain Smith Emerson Rd., Lee), and they’ve launched a Kickstarter campaign to help pay for the equipment needed to produce the tortillas.
NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT — One of New Haven’s oldest and best pizza restaurants, Sally’s Apizza(237 Wooster St.), has been sold to new owners, as Eater reports. The names of those now involved will not be made public until January, but they apparently plan to try to expand the restaurant nationwide.
PORTLAND, MAINE — The Portland Harbor Hotel (468 Fore St.) will lean into the cold of winter with an ice bar and ice sculptures in its courtyard garden. From January 25 to 27, the Ice Bar will be open from 5 to 9 p.m., and tickets can be purchased online. There will be specialty cocktails and small bites available.
December 5, 2017
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Whiskey & Wine Concord
BIDDEFORD, MAINE — Elda opens its doors today, arriving at 140 Main St. with regional-inspired small plates from Bowman Brown, who relocated to the Northeast from Salt Lake City and is a James Beard-nominated chef. The restaurant is named for Brown’s grandmother and will initially serve food only, with wine, beer, and a full bar menu coming soon.
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — From the same owners behind Gale Motor Co. in Manchester, Whiskey & Wine has been open for nearly a month in Concord (148 N. Main St.), and it serves exactly that, with 34 varieties of whiskey and American and European wines. The varied food menu includes items like miso and tonkotsu ramen, pulled pork tacos, sushi rolls, chicken potstickers, and seared scallops.
PORTLAND, MAINE — The Highroller Lobster, a popular food truck in Portland, now has a permanent home at 104 Exchange St. The restaurant opened over the weekend and will officially begin operations Wednesday through Thursday, starting on December 6, serving lobster in several different forms (including lobster grilled cheese), plus corn dogs, burgers, and a surf n’ turf option.
November 29, 2017
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The Wilder, Portsmouth
BIDDEFORD, MAINE — Rover Wood Fired Bagels and Pizza is now open at 111 Elm St. Founders Kimberly Chaurette and Alec Rutter, both alums of Somerville’s Forge Baking Company, started Rover as a bagel pop-up, appearing in Salem at Bambolina and local farmers markets. They’re now in business as a brick-and-mortar up in Maine, serving up bagels and sandwiches, with wood-fired pizza on the way before the end of the year.
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A brunch burger at Sonny’s, closing on December 31
PORTLAND, MAINE — Sonny’s, a nearly decade-old restaurant in Old Port (83 Exchange St.), will close at the end of the year. Taking its place: Black Cow, a burger-and-shake shop with an old-fashioned soda fountain. Jay Villani and Garry Bowcott, who own Sonny’s, Local 188, and Salvage BBQ, are behind the new project, and longtime Local 188 chef Nicholas Nappi (who took a hiatus from the group and worked at Eventide and Hugo’s in the interim) is partnering with them for Black Cow. December 31 is the final day for Sonny’s, and Black Cow could open as soon as mid-February.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — The team behind the Wallingford Dram — an excellent cocktail bar in Kittery, Maine — has opened a new spot in Portsmouth. The Wilder, a “no-rules New England gastropub,” is now open at 174 Fleet St., the site of the former United Kingdom-themed Coat of Arms bar. It’s open daily, with bar service starting at 3:30 p.m. with snacks, the full menu available starting at 5 p.m., and a late-night menu offered until 1 a.m. Dishes include everything from Scotch duck eggs to braised kid ragu, which most likely refers to goats, not children. For dessert? Apple cider beignets with maple sauce. And shakshuka makes an appearance on the late-night menu.
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — A food hall slated for Providence just met its fundraising goal through a Kickstarter campaign. The forthcoming West Park Food Hall (233 West Park St.) will have a number of restaurants, a brewery, and a roastery, with communal seating and a roof deck. It raised more than $120,000, which will go towards various expenses, including design and legal costs.
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The second level at Thee Red Fez is now White Rabbit
In other Providence news, Thee Red Fez (49 Peck St.) is changing things up, converting the upstairs dining room into a cocktail bar with its own name, White Rabbit. Get dinner at the Fez Tuesday through Saturday, starting at 5 p.m., and drink snazzy cocktails upstairs Thursday through Saturday, starting at 5 p.m.
And in other Providence news, North is now up and running at its new location, the first floor of the Dean Hotel (122 Fountain St.). Stay tuned for details on what the team plans to do with the original space at 3 Luongo Sq. — owner James Mark promises a simpler neighborhood spot that could open in a few short months.
Further Reading
Rachel Leah Blumenthal for Eater
Spicy miso ramen at Anju Noodle Bar in Kittery, Maine
New England’s 38 Essential Restaurants: A guide to the best of the best throughout New England, compiled by Eater restaurant editor Bill Addison with the help of food writers from around the region.
The 9 Hottest New Restaurants in Providence, Rhode Island: Updated in October 2017, this map highlights some of the hot new spots to hit the Providence dining scene in 2017.
Eater Maine: Eater Boston’s sister site to the north has been largely retired, but stop by the homepage now and then for updates to major maps, such as the Heatmap, which tracks some of the hottest new openings.
Maine Restaurant News Archive on Eater Boston: While most Maine news going forward will appear right here in this New England news round-up, older stories are archived at the Maine Restaurant News Archive link.
A Guide to Dining and Drinking in Portsmouth and Kittery: Take a trip up to the New Hampshire-Maine border.
Eater Recommends: What to Eat and Drink in Portsmouth and Kittery: Don’t have time to read the whole guide mentioned above? Skip to this map, which highlights some of the Eater Boston team’s Portsmouth and Kittery favorites.
Where to Drink Beer in Portsmouth, New Hampshire: And here’s the beer-specific accompaniment to the above two links.
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New England News: New Hampshire’s Got a New Speakeasy Hidden Behind a Barbershop
And other regional food and beverage updates beyond Massachusetts
Broadening the scope a bit, here’s the latest restaurant news from beyond Greater Boston; we’re keeping an eye out for dining developments throughout New England. This piece is updated on a rolling basis, covering restaurant openings, closures, and more in Portsmouth, Providence, Portland, and elsewhere.
Check back for updates — the most recent ones will always be at the top — and email [email protected] with any news tips pertaining to New England restaurant news beyond Boston.
Note: Jump to the bottom of this page for a list of other links pertaining to New England dining, including a guide to Portsmouth and Kittery, an archive of Maine news, a map of the hottest new restaurants in Providence, and more.
February 13, 2018
CHESTER, CONNECTICUT — Grano Arso(6 Main St.) is now open within a former bank building in Chester, and it showcases a “modern yet familiar approach to traditional Italian cooking.” Chef Joel Gargano mills grain in-house for pasta and bread and has created a menu consisting of crostini, pasta dishes, and entrees ranging from monkfish stew to grilled pork loin with polenta and pesto. There are also cocktails, wines, and beer.
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Chuck’s BARbershop(90 Low Ave.) is a new speakeasy-style bar from the team behind Codex in Nashua, serving up classic cocktails in a space hidden behind an actual barbershop.
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT — The newly opened Lo Sano Restaurant & Bar (678 Maple Ave.) has a menu full of Latin American classics, including mofongo (made with fried plantains), skirt steak with chimichurri, fried chicken, and tres leches flan for dessert.
NORTH WOODSTOCK, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Pemi Public House (115 Main St.) is a new option for those visiting the White Mountains. The restaurant serves sandwiches, soups, flatbreads, and hearty entrees like mac and cheese and pot pie, plus salads and appetizers. The restaurant also has open mic nights.
February 6, 2018
Katie Chudy/Eater
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — A new cocktail bar has opened in the former Red Door space at 107 State St. The Nice is the work of Kevin Walsh and Bryan Emerson, alums of Moxy and Franklin Oyster House, and they’re running the bar from 6 p.m. on, six days a week (closed Tuesday). Drinks include the Venetian Monk (Bully Boy gin, chartreuse, aperol, lemon, and Peychaud’s) and Pearl Harbor (vodka, jalapeño-infused green chartreuse, pineapple, and melon).
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — Coffee fans may soon get the chance to drink their favorite beverage in the presence of a double-decker bus. The Burgundian: Coffee and Waffles is a Rhode Island company that specializes in (as the name suggests) coffee and Liege-style waffles. Founder Shane Matlock purchased a double-decker British bus to restore and convert into a mobile coffee shop, where customers will be able to place orders through a service window but will also be able to enter the bus and partake in coffee and waffles on the second level. Matlock has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the bus conversion.
Xaco Taco is now open in Providence (370 Richmond St.), with ten versions of tacos (available as singles or platters) and a wide selection of tequila, plus beer, wine, and churro doughnuts for dessert.
A pop-up that serves sandwiches has debuted in Providence, from the same folks behind UMelt, a sandwich shop with locations at the University of Rhode Island and Brown. The aptly named Sandwich (stylized as ‘sandwich.’) pop-up operates out of the Brown UMelt location (267 Thayer St.) and offers build-your-own options, breakfast sandwiches, and 15 pre-set menu items.
SMITHFIELD, RHODE ISLAND — Laura’s Bar and Grill (945 Douglas Pke.) debuted in Rhode Island recently, with a menu of flatbreads, burgers, sandwiches, and other pub fare. There’s a selection of cocktails, plus sangria.
WARWICK, RHODE ISLAND — New Haven’s famous Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana (which has a location near Boston, in Chestnut Hill) plans to expand to Rhode Island, opening in Warwick some time in April or May, the Providence Journal reports. The restaurant will feature a specialty brick, coal-fired oven that requires seasoning.
January 30, 2018
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Gelato Fiasco
BRUNSWICK, MAINE — The Gelato Fiasco— a Maine-based gelato producer that’s previously popped-up in Boston and has been “eyeing properties in Boston for a while” for a potential permanent location here — has first landed on a site a little bit more southern: Orlando, Florida. After producing gelato for distribution and gaining traction in Florida thanks to the state’s beloved grocery store, Publix, Gelato Fiasco has signed a lease for a space at 25 West Crystal Lakes St., planning to open in spring 2018.
LONDONDERRY, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Long Blue Cat Brewing (298 Rockingham Rd.) is up and running with pints, flatbreads, and snacks. Operating varied hours from Wednesday through Sunday, the brewery is the work of two friends, Jason Knight and Shane Sorenson, who are serving several different beers, including a honey ale, a traditional porter, and a kolsch, among others.
MANCHESTER, VERMONT — Mystic Cafe & Wine Barhas opened in Manchester (4928 Main St.), serving lunch and dinner — both cafe fare and entrees, including salmon tartine, Cuban sandwiches, pastries, grilled cheese and tomato soup, salads, and mussels. The restaurant also offers a full bar and wines by the glass.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Poke hit Portsmouth with the opening of Ohana Kitchen several weeks ago (800 Islington St., Plaza 800). The restaurant serves customizable bowls of the Hawaiian dish, in addition to sushi burritos.
January 23, 2018
Dan Watkins for By Chloe
By Chloe in Providence
MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Suzette Crepes & Waffles (62 Lowell St.) is a recent addition to Manchester, and it serves what diners might expect from the name. With stuffed crepes and waffles topped with various items (including Nutella), the restaurant is connected to Gaucho’s Brazilian Steakhouse.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Seacoast Online shares the history and longevity of restaurateur John Mikolajcyk, who was born in Portsmouth 80 years ago and is still involved in the industry, as manager of the Portsmouth Elks Lodge.
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — By Chloe, a New York City-born restaurant chain that has spawned locations in Los Angeles and Boston (with a couple opening soon in London), officially opened a new location in Providence last week at 223 Thayer St. The entirely vegan menu includes everything from avocado pesto pasta to various burgers, sandwiches, and breakfast items.
January 16, 2017
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Wow Barbecue skewers
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — Wow Barbecue got its start as a food truck in Boston before opening restaurants in Malden and Brookline. Now, there’s a new restaurant in play in Providence, open at 183 Angell St., and it’s serving a menu of Chinese barbecue dishes, rice bowls, noodles, and several appetizers.
SEABROOK, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Brown’s Lobster Pound closed down in August 2017 after a fire, but the restaurant is on the verge of reopening, slated to make its return by April 1.
WEST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT — A full-service restaurant and bar specializing in vegan food has opened in Connecticut from the same people behind Rooster Co. in Newington. Flora uses seasonal ingredients for its food and drink menu (there’s a juice bar in addition to wine and beer). In addition to falafel wraps, flatbreads, “mac-no-cheese,” and an avocado bowl, Flora serves the plant-based Impossible Burger. For any meat eaters who visit, Flora offers what it calls “viable fauna” or “sustainable and responsibly raised animal products,” like grass-fed beef, wild shrimp, and arctic char.
January 9, 2018
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Bissell Brothers
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Lunch Lady Food Truck debuted at the end of 2017 in Concord, serving a school-themed menu featuring items named for grades one through 10. There are burgers, barbecue pork nachos, Buffalo wings, and Reuben egg rolls, among many other items, including sides and drinks. Find it by the Everett Arena (15 Loudon Rd.), and keep an eye on social media for other locations.
DURHAM, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Burger joint Hop + Grind (7 Madbury Rd. — Madbury Commons) opened at the end of November. The restaurant butchers and grinds its own meats and makes its soda in-house. There are beef, chicken, and pork burgers and two versions of veggie burgers, plus chicken fried mac and cheese and a Nashville hot chicken sandwich. Hop + Grind also serves craft beer and ice cream malts.
MAINE — As a new year kicks off, Portland Food Map takes a look back at the year in 2017 — exploring new restaurants, notable events, trends, and obituaries — while looking ahead towards openings slated for 2018.
PORTLAND, MAINE — The Rock apparently has great taste in beer and sent an assistant to procure some. The famed Bissell Brothers Brewing Company (4 Thompsons Pt.) shared the story on Twitter: “An assistant for The Rock just showed up, he took a private jet here to pick up Substance cans. Got shown some credentials… either we just got massively played or THAT IS AWESOME!!”
Also in Portland, Definitive Brewing Company is under construction and could open in the spring at 35 Industrial Wy., near Allagash Brewing Company, according to the Portland Food Map. Few other details are available at this point, but stay tuned for more from Maine.
SOUTH PORTLAND, MAINE — The poke trend is creeping its way north to South Portland: Big Fin Poke, which specializes in the Hawaiian raw fish dish, is now open at 29 Western Ave., with this location joining a second in Westbrook, Maine. In addition to rice and salad bowls topped with seafood, chicken, beef, or tofu, Big Fin Poke also serves poke burritos, or seaweed wraps stuffed with sushi rice and proteins.
December 19, 2017
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Smoked pork loin chop at Nibblesworth in Portsmouth
KITTERY, MAINE — The Caribbean-inspiredBlue Mermaid Island Grill, which was previously open in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for over 20 years, returns to the dining scene this week, opening its new Kittery location at 10 Shapleigh Rd. on Thursday, December 21, right next to Tributary Brewing Company. Opening weekend is reservation-only; call (207) 703-2754.
Checkout our beautiful, brand new store front, isn’t she gorgeous?! … . . #bluemermaid #bluemermaidkittery #kitteryme #kittery #newlocation #storefront #restaurantdesign
A post shared by Blue Mermaid (@bluemermaid_kittery) on Dec 16, 2017 at 10:26am PST
NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Biryani Pot, which has a location in Framingham, Massachusetts, will add a location in Nashua (295 Daniel Webster Hwy.), and the grand opening will happen soon. The restaurant specializes in Hyderabadi cuisine, including biryani with chicken, goat, egg, shrimp, or vegetables.
PORTLAND, MAINE — Tuscan Table arrives at 390 Gorham Rd. in South Portland on Wednesday, December 20. The restaurant has ties to Royal River Grillhouse in Yarmouth, Maine, and Tuscan Brick Oven Bistro in Freeport, Maine. The restaurant will serve Italian cuisine.
In other Portland news, Bon Appetit recently featured a look at six of the city’s newest restaurants to check out, including Hunt & Alpine Club’s little sibling Little Giant (211 Danforth St.), which is both a restaurant and a market; Noble Barbecue (1706 Forest Ave.), which serves a “formidable” brisket sandwich and more; and Belleville (1 North St.), home of “legitimate Roman-style pizza.”
Eater Maine is also currently featuring some of the hottest new spots in Portland and beyond in the latest updated Heatmap; check it out here.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — A restaurant with a wonderfully silly name opened recently in New Hampshire, and it specializes in wood-fired cooking. Nibblesworth (409 The Hill) was started by wife-and-husband team Jenny and Tom Nelson, who launched the restaurant with a goal of taking “classic recipes and rejuvenat[ing] them for today’s palate.” The menu includes items like poutine, pierogi, seafood stew, and lobster tacos. As previously reported, it has taken the place of Blue Mermaid Island Grill, which closed in June and reopens in Kittery this week, as mentioned above.
December 12, 2017
Bill Addison for Eater
Sally’s Apizza
BIDDEFORD, MAINE — Nuts & Bolts Brewing Company inches closer to an opening this winter at 7 York St. in the Pepperrell Mill, per the Portland Food Map. The brewery is the work of Patrick Doherty and Deedra Zeeh, and they’re providing progress updates on social media.
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — A new collaboration aims to bring tortillas made with local corn to a pair of restaurants in New Hampshire. Vida Tortilla unites the owners of Vida Cantina (2456 Lafayette Rd., Portsmouth) and Dos Amigos Burritos (26 N Main St., Concord, and other locations) with Tuckaway Farm (36 Captain Smith Emerson Rd., Lee), and they’ve launched a Kickstarter campaign to help pay for the equipment needed to produce the tortillas.
NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT — One of New Haven’s oldest and best pizza restaurants, Sally’s Apizza(237 Wooster St.), has been sold to new owners, as Eater reports. The names of those now involved will not be made public until January, but they apparently plan to try to expand the restaurant nationwide.
PORTLAND, MAINE — The Portland Harbor Hotel (468 Fore St.) will lean into the cold of winter with an ice bar and ice sculptures in its courtyard garden. From January 25 to 27, the Ice Bar will be open from 5 to 9 p.m., and tickets can be purchased online. There will be specialty cocktails and small bites available.
December 5, 2017
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Whiskey & Wine Concord
BIDDEFORD, MAINE — Elda opens its doors today, arriving at 140 Main St. with regional-inspired small plates from Bowman Brown, who relocated to the Northeast from Salt Lake City and is a James Beard-nominated chef. The restaurant is named for Brown’s grandmother and will initially serve food only, with wine, beer, and a full bar menu coming soon.
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — From the same owners behind Gale Motor Co. in Manchester, Whiskey & Wine has been open for nearly a month in Concord (148 N. Main St.), and it serves exactly that, with 34 varieties of whiskey and American and European wines. The varied food menu includes items like miso and tonkotsu ramen, pulled pork tacos, sushi rolls, chicken potstickers, and seared scallops.
PORTLAND, MAINE — The Highroller Lobster, a popular food truck in Portland, now has a permanent home at 104 Exchange St. The restaurant opened over the weekend and will officially begin operations Wednesday through Thursday, starting on December 6, serving lobster in several different forms (including lobster grilled cheese), plus corn dogs, burgers, and a surf n’ turf option.
November 29, 2017
Facebook
The Wilder, Portsmouth
BIDDEFORD, MAINE — Rover Wood Fired Bagels and Pizza is now open at 111 Elm St. Founders Kimberly Chaurette and Alec Rutter, both alums of Somerville’s Forge Baking Company, started Rover as a bagel pop-up, appearing in Salem at Bambolina and local farmers markets. They’re now in business as a brick-and-mortar up in Maine, serving up bagels and sandwiches, with wood-fired pizza on the way before the end of the year.
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A brunch burger at Sonny’s, closing on December 31
PORTLAND, MAINE — Sonny’s, a nearly decade-old restaurant in Old Port (83 Exchange St.), will close at the end of the year. Taking its place: Black Cow, a burger-and-shake shop with an old-fashioned soda fountain. Jay Villani and Garry Bowcott, who own Sonny’s, Local 188, and Salvage BBQ, are behind the new project, and longtime Local 188 chef Nicholas Nappi (who took a hiatus from the group and worked at Eventide and Hugo’s in the interim) is partnering with them for Black Cow. December 31 is the final day for Sonny’s, and Black Cow could open as soon as mid-February.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — The team behind the Wallingford Dram — an excellent cocktail bar in Kittery, Maine — has opened a new spot in Portsmouth. The Wilder, a “no-rules New England gastropub,” is now open at 174 Fleet St., the site of the former United Kingdom-themed Coat of Arms bar. It’s open daily, with bar service starting at 3:30 p.m. with snacks, the full menu available starting at 5 p.m., and a late-night menu offered until 1 a.m. Dishes include everything from Scotch duck eggs to braised kid ragu, which most likely refers to goats, not children. For dessert? Apple cider beignets with maple sauce. And shakshuka makes an appearance on the late-night menu.
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — A food hall slated for Providence just met its fundraising goal through a Kickstarter campaign. The forthcoming West Park Food Hall (233 West Park St.) will have a number of restaurants, a brewery, and a roastery, with communal seating and a roof deck. It raised more than $120,000, which will go towards various expenses, including design and legal costs.
Instagram
The second level at Thee Red Fez is now White Rabbit
In other Providence news, Thee Red Fez (49 Peck St.) is changing things up, converting the upstairs dining room into a cocktail bar with its own name, White Rabbit. Get dinner at the Fez Tuesday through Saturday, starting at 5 p.m., and drink snazzy cocktails upstairs Thursday through Saturday, starting at 5 p.m.
And in other Providence news, North is now up and running at its new location, the first floor of the Dean Hotel (122 Fountain St.). Stay tuned for details on what the team plans to do with the original space at 3 Luongo Sq. — owner James Mark promises a simpler neighborhood spot that could open in a few short months.
Further Reading
Rachel Leah Blumenthal for Eater
Spicy miso ramen at Anju Noodle Bar in Kittery, Maine
New England’s 38 Essential Restaurants: A guide to the best of the best throughout New England, compiled by Eater restaurant editor Bill Addison with the help of food writers from around the region.
The 9 Hottest New Restaurants in Providence, Rhode Island: Updated in October 2017, this map highlights some of the hot new spots to hit the Providence dining scene in 2017.
Eater Maine: Eater Boston’s sister site to the north has been largely retired, but stop by the homepage now and then for updates to major maps, such as the Heatmap, which tracks some of the hottest new openings.
Maine Restaurant News Archive on Eater Boston: While most Maine news going forward will appear right here in this New England news round-up, older stories are archived at the Maine Restaurant News Archive link.
A Guide to Dining and Drinking in Portsmouth and Kittery: Take a trip up to the New Hampshire-Maine border.
Eater Recommends: What to Eat and Drink in Portsmouth and Kittery: Don’t have time to read the whole guide mentioned above? Skip to this map, which highlights some of the Eater Boston team’s Portsmouth and Kittery favorites.
Where to Drink Beer in Portsmouth, New Hampshire: And here’s the beer-specific accompaniment to the above two links.
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New England News: New Hampshire’s Got a New Speakeasy Hidden Behind a Barbershop
And other regional food and beverage updates beyond Massachusetts
Broadening the scope a bit, here’s the latest restaurant news from beyond Greater Boston; we’re keeping an eye out for dining developments throughout New England. This piece is updated on a rolling basis, covering restaurant openings, closures, and more in Portsmouth, Providence, Portland, and elsewhere.
Check back for updates — the most recent ones will always be at the top — and email [email protected] with any news tips pertaining to New England restaurant news beyond Boston.
Note: Jump to the bottom of this page for a list of other links pertaining to New England dining, including a guide to Portsmouth and Kittery, an archive of Maine news, a map of the hottest new restaurants in Providence, and more.
February 13, 2018
CHESTER, CONNECTICUT — Grano Arso(6 Main St.) is now open within a former bank building in Chester, and it showcases a “modern yet familiar approach to traditional Italian cooking.” Chef Joel Gargano mills grain in-house for pasta and bread and has created a menu consisting of crostini, pasta dishes, and entrees ranging from monkfish stew to grilled pork loin with polenta and pesto. There are also cocktails, wines, and beer.
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Chuck’s BARbershop(90 Low Ave.) is a new speakeasy-style bar from the team behind Codex in Nashua, serving up classic cocktails in a space hidden behind an actual barbershop.
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT — The newly opened Lo Sano Restaurant & Bar (678 Maple Ave.) has a menu full of Latin American classics, including mofongo (made with fried plantains), skirt steak with chimichurri, fried chicken, and tres leches flan for dessert.
NORTH WOODSTOCK, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Pemi Public House (115 Main St.) is a new option for those visiting the White Mountains. The restaurant serves sandwiches, soups, flatbreads, and hearty entrees like mac and cheese and pot pie, plus salads and appetizers. The restaurant also has open mic nights.
February 6, 2018
Katie Chudy/Eater
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — A new cocktail bar has opened in the former Red Door space at 107 State St. The Nice is the work of Kevin Walsh and Bryan Emerson, alums of Moxy and Franklin Oyster House, and they’re running the bar from 6 p.m. on, six days a week (closed Tuesday). Drinks include the Venetian Monk (Bully Boy gin, chartreuse, aperol, lemon, and Peychaud’s) and Pearl Harbor (vodka, jalapeño-infused green chartreuse, pineapple, and melon).
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — Coffee fans may soon get the chance to drink their favorite beverage in the presence of a double-decker bus. The Burgundian: Coffee and Waffles is a Rhode Island company that specializes in (as the name suggests) coffee and Liege-style waffles. Founder Shane Matlock purchased a double-decker British bus to restore and convert into a mobile coffee shop, where customers will be able to place orders through a service window but will also be able to enter the bus and partake in coffee and waffles on the second level. Matlock has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the bus conversion.
Xaco Taco is now open in Providence (370 Richmond St.), with ten versions of tacos (available as singles or platters) and a wide selection of tequila, plus beer, wine, and churro doughnuts for dessert.
A pop-up that serves sandwiches has debuted in Providence, from the same folks behind UMelt, a sandwich shop with locations at the University of Rhode Island and Brown. The aptly named Sandwich (stylized as ‘sandwich.’) pop-up operates out of the Brown UMelt location (267 Thayer St.) and offers build-your-own options, breakfast sandwiches, and 15 pre-set menu items.
SMITHFIELD, RHODE ISLAND — Laura’s Bar and Grill (945 Douglas Pke.) debuted in Rhode Island recently, with a menu of flatbreads, burgers, sandwiches, and other pub fare. There’s a selection of cocktails, plus sangria.
WARWICK, RHODE ISLAND — New Haven’s famous Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana (which has a location near Boston, in Chestnut Hill) plans to expand to Rhode Island, opening in Warwick some time in April or May, the Providence Journal reports. The restaurant will feature a specialty brick, coal-fired oven that requires seasoning.
January 30, 2018
Facebook
Gelato Fiasco
BRUNSWICK, MAINE — The Gelato Fiasco— a Maine-based gelato producer that’s previously popped-up in Boston and has been “eyeing properties in Boston for a while” for a potential permanent location here — has first landed on a site a little bit more southern: Orlando, Florida. After producing gelato for distribution and gaining traction in Florida thanks to the state’s beloved grocery store, Publix, Gelato Fiasco has signed a lease for a space at 25 West Crystal Lakes St., planning to open in spring 2018.
LONDONDERRY, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Long Blue Cat Brewing (298 Rockingham Rd.) is up and running with pints, flatbreads, and snacks. Operating varied hours from Wednesday through Sunday, the brewery is the work of two friends, Jason Knight and Shane Sorenson, who are serving several different beers, including a honey ale, a traditional porter, and a kolsch, among others.
MANCHESTER, VERMONT — Mystic Cafe & Wine Barhas opened in Manchester (4928 Main St.), serving lunch and dinner — both cafe fare and entrees, including salmon tartine, Cuban sandwiches, pastries, grilled cheese and tomato soup, salads, and mussels. The restaurant also offers a full bar and wines by the glass.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Poke hit Portsmouth with the opening of Ohana Kitchen several weeks ago (800 Islington St., Plaza 800). The restaurant serves customizable bowls of the Hawaiian dish, in addition to sushi burritos.
January 23, 2018
Dan Watkins for By Chloe
By Chloe in Providence
MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Suzette Crepes & Waffles (62 Lowell St.) is a recent addition to Manchester, and it serves what diners might expect from the name. With stuffed crepes and waffles topped with various items (including Nutella), the restaurant is connected to Gaucho’s Brazilian Steakhouse.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Seacoast Online shares the history and longevity of restaurateur John Mikolajcyk, who was born in Portsmouth 80 years ago and is still involved in the industry, as manager of the Portsmouth Elks Lodge.
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — By Chloe, a New York City-born restaurant chain that has spawned locations in Los Angeles and Boston (with a couple opening soon in London), officially opened a new location in Providence last week at 223 Thayer St. The entirely vegan menu includes everything from avocado pesto pasta to various burgers, sandwiches, and breakfast items.
January 16, 2017
Facebook
Wow Barbecue skewers
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — Wow Barbecue got its start as a food truck in Boston before opening restaurants in Malden and Brookline. Now, there’s a new restaurant in play in Providence, open at 183 Angell St., and it’s serving a menu of Chinese barbecue dishes, rice bowls, noodles, and several appetizers.
SEABROOK, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Brown’s Lobster Pound closed down in August 2017 after a fire, but the restaurant is on the verge of reopening, slated to make its return by April 1.
WEST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT — A full-service restaurant and bar specializing in vegan food has opened in Connecticut from the same people behind Rooster Co. in Newington. Flora uses seasonal ingredients for its food and drink menu (there’s a juice bar in addition to wine and beer). In addition to falafel wraps, flatbreads, “mac-no-cheese,” and an avocado bowl, Flora serves the plant-based Impossible Burger. For any meat eaters who visit, Flora offers what it calls “viable fauna” or “sustainable and responsibly raised animal products,” like grass-fed beef, wild shrimp, and arctic char.
January 9, 2018
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Bissell Brothers
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Lunch Lady Food Truck debuted at the end of 2017 in Concord, serving a school-themed menu featuring items named for grades one through 10. There are burgers, barbecue pork nachos, Buffalo wings, and Reuben egg rolls, among many other items, including sides and drinks. Find it by the Everett Arena (15 Loudon Rd.), and keep an eye on social media for other locations.
DURHAM, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Burger joint Hop + Grind (7 Madbury Rd. — Madbury Commons) opened at the end of November. The restaurant butchers and grinds its own meats and makes its soda in-house. There are beef, chicken, and pork burgers and two versions of veggie burgers, plus chicken fried mac and cheese and a Nashville hot chicken sandwich. Hop + Grind also serves craft beer and ice cream malts.
MAINE — As a new year kicks off, Portland Food Map takes a look back at the year in 2017 — exploring new restaurants, notable events, trends, and obituaries — while looking ahead towards openings slated for 2018.
PORTLAND, MAINE — The Rock apparently has great taste in beer and sent an assistant to procure some. The famed Bissell Brothers Brewing Company (4 Thompsons Pt.) shared the story on Twitter: “An assistant for The Rock just showed up, he took a private jet here to pick up Substance cans. Got shown some credentials… either we just got massively played or THAT IS AWESOME!!”
Also in Portland, Definitive Brewing Company is under construction and could open in the spring at 35 Industrial Wy., near Allagash Brewing Company, according to the Portland Food Map. Few other details are available at this point, but stay tuned for more from Maine.
SOUTH PORTLAND, MAINE — The poke trend is creeping its way north to South Portland: Big Fin Poke, which specializes in the Hawaiian raw fish dish, is now open at 29 Western Ave., with this location joining a second in Westbrook, Maine. In addition to rice and salad bowls topped with seafood, chicken, beef, or tofu, Big Fin Poke also serves poke burritos, or seaweed wraps stuffed with sushi rice and proteins.
December 19, 2017
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Smoked pork loin chop at Nibblesworth in Portsmouth
KITTERY, MAINE — The Caribbean-inspiredBlue Mermaid Island Grill, which was previously open in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for over 20 years, returns to the dining scene this week, opening its new Kittery location at 10 Shapleigh Rd. on Thursday, December 21, right next to Tributary Brewing Company. Opening weekend is reservation-only; call (207) 703-2754.
Checkout our beautiful, brand new store front, isn’t she gorgeous?! … . . #bluemermaid #bluemermaidkittery #kitteryme #kittery #newlocation #storefront #restaurantdesign
A post shared by Blue Mermaid (@bluemermaid_kittery) on Dec 16, 2017 at 10:26am PST
NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Biryani Pot, which has a location in Framingham, Massachusetts, will add a location in Nashua (295 Daniel Webster Hwy.), and the grand opening will happen soon. The restaurant specializes in Hyderabadi cuisine, including biryani with chicken, goat, egg, shrimp, or vegetables.
PORTLAND, MAINE — Tuscan Table arrives at 390 Gorham Rd. in South Portland on Wednesday, December 20. The restaurant has ties to Royal River Grillhouse in Yarmouth, Maine, and Tuscan Brick Oven Bistro in Freeport, Maine. The restaurant will serve Italian cuisine.
In other Portland news, Bon Appetit recently featured a look at six of the city’s newest restaurants to check out, including Hunt & Alpine Club’s little sibling Little Giant (211 Danforth St.), which is both a restaurant and a market; Noble Barbecue (1706 Forest Ave.), which serves a “formidable” brisket sandwich and more; and Belleville (1 North St.), home of “legitimate Roman-style pizza.”
Eater Maine is also currently featuring some of the hottest new spots in Portland and beyond in the latest updated Heatmap; check it out here.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — A restaurant with a wonderfully silly name opened recently in New Hampshire, and it specializes in wood-fired cooking. Nibblesworth (409 The Hill) was started by wife-and-husband team Jenny and Tom Nelson, who launched the restaurant with a goal of taking “classic recipes and rejuvenat[ing] them for today’s palate.” The menu includes items like poutine, pierogi, seafood stew, and lobster tacos. As previously reported, it has taken the place of Blue Mermaid Island Grill, which closed in June and reopens in Kittery this week, as mentioned above.
December 12, 2017
Bill Addison for Eater
Sally’s Apizza
BIDDEFORD, MAINE — Nuts & Bolts Brewing Company inches closer to an opening this winter at 7 York St. in the Pepperrell Mill, per the Portland Food Map. The brewery is the work of Patrick Doherty and Deedra Zeeh, and they’re providing progress updates on social media.
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — A new collaboration aims to bring tortillas made with local corn to a pair of restaurants in New Hampshire. Vida Tortilla unites the owners of Vida Cantina (2456 Lafayette Rd., Portsmouth) and Dos Amigos Burritos (26 N Main St., Concord, and other locations) with Tuckaway Farm (36 Captain Smith Emerson Rd., Lee), and they’ve launched a Kickstarter campaign to help pay for the equipment needed to produce the tortillas.
NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT — One of New Haven’s oldest and best pizza restaurants, Sally’s Apizza(237 Wooster St.), has been sold to new owners, as Eater reports. The names of those now involved will not be made public until January, but they apparently plan to try to expand the restaurant nationwide.
PORTLAND, MAINE — The Portland Harbor Hotel (468 Fore St.) will lean into the cold of winter with an ice bar and ice sculptures in its courtyard garden. From January 25 to 27, the Ice Bar will be open from 5 to 9 p.m., and tickets can be purchased online. There will be specialty cocktails and small bites available.
December 5, 2017
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Whiskey & Wine Concord
BIDDEFORD, MAINE — Elda opens its doors today, arriving at 140 Main St. with regional-inspired small plates from Bowman Brown, who relocated to the Northeast from Salt Lake City and is a James Beard-nominated chef. The restaurant is named for Brown’s grandmother and will initially serve food only, with wine, beer, and a full bar menu coming soon.
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — From the same owners behind Gale Motor Co. in Manchester, Whiskey & Wine has been open for nearly a month in Concord (148 N. Main St.), and it serves exactly that, with 34 varieties of whiskey and American and European wines. The varied food menu includes items like miso and tonkotsu ramen, pulled pork tacos, sushi rolls, chicken potstickers, and seared scallops.
PORTLAND, MAINE — The Highroller Lobster, a popular food truck in Portland, now has a permanent home at 104 Exchange St. The restaurant opened over the weekend and will officially begin operations Wednesday through Thursday, starting on December 6, serving lobster in several different forms (including lobster grilled cheese), plus corn dogs, burgers, and a surf n’ turf option.
November 29, 2017
Facebook
The Wilder, Portsmouth
BIDDEFORD, MAINE — Rover Wood Fired Bagels and Pizza is now open at 111 Elm St. Founders Kimberly Chaurette and Alec Rutter, both alums of Somerville’s Forge Baking Company, started Rover as a bagel pop-up, appearing in Salem at Bambolina and local farmers markets. They’re now in business as a brick-and-mortar up in Maine, serving up bagels and sandwiches, with wood-fired pizza on the way before the end of the year.
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A brunch burger at Sonny’s, closing on December 31
PORTLAND, MAINE — Sonny’s, a nearly decade-old restaurant in Old Port (83 Exchange St.), will close at the end of the year. Taking its place: Black Cow, a burger-and-shake shop with an old-fashioned soda fountain. Jay Villani and Garry Bowcott, who own Sonny’s, Local 188, and Salvage BBQ, are behind the new project, and longtime Local 188 chef Nicholas Nappi (who took a hiatus from the group and worked at Eventide and Hugo’s in the interim) is partnering with them for Black Cow. December 31 is the final day for Sonny’s, and Black Cow could open as soon as mid-February.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — The team behind the Wallingford Dram — an excellent cocktail bar in Kittery, Maine — has opened a new spot in Portsmouth. The Wilder, a “no-rules New England gastropub,” is now open at 174 Fleet St., the site of the former United Kingdom-themed Coat of Arms bar. It’s open daily, with bar service starting at 3:30 p.m. with snacks, the full menu available starting at 5 p.m., and a late-night menu offered until 1 a.m. Dishes include everything from Scotch duck eggs to braised kid ragu, which most likely refers to goats, not children. For dessert? Apple cider beignets with maple sauce. And shakshuka makes an appearance on the late-night menu.
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — A food hall slated for Providence just met its fundraising goal through a Kickstarter campaign. The forthcoming West Park Food Hall (233 West Park St.) will have a number of restaurants, a brewery, and a roastery, with communal seating and a roof deck. It raised more than $120,000, which will go towards various expenses, including design and legal costs.
Instagram
The second level at Thee Red Fez is now White Rabbit
In other Providence news, Thee Red Fez (49 Peck St.) is changing things up, converting the upstairs dining room into a cocktail bar with its own name, White Rabbit. Get dinner at the Fez Tuesday through Saturday, starting at 5 p.m., and drink snazzy cocktails upstairs Thursday through Saturday, starting at 5 p.m.
And in other Providence news, North is now up and running at its new location, the first floor of the Dean Hotel (122 Fountain St.). Stay tuned for details on what the team plans to do with the original space at 3 Luongo Sq. — owner James Mark promises a simpler neighborhood spot that could open in a few short months.
Further Reading
Rachel Leah Blumenthal for Eater
Spicy miso ramen at Anju Noodle Bar in Kittery, Maine
New England’s 38 Essential Restaurants: A guide to the best of the best throughout New England, compiled by Eater restaurant editor Bill Addison with the help of food writers from around the region.
The 9 Hottest New Restaurants in Providence, Rhode Island: Updated in October 2017, this map highlights some of the hot new spots to hit the Providence dining scene in 2017.
Eater Maine: Eater Boston’s sister site to the north has been largely retired, but stop by the homepage now and then for updates to major maps, such as the Heatmap, which tracks some of the hottest new openings.
Maine Restaurant News Archive on Eater Boston: While most Maine news going forward will appear right here in this New England news round-up, older stories are archived at the Maine Restaurant News Archive link.
A Guide to Dining and Drinking in Portsmouth and Kittery: Take a trip up to the New Hampshire-Maine border.
Eater Recommends: What to Eat and Drink in Portsmouth and Kittery: Don’t have time to read the whole guide mentioned above? Skip to this map, which highlights some of the Eater Boston team’s Portsmouth and Kittery favorites.
Where to Drink Beer in Portsmouth, New Hampshire: And here’s the beer-specific accompaniment to the above two links.
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New England News: New Hampshire’s Got a New Speakeasy Hidden Behind a Barbershop
And other regional food and beverage updates beyond Massachusetts
Broadening the scope a bit, here’s the latest restaurant news from beyond Greater Boston; we’re keeping an eye out for dining developments throughout New England. This piece is updated on a rolling basis, covering restaurant openings, closures, and more in Portsmouth, Providence, Portland, and elsewhere.
Check back for updates — the most recent ones will always be at the top — and email [email protected] with any news tips pertaining to New England restaurant news beyond Boston.
Note: Jump to the bottom of this page for a list of other links pertaining to New England dining, including a guide to Portsmouth and Kittery, an archive of Maine news, a map of the hottest new restaurants in Providence, and more.
February 13, 2018
CHESTER, CONNECTICUT — Grano Arso(6 Main St.) is now open within a former bank building in Chester, and it showcases a “modern yet familiar approach to traditional Italian cooking.” Chef Joel Gargano mills grain in-house for pasta and bread and has created a menu consisting of crostini, pasta dishes, and entrees ranging from monkfish stew to grilled pork loin with polenta and pesto. There are also cocktails, wines, and beer.
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Chuck’s BARbershop(90 Low Ave.) is a new speakeasy-style bar from the team behind Codex in Nashua, serving up classic cocktails in a space hidden behind an actual barbershop.
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT — The newly opened Lo Sano Restaurant & Bar (678 Maple Ave.) has a menu full of Latin American classics, including mofongo (made with fried plantains), skirt steak with chimichurri, fried chicken, and tres leches flan for dessert.
NORTH WOODSTOCK, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Pemi Public House (115 Main St.) is a new option for those visiting the White Mountains. The restaurant serves sandwiches, soups, flatbreads, and hearty entrees like mac and cheese and pot pie, plus salads and appetizers. The restaurant also has open mic nights.
February 6, 2018
Katie Chudy/Eater
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — A new cocktail bar has opened in the former Red Door space at 107 State St. The Nice is the work of Kevin Walsh and Bryan Emerson, alums of Moxy and Franklin Oyster House, and they’re running the bar from 6 p.m. on, six days a week (closed Tuesday). Drinks include the Venetian Monk (Bully Boy gin, chartreuse, aperol, lemon, and Peychaud’s) and Pearl Harbor (vodka, jalapeño-infused green chartreuse, pineapple, and melon).
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — Coffee fans may soon get the chance to drink their favorite beverage in the presence of a double-decker bus. The Burgundian: Coffee and Waffles is a Rhode Island company that specializes in (as the name suggests) coffee and Liege-style waffles. Founder Shane Matlock purchased a double-decker British bus to restore and convert into a mobile coffee shop, where customers will be able to place orders through a service window but will also be able to enter the bus and partake in coffee and waffles on the second level. Matlock has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the bus conversion.
Xaco Taco is now open in Providence (370 Richmond St.), with ten versions of tacos (available as singles or platters) and a wide selection of tequila, plus beer, wine, and churro doughnuts for dessert.
A pop-up that serves sandwiches has debuted in Providence, from the same folks behind UMelt, a sandwich shop with locations at the University of Rhode Island and Brown. The aptly named Sandwich (stylized as ‘sandwich.’) pop-up operates out of the Brown UMelt location (267 Thayer St.) and offers build-your-own options, breakfast sandwiches, and 15 pre-set menu items.
SMITHFIELD, RHODE ISLAND — Laura’s Bar and Grill (945 Douglas Pke.) debuted in Rhode Island recently, with a menu of flatbreads, burgers, sandwiches, and other pub fare. There’s a selection of cocktails, plus sangria.
WARWICK, RHODE ISLAND — New Haven’s famous Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana (which has a location near Boston, in Chestnut Hill) plans to expand to Rhode Island, opening in Warwick some time in April or May, the Providence Journal reports. The restaurant will feature a specialty brick, coal-fired oven that requires seasoning.
January 30, 2018
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Gelato Fiasco
BRUNSWICK, MAINE — The Gelato Fiasco— a Maine-based gelato producer that’s previously popped-up in Boston and has been “eyeing properties in Boston for a while” for a potential permanent location here — has first landed on a site a little bit more southern: Orlando, Florida. After producing gelato for distribution and gaining traction in Florida thanks to the state’s beloved grocery store, Publix, Gelato Fiasco has signed a lease for a space at 25 West Crystal Lakes St., planning to open in spring 2018.
LONDONDERRY, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Long Blue Cat Brewing (298 Rockingham Rd.) is up and running with pints, flatbreads, and snacks. Operating varied hours from Wednesday through Sunday, the brewery is the work of two friends, Jason Knight and Shane Sorenson, who are serving several different beers, including a honey ale, a traditional porter, and a kolsch, among others.
MANCHESTER, VERMONT — Mystic Cafe & Wine Barhas opened in Manchester (4928 Main St.), serving lunch and dinner — both cafe fare and entrees, including salmon tartine, Cuban sandwiches, pastries, grilled cheese and tomato soup, salads, and mussels. The restaurant also offers a full bar and wines by the glass.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Poke hit Portsmouth with the opening of Ohana Kitchen several weeks ago (800 Islington St., Plaza 800). The restaurant serves customizable bowls of the Hawaiian dish, in addition to sushi burritos.
January 23, 2018
Dan Watkins for By Chloe
By Chloe in Providence
MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Suzette Crepes & Waffles (62 Lowell St.) is a recent addition to Manchester, and it serves what diners might expect from the name. With stuffed crepes and waffles topped with various items (including Nutella), the restaurant is connected to Gaucho’s Brazilian Steakhouse.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Seacoast Online shares the history and longevity of restaurateur John Mikolajcyk, who was born in Portsmouth 80 years ago and is still involved in the industry, as manager of the Portsmouth Elks Lodge.
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — By Chloe, a New York City-born restaurant chain that has spawned locations in Los Angeles and Boston (with a couple opening soon in London), officially opened a new location in Providence last week at 223 Thayer St. The entirely vegan menu includes everything from avocado pesto pasta to various burgers, sandwiches, and breakfast items.
January 16, 2017
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Wow Barbecue skewers
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — Wow Barbecue got its start as a food truck in Boston before opening restaurants in Malden and Brookline. Now, there’s a new restaurant in play in Providence, open at 183 Angell St., and it’s serving a menu of Chinese barbecue dishes, rice bowls, noodles, and several appetizers.
SEABROOK, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Brown’s Lobster Pound closed down in August 2017 after a fire, but the restaurant is on the verge of reopening, slated to make its return by April 1.
WEST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT — A full-service restaurant and bar specializing in vegan food has opened in Connecticut from the same people behind Rooster Co. in Newington. Flora uses seasonal ingredients for its food and drink menu (there’s a juice bar in addition to wine and beer). In addition to falafel wraps, flatbreads, “mac-no-cheese,” and an avocado bowl, Flora serves the plant-based Impossible Burger. For any meat eaters who visit, Flora offers what it calls “viable fauna” or “sustainable and responsibly raised animal products,” like grass-fed beef, wild shrimp, and arctic char.
January 9, 2018
Facebook
Bissell Brothers
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Lunch Lady Food Truck debuted at the end of 2017 in Concord, serving a school-themed menu featuring items named for grades one through 10. There are burgers, barbecue pork nachos, Buffalo wings, and Reuben egg rolls, among many other items, including sides and drinks. Find it by the Everett Arena (15 Loudon Rd.), and keep an eye on social media for other locations.
DURHAM, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Burger joint Hop + Grind (7 Madbury Rd. — Madbury Commons) opened at the end of November. The restaurant butchers and grinds its own meats and makes its soda in-house. There are beef, chicken, and pork burgers and two versions of veggie burgers, plus chicken fried mac and cheese and a Nashville hot chicken sandwich. Hop + Grind also serves craft beer and ice cream malts.
MAINE — As a new year kicks off, Portland Food Map takes a look back at the year in 2017 — exploring new restaurants, notable events, trends, and obituaries — while looking ahead towards openings slated for 2018.
PORTLAND, MAINE — The Rock apparently has great taste in beer and sent an assistant to procure some. The famed Bissell Brothers Brewing Company (4 Thompsons Pt.) shared the story on Twitter: “An assistant for The Rock just showed up, he took a private jet here to pick up Substance cans. Got shown some credentials… either we just got massively played or THAT IS AWESOME!!”
Also in Portland, Definitive Brewing Company is under construction and could open in the spring at 35 Industrial Wy., near Allagash Brewing Company, according to the Portland Food Map. Few other details are available at this point, but stay tuned for more from Maine.
SOUTH PORTLAND, MAINE — The poke trend is creeping its way north to South Portland: Big Fin Poke, which specializes in the Hawaiian raw fish dish, is now open at 29 Western Ave., with this location joining a second in Westbrook, Maine. In addition to rice and salad bowls topped with seafood, chicken, beef, or tofu, Big Fin Poke also serves poke burritos, or seaweed wraps stuffed with sushi rice and proteins.
December 19, 2017
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Smoked pork loin chop at Nibblesworth in Portsmouth
KITTERY, MAINE — The Caribbean-inspiredBlue Mermaid Island Grill, which was previously open in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for over 20 years, returns to the dining scene this week, opening its new Kittery location at 10 Shapleigh Rd. on Thursday, December 21, right next to Tributary Brewing Company. Opening weekend is reservation-only; call (207) 703-2754.
Checkout our beautiful, brand new store front, isn’t she gorgeous?! … . . #bluemermaid #bluemermaidkittery #kitteryme #kittery #newlocation #storefront #restaurantdesign
A post shared by Blue Mermaid (@bluemermaid_kittery) on Dec 16, 2017 at 10:26am PST
NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Biryani Pot, which has a location in Framingham, Massachusetts, will add a location in Nashua (295 Daniel Webster Hwy.), and the grand opening will happen soon. The restaurant specializes in Hyderabadi cuisine, including biryani with chicken, goat, egg, shrimp, or vegetables.
PORTLAND, MAINE — Tuscan Table arrives at 390 Gorham Rd. in South Portland on Wednesday, December 20. The restaurant has ties to Royal River Grillhouse in Yarmouth, Maine, and Tuscan Brick Oven Bistro in Freeport, Maine. The restaurant will serve Italian cuisine.
In other Portland news, Bon Appetit recently featured a look at six of the city’s newest restaurants to check out, including Hunt & Alpine Club’s little sibling Little Giant (211 Danforth St.), which is both a restaurant and a market; Noble Barbecue (1706 Forest Ave.), which serves a “formidable” brisket sandwich and more; and Belleville (1 North St.), home of “legitimate Roman-style pizza.”
Eater Maine is also currently featuring some of the hottest new spots in Portland and beyond in the latest updated Heatmap; check it out here.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — A restaurant with a wonderfully silly name opened recently in New Hampshire, and it specializes in wood-fired cooking. Nibblesworth (409 The Hill) was started by wife-and-husband team Jenny and Tom Nelson, who launched the restaurant with a goal of taking “classic recipes and rejuvenat[ing] them for today’s palate.” The menu includes items like poutine, pierogi, seafood stew, and lobster tacos. As previously reported, it has taken the place of Blue Mermaid Island Grill, which closed in June and reopens in Kittery this week, as mentioned above.
December 12, 2017
Bill Addison for Eater
Sally’s Apizza
BIDDEFORD, MAINE — Nuts & Bolts Brewing Company inches closer to an opening this winter at 7 York St. in the Pepperrell Mill, per the Portland Food Map. The brewery is the work of Patrick Doherty and Deedra Zeeh, and they’re providing progress updates on social media.
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — A new collaboration aims to bring tortillas made with local corn to a pair of restaurants in New Hampshire. Vida Tortilla unites the owners of Vida Cantina (2456 Lafayette Rd., Portsmouth) and Dos Amigos Burritos (26 N Main St., Concord, and other locations) with Tuckaway Farm (36 Captain Smith Emerson Rd., Lee), and they’ve launched a Kickstarter campaign to help pay for the equipment needed to produce the tortillas.
NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT — One of New Haven’s oldest and best pizza restaurants, Sally’s Apizza(237 Wooster St.), has been sold to new owners, as Eater reports. The names of those now involved will not be made public until January, but they apparently plan to try to expand the restaurant nationwide.
PORTLAND, MAINE — The Portland Harbor Hotel (468 Fore St.) will lean into the cold of winter with an ice bar and ice sculptures in its courtyard garden. From January 25 to 27, the Ice Bar will be open from 5 to 9 p.m., and tickets can be purchased online. There will be specialty cocktails and small bites available.
December 5, 2017
Facebook
Whiskey & Wine Concord
BIDDEFORD, MAINE — Elda opens its doors today, arriving at 140 Main St. with regional-inspired small plates from Bowman Brown, who relocated to the Northeast from Salt Lake City and is a James Beard-nominated chef. The restaurant is named for Brown’s grandmother and will initially serve food only, with wine, beer, and a full bar menu coming soon.
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — From the same owners behind Gale Motor Co. in Manchester, Whiskey & Wine has been open for nearly a month in Concord (148 N. Main St.), and it serves exactly that, with 34 varieties of whiskey and American and European wines. The varied food menu includes items like miso and tonkotsu ramen, pulled pork tacos, sushi rolls, chicken potstickers, and seared scallops.
PORTLAND, MAINE — The Highroller Lobster, a popular food truck in Portland, now has a permanent home at 104 Exchange St. The restaurant opened over the weekend and will officially begin operations Wednesday through Thursday, starting on December 6, serving lobster in several different forms (including lobster grilled cheese), plus corn dogs, burgers, and a surf n’ turf option.
November 29, 2017
Facebook
The Wilder, Portsmouth
BIDDEFORD, MAINE — Rover Wood Fired Bagels and Pizza is now open at 111 Elm St. Founders Kimberly Chaurette and Alec Rutter, both alums of Somerville’s Forge Baking Company, started Rover as a bagel pop-up, appearing in Salem at Bambolina and local farmers markets. They’re now in business as a brick-and-mortar up in Maine, serving up bagels and sandwiches, with wood-fired pizza on the way before the end of the year.
Instagram
A brunch burger at Sonny’s, closing on December 31
PORTLAND, MAINE — Sonny’s, a nearly decade-old restaurant in Old Port (83 Exchange St.), will close at the end of the year. Taking its place: Black Cow, a burger-and-shake shop with an old-fashioned soda fountain. Jay Villani and Garry Bowcott, who own Sonny’s, Local 188, and Salvage BBQ, are behind the new project, and longtime Local 188 chef Nicholas Nappi (who took a hiatus from the group and worked at Eventide and Hugo’s in the interim) is partnering with them for Black Cow. December 31 is the final day for Sonny’s, and Black Cow could open as soon as mid-February.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — The team behind the Wallingford Dram — an excellent cocktail bar in Kittery, Maine — has opened a new spot in Portsmouth. The Wilder, a “no-rules New England gastropub,” is now open at 174 Fleet St., the site of the former United Kingdom-themed Coat of Arms bar. It’s open daily, with bar service starting at 3:30 p.m. with snacks, the full menu available starting at 5 p.m., and a late-night menu offered until 1 a.m. Dishes include everything from Scotch duck eggs to braised kid ragu, which most likely refers to goats, not children. For dessert? Apple cider beignets with maple sauce. And shakshuka makes an appearance on the late-night menu.
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — A food hall slated for Providence just met its fundraising goal through a Kickstarter campaign. The forthcoming West Park Food Hall (233 West Park St.) will have a number of restaurants, a brewery, and a roastery, with communal seating and a roof deck. It raised more than $120,000, which will go towards various expenses, including design and legal costs.
Instagram
The second level at Thee Red Fez is now White Rabbit
In other Providence news, Thee Red Fez (49 Peck St.) is changing things up, converting the upstairs dining room into a cocktail bar with its own name, White Rabbit. Get dinner at the Fez Tuesday through Saturday, starting at 5 p.m., and drink snazzy cocktails upstairs Thursday through Saturday, starting at 5 p.m.
And in other Providence news, North is now up and running at its new location, the first floor of the Dean Hotel (122 Fountain St.). Stay tuned for details on what the team plans to do with the original space at 3 Luongo Sq. — owner James Mark promises a simpler neighborhood spot that could open in a few short months.
Further Reading
Rachel Leah Blumenthal for Eater
Spicy miso ramen at Anju Noodle Bar in Kittery, Maine
New England’s 38 Essential Restaurants: A guide to the best of the best throughout New England, compiled by Eater restaurant editor Bill Addison with the help of food writers from around the region.
The 9 Hottest New Restaurants in Providence, Rhode Island: Updated in October 2017, this map highlights some of the hot new spots to hit the Providence dining scene in 2017.
Eater Maine: Eater Boston’s sister site to the north has been largely retired, but stop by the homepage now and then for updates to major maps, such as the Heatmap, which tracks some of the hottest new openings.
Maine Restaurant News Archive on Eater Boston: While most Maine news going forward will appear right here in this New England news round-up, older stories are archived at the Maine Restaurant News Archive link.
A Guide to Dining and Drinking in Portsmouth and Kittery: Take a trip up to the New Hampshire-Maine border.
Eater Recommends: What to Eat and Drink in Portsmouth and Kittery: Don’t have time to read the whole guide mentioned above? Skip to this map, which highlights some of the Eater Boston team’s Portsmouth and Kittery favorites.
Where to Drink Beer in Portsmouth, New Hampshire: And here’s the beer-specific accompaniment to the above two links.
0 notes
Text
New England News: New Hampshire’s Got a New Speakeasy Hidden Behind a Barbershop
And other regional food and beverage updates beyond Massachusetts
Broadening the scope a bit, here’s the latest restaurant news from beyond Greater Boston; we’re keeping an eye out for dining developments throughout New England. This piece is updated on a rolling basis, covering restaurant openings, closures, and more in Portsmouth, Providence, Portland, and elsewhere.
Check back for updates — the most recent ones will always be at the top — and email [email protected] with any news tips pertaining to New England restaurant news beyond Boston.
Note: Jump to the bottom of this page for a list of other links pertaining to New England dining, including a guide to Portsmouth and Kittery, an archive of Maine news, a map of the hottest new restaurants in Providence, and more.
February 13, 2018
CHESTER, CONNECTICUT — Grano Arso(6 Main St.) is now open within a former bank building in Chester, and it showcases a “modern yet familiar approach to traditional Italian cooking.” Chef Joel Gargano mills grain in-house for pasta and bread and has created a menu consisting of crostini, pasta dishes, and entrees ranging from monkfish stew to grilled pork loin with polenta and pesto. There are also cocktails, wines, and beer.
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Chuck’s BARbershop(90 Low Ave.) is a new speakeasy-style bar from the team behind Codex in Nashua, serving up classic cocktails in a space hidden behind an actual barbershop.
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT — The newly opened Lo Sano Restaurant & Bar (678 Maple Ave.) has a menu full of Latin American classics, including mofongo (made with fried plantains), skirt steak with chimichurri, fried chicken, and tres leches flan for dessert.
NORTH WOODSTOCK, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Pemi Public House (115 Main St.) is a new option for those visiting the White Mountains. The restaurant serves sandwiches, soups, flatbreads, and hearty entrees like mac and cheese and pot pie, plus salads and appetizers. The restaurant also has open mic nights.
February 6, 2018
Katie Chudy/Eater
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — A new cocktail bar has opened in the former Red Door space at 107 State St. The Nice is the work of Kevin Walsh and Bryan Emerson, alums of Moxy and Franklin Oyster House, and they’re running the bar from 6 p.m. on, six days a week (closed Tuesday). Drinks include the Venetian Monk (Bully Boy gin, chartreuse, aperol, lemon, and Peychaud’s) and Pearl Harbor (vodka, jalapeño-infused green chartreuse, pineapple, and melon).
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — Coffee fans may soon get the chance to drink their favorite beverage in the presence of a double-decker bus. The Burgundian: Coffee and Waffles is a Rhode Island company that specializes in (as the name suggests) coffee and Liege-style waffles. Founder Shane Matlock purchased a double-decker British bus to restore and convert into a mobile coffee shop, where customers will be able to place orders through a service window but will also be able to enter the bus and partake in coffee and waffles on the second level. Matlock has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the bus conversion.
Xaco Taco is now open in Providence (370 Richmond St.), with ten versions of tacos (available as singles or platters) and a wide selection of tequila, plus beer, wine, and churro doughnuts for dessert.
A pop-up that serves sandwiches has debuted in Providence, from the same folks behind UMelt, a sandwich shop with locations at the University of Rhode Island and Brown. The aptly named Sandwich (stylized as ‘sandwich.’) pop-up operates out of the Brown UMelt location (267 Thayer St.) and offers build-your-own options, breakfast sandwiches, and 15 pre-set menu items.
SMITHFIELD, RHODE ISLAND — Laura’s Bar and Grill (945 Douglas Pke.) debuted in Rhode Island recently, with a menu of flatbreads, burgers, sandwiches, and other pub fare. There’s a selection of cocktails, plus sangria.
WARWICK, RHODE ISLAND — New Haven’s famous Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana (which has a location near Boston, in Chestnut Hill) plans to expand to Rhode Island, opening in Warwick some time in April or May, the Providence Journal reports. The restaurant will feature a specialty brick, coal-fired oven that requires seasoning.
January 30, 2018
Facebook
Gelato Fiasco
BRUNSWICK, MAINE — The Gelato Fiasco— a Maine-based gelato producer that’s previously popped-up in Boston and has been “eyeing properties in Boston for a while” for a potential permanent location here — has first landed on a site a little bit more southern: Orlando, Florida. After producing gelato for distribution and gaining traction in Florida thanks to the state’s beloved grocery store, Publix, Gelato Fiasco has signed a lease for a space at 25 West Crystal Lakes St., planning to open in spring 2018.
LONDONDERRY, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Long Blue Cat Brewing (298 Rockingham Rd.) is up and running with pints, flatbreads, and snacks. Operating varied hours from Wednesday through Sunday, the brewery is the work of two friends, Jason Knight and Shane Sorenson, who are serving several different beers, including a honey ale, a traditional porter, and a kolsch, among others.
MANCHESTER, VERMONT — Mystic Cafe & Wine Barhas opened in Manchester (4928 Main St.), serving lunch and dinner — both cafe fare and entrees, including salmon tartine, Cuban sandwiches, pastries, grilled cheese and tomato soup, salads, and mussels. The restaurant also offers a full bar and wines by the glass.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Poke hit Portsmouth with the opening of Ohana Kitchen several weeks ago (800 Islington St., Plaza 800). The restaurant serves customizable bowls of the Hawaiian dish, in addition to sushi burritos.
January 23, 2018
Dan Watkins for By Chloe
By Chloe in Providence
MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Suzette Crepes & Waffles (62 Lowell St.) is a recent addition to Manchester, and it serves what diners might expect from the name. With stuffed crepes and waffles topped with various items (including Nutella), the restaurant is connected to Gaucho’s Brazilian Steakhouse.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Seacoast Online shares the history and longevity of restaurateur John Mikolajcyk, who was born in Portsmouth 80 years ago and is still involved in the industry, as manager of the Portsmouth Elks Lodge.
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — By Chloe, a New York City-born restaurant chain that has spawned locations in Los Angeles and Boston (with a couple opening soon in London), officially opened a new location in Providence last week at 223 Thayer St. The entirely vegan menu includes everything from avocado pesto pasta to various burgers, sandwiches, and breakfast items.
January 16, 2017
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Wow Barbecue skewers
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — Wow Barbecue got its start as a food truck in Boston before opening restaurants in Malden and Brookline. Now, there’s a new restaurant in play in Providence, open at 183 Angell St., and it’s serving a menu of Chinese barbecue dishes, rice bowls, noodles, and several appetizers.
SEABROOK, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Brown’s Lobster Pound closed down in August 2017 after a fire, but the restaurant is on the verge of reopening, slated to make its return by April 1.
WEST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT — A full-service restaurant and bar specializing in vegan food has opened in Connecticut from the same people behind Rooster Co. in Newington. Flora uses seasonal ingredients for its food and drink menu (there’s a juice bar in addition to wine and beer). In addition to falafel wraps, flatbreads, “mac-no-cheese,” and an avocado bowl, Flora serves the plant-based Impossible Burger. For any meat eaters who visit, Flora offers what it calls “viable fauna” or “sustainable and responsibly raised animal products,” like grass-fed beef, wild shrimp, and arctic char.
January 9, 2018
Facebook
Bissell Brothers
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Lunch Lady Food Truck debuted at the end of 2017 in Concord, serving a school-themed menu featuring items named for grades one through 10. There are burgers, barbecue pork nachos, Buffalo wings, and Reuben egg rolls, among many other items, including sides and drinks. Find it by the Everett Arena (15 Loudon Rd.), and keep an eye on social media for other locations.
DURHAM, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Burger joint Hop + Grind (7 Madbury Rd. — Madbury Commons) opened at the end of November. The restaurant butchers and grinds its own meats and makes its soda in-house. There are beef, chicken, and pork burgers and two versions of veggie burgers, plus chicken fried mac and cheese and a Nashville hot chicken sandwich. Hop + Grind also serves craft beer and ice cream malts.
MAINE — As a new year kicks off, Portland Food Map takes a look back at the year in 2017 — exploring new restaurants, notable events, trends, and obituaries — while looking ahead towards openings slated for 2018.
PORTLAND, MAINE — The Rock apparently has great taste in beer and sent an assistant to procure some. The famed Bissell Brothers Brewing Company (4 Thompsons Pt.) shared the story on Twitter: “An assistant for The Rock just showed up, he took a private jet here to pick up Substance cans. Got shown some credentials… either we just got massively played or THAT IS AWESOME!!”
Also in Portland, Definitive Brewing Company is under construction and could open in the spring at 35 Industrial Wy., near Allagash Brewing Company, according to the Portland Food Map. Few other details are available at this point, but stay tuned for more from Maine.
SOUTH PORTLAND, MAINE — The poke trend is creeping its way north to South Portland: Big Fin Poke, which specializes in the Hawaiian raw fish dish, is now open at 29 Western Ave., with this location joining a second in Westbrook, Maine. In addition to rice and salad bowls topped with seafood, chicken, beef, or tofu, Big Fin Poke also serves poke burritos, or seaweed wraps stuffed with sushi rice and proteins.
December 19, 2017
Facebook
Smoked pork loin chop at Nibblesworth in Portsmouth
KITTERY, MAINE — The Caribbean-inspiredBlue Mermaid Island Grill, which was previously open in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for over 20 years, returns to the dining scene this week, opening its new Kittery location at 10 Shapleigh Rd. on Thursday, December 21, right next to Tributary Brewing Company. Opening weekend is reservation-only; call (207) 703-2754.
Checkout our beautiful, brand new store front, isn’t she gorgeous?! … . . #bluemermaid #bluemermaidkittery #kitteryme #kittery #newlocation #storefront #restaurantdesign
A post shared by Blue Mermaid (@bluemermaid_kittery) on Dec 16, 2017 at 10:26am PST
NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Biryani Pot, which has a location in Framingham, Massachusetts, will add a location in Nashua (295 Daniel Webster Hwy.), and the grand opening will happen soon. The restaurant specializes in Hyderabadi cuisine, including biryani with chicken, goat, egg, shrimp, or vegetables.
PORTLAND, MAINE — Tuscan Table arrives at 390 Gorham Rd. in South Portland on Wednesday, December 20. The restaurant has ties to Royal River Grillhouse in Yarmouth, Maine, and Tuscan Brick Oven Bistro in Freeport, Maine. The restaurant will serve Italian cuisine.
In other Portland news, Bon Appetit recently featured a look at six of the city’s newest restaurants to check out, including Hunt & Alpine Club’s little sibling Little Giant (211 Danforth St.), which is both a restaurant and a market; Noble Barbecue (1706 Forest Ave.), which serves a “formidable” brisket sandwich and more; and Belleville (1 North St.), home of “legitimate Roman-style pizza.”
Eater Maine is also currently featuring some of the hottest new spots in Portland and beyond in the latest updated Heatmap; check it out here.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — A restaurant with a wonderfully silly name opened recently in New Hampshire, and it specializes in wood-fired cooking. Nibblesworth (409 The Hill) was started by wife-and-husband team Jenny and Tom Nelson, who launched the restaurant with a goal of taking “classic recipes and rejuvenat[ing] them for today’s palate.” The menu includes items like poutine, pierogi, seafood stew, and lobster tacos. As previously reported, it has taken the place of Blue Mermaid Island Grill, which closed in June and reopens in Kittery this week, as mentioned above.
December 12, 2017
Bill Addison for Eater
Sally’s Apizza
BIDDEFORD, MAINE — Nuts & Bolts Brewing Company inches closer to an opening this winter at 7 York St. in the Pepperrell Mill, per the Portland Food Map. The brewery is the work of Patrick Doherty and Deedra Zeeh, and they’re providing progress updates on social media.
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — A new collaboration aims to bring tortillas made with local corn to a pair of restaurants in New Hampshire. Vida Tortilla unites the owners of Vida Cantina (2456 Lafayette Rd., Portsmouth) and Dos Amigos Burritos (26 N Main St., Concord, and other locations) with Tuckaway Farm (36 Captain Smith Emerson Rd., Lee), and they’ve launched a Kickstarter campaign to help pay for the equipment needed to produce the tortillas.
NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT — One of New Haven’s oldest and best pizza restaurants, Sally’s Apizza(237 Wooster St.), has been sold to new owners, as Eater reports. The names of those now involved will not be made public until January, but they apparently plan to try to expand the restaurant nationwide.
PORTLAND, MAINE — The Portland Harbor Hotel (468 Fore St.) will lean into the cold of winter with an ice bar and ice sculptures in its courtyard garden. From January 25 to 27, the Ice Bar will be open from 5 to 9 p.m., and tickets can be purchased online. There will be specialty cocktails and small bites available.
December 5, 2017
Facebook
Whiskey & Wine Concord
BIDDEFORD, MAINE — Elda opens its doors today, arriving at 140 Main St. with regional-inspired small plates from Bowman Brown, who relocated to the Northeast from Salt Lake City and is a James Beard-nominated chef. The restaurant is named for Brown’s grandmother and will initially serve food only, with wine, beer, and a full bar menu coming soon.
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — From the same owners behind Gale Motor Co. in Manchester, Whiskey & Wine has been open for nearly a month in Concord (148 N. Main St.), and it serves exactly that, with 34 varieties of whiskey and American and European wines. The varied food menu includes items like miso and tonkotsu ramen, pulled pork tacos, sushi rolls, chicken potstickers, and seared scallops.
PORTLAND, MAINE — The Highroller Lobster, a popular food truck in Portland, now has a permanent home at 104 Exchange St. The restaurant opened over the weekend and will officially begin operations Wednesday through Thursday, starting on December 6, serving lobster in several different forms (including lobster grilled cheese), plus corn dogs, burgers, and a surf n’ turf option.
November 29, 2017
Facebook
The Wilder, Portsmouth
BIDDEFORD, MAINE — Rover Wood Fired Bagels and Pizza is now open at 111 Elm St. Founders Kimberly Chaurette and Alec Rutter, both alums of Somerville’s Forge Baking Company, started Rover as a bagel pop-up, appearing in Salem at Bambolina and local farmers markets. They’re now in business as a brick-and-mortar up in Maine, serving up bagels and sandwiches, with wood-fired pizza on the way before the end of the year.
Instagram
A brunch burger at Sonny’s, closing on December 31
PORTLAND, MAINE — Sonny’s, a nearly decade-old restaurant in Old Port (83 Exchange St.), will close at the end of the year. Taking its place: Black Cow, a burger-and-shake shop with an old-fashioned soda fountain. Jay Villani and Garry Bowcott, who own Sonny’s, Local 188, and Salvage BBQ, are behind the new project, and longtime Local 188 chef Nicholas Nappi (who took a hiatus from the group and worked at Eventide and Hugo’s in the interim) is partnering with them for Black Cow. December 31 is the final day for Sonny’s, and Black Cow could open as soon as mid-February.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — The team behind the Wallingford Dram — an excellent cocktail bar in Kittery, Maine — has opened a new spot in Portsmouth. The Wilder, a “no-rules New England gastropub,” is now open at 174 Fleet St., the site of the former United Kingdom-themed Coat of Arms bar. It’s open daily, with bar service starting at 3:30 p.m. with snacks, the full menu available starting at 5 p.m., and a late-night menu offered until 1 a.m. Dishes include everything from Scotch duck eggs to braised kid ragu, which most likely refers to goats, not children. For dessert? Apple cider beignets with maple sauce. And shakshuka makes an appearance on the late-night menu.
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — A food hall slated for Providence just met its fundraising goal through a Kickstarter campaign. The forthcoming West Park Food Hall (233 West Park St.) will have a number of restaurants, a brewery, and a roastery, with communal seating and a roof deck. It raised more than $120,000, which will go towards various expenses, including design and legal costs.
Instagram
The second level at Thee Red Fez is now White Rabbit
In other Providence news, Thee Red Fez (49 Peck St.) is changing things up, converting the upstairs dining room into a cocktail bar with its own name, White Rabbit. Get dinner at the Fez Tuesday through Saturday, starting at 5 p.m., and drink snazzy cocktails upstairs Thursday through Saturday, starting at 5 p.m.
And in other Providence news, North is now up and running at its new location, the first floor of the Dean Hotel (122 Fountain St.). Stay tuned for details on what the team plans to do with the original space at 3 Luongo Sq. — owner James Mark promises a simpler neighborhood spot that could open in a few short months.
Further Reading
Rachel Leah Blumenthal for Eater
Spicy miso ramen at Anju Noodle Bar in Kittery, Maine
New England’s 38 Essential Restaurants: A guide to the best of the best throughout New England, compiled by Eater restaurant editor Bill Addison with the help of food writers from around the region.
The 9 Hottest New Restaurants in Providence, Rhode Island: Updated in October 2017, this map highlights some of the hot new spots to hit the Providence dining scene in 2017.
Eater Maine: Eater Boston’s sister site to the north has been largely retired, but stop by the homepage now and then for updates to major maps, such as the Heatmap, which tracks some of the hottest new openings.
Maine Restaurant News Archive on Eater Boston: While most Maine news going forward will appear right here in this New England news round-up, older stories are archived at the Maine Restaurant News Archive link.
A Guide to Dining and Drinking in Portsmouth and Kittery: Take a trip up to the New Hampshire-Maine border.
Eater Recommends: What to Eat and Drink in Portsmouth and Kittery: Don’t have time to read the whole guide mentioned above? Skip to this map, which highlights some of the Eater Boston team’s Portsmouth and Kittery favorites.
Where to Drink Beer in Portsmouth, New Hampshire: And here’s the beer-specific accompaniment to the above two links.
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New England News: New Hampshire’s Got a New Speakeasy Hidden Behind a Barbershop
And other regional food and beverage updates beyond Massachusetts
Broadening the scope a bit, here’s the latest restaurant news from beyond Greater Boston; we’re keeping an eye out for dining developments throughout New England. This piece is updated on a rolling basis, covering restaurant openings, closures, and more in Portsmouth, Providence, Portland, and elsewhere.
Check back for updates — the most recent ones will always be at the top — and email [email protected] with any news tips pertaining to New England restaurant news beyond Boston.
Note: Jump to the bottom of this page for a list of other links pertaining to New England dining, including a guide to Portsmouth and Kittery, an archive of Maine news, a map of the hottest new restaurants in Providence, and more.
February 13, 2018
CHESTER, CONNECTICUT — Grano Arso(6 Main St.) is now open within a former bank building in Chester, and it showcases a “modern yet familiar approach to traditional Italian cooking.” Chef Joel Gargano mills grain in-house for pasta and bread and has created a menu consisting of crostini, pasta dishes, and entrees ranging from monkfish stew to grilled pork loin with polenta and pesto. There are also cocktails, wines, and beer.
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Chuck’s BARbershop(90 Low Ave.) is a new speakeasy-style bar from the team behind Codex in Nashua, serving up classic cocktails in a space hidden behind an actual barbershop.
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT — The newly opened Lo Sano Restaurant & Bar (678 Maple Ave.) has a menu full of Latin American classics, including mofongo (made with fried plantains), skirt steak with chimichurri, fried chicken, and tres leches flan for dessert.
NORTH WOODSTOCK, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Pemi Public House (115 Main St.) is a new option for those visiting the White Mountains. The restaurant serves sandwiches, soups, flatbreads, and hearty entrees like mac and cheese and pot pie, plus salads and appetizers. The restaurant also has open mic nights.
February 6, 2018
Katie Chudy/Eater
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — A new cocktail bar has opened in the former Red Door space at 107 State St. The Nice is the work of Kevin Walsh and Bryan Emerson, alums of Moxy and Franklin Oyster House, and they’re running the bar from 6 p.m. on, six days a week (closed Tuesday). Drinks include the Venetian Monk (Bully Boy gin, chartreuse, aperol, lemon, and Peychaud’s) and Pearl Harbor (vodka, jalapeño-infused green chartreuse, pineapple, and melon).
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — Coffee fans may soon get the chance to drink their favorite beverage in the presence of a double-decker bus. The Burgundian: Coffee and Waffles is a Rhode Island company that specializes in (as the name suggests) coffee and Liege-style waffles. Founder Shane Matlock purchased a double-decker British bus to restore and convert into a mobile coffee shop, where customers will be able to place orders through a service window but will also be able to enter the bus and partake in coffee and waffles on the second level. Matlock has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the bus conversion.
Xaco Taco is now open in Providence (370 Richmond St.), with ten versions of tacos (available as singles or platters) and a wide selection of tequila, plus beer, wine, and churro doughnuts for dessert.
A pop-up that serves sandwiches has debuted in Providence, from the same folks behind UMelt, a sandwich shop with locations at the University of Rhode Island and Brown. The aptly named Sandwich (stylized as ‘sandwich.’) pop-up operates out of the Brown UMelt location (267 Thayer St.) and offers build-your-own options, breakfast sandwiches, and 15 pre-set menu items.
SMITHFIELD, RHODE ISLAND — Laura’s Bar and Grill (945 Douglas Pke.) debuted in Rhode Island recently, with a menu of flatbreads, burgers, sandwiches, and other pub fare. There’s a selection of cocktails, plus sangria.
WARWICK, RHODE ISLAND — New Haven’s famous Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana (which has a location near Boston, in Chestnut Hill) plans to expand to Rhode Island, opening in Warwick some time in April or May, the Providence Journal reports. The restaurant will feature a specialty brick, coal-fired oven that requires seasoning.
January 30, 2018
Facebook
Gelato Fiasco
BRUNSWICK, MAINE — The Gelato Fiasco— a Maine-based gelato producer that’s previously popped-up in Boston and has been “eyeing properties in Boston for a while” for a potential permanent location here — has first landed on a site a little bit more southern: Orlando, Florida. After producing gelato for distribution and gaining traction in Florida thanks to the state’s beloved grocery store, Publix, Gelato Fiasco has signed a lease for a space at 25 West Crystal Lakes St., planning to open in spring 2018.
LONDONDERRY, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Long Blue Cat Brewing (298 Rockingham Rd.) is up and running with pints, flatbreads, and snacks. Operating varied hours from Wednesday through Sunday, the brewery is the work of two friends, Jason Knight and Shane Sorenson, who are serving several different beers, including a honey ale, a traditional porter, and a kolsch, among others.
MANCHESTER, VERMONT — Mystic Cafe & Wine Barhas opened in Manchester (4928 Main St.), serving lunch and dinner — both cafe fare and entrees, including salmon tartine, Cuban sandwiches, pastries, grilled cheese and tomato soup, salads, and mussels. The restaurant also offers a full bar and wines by the glass.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Poke hit Portsmouth with the opening of Ohana Kitchen several weeks ago (800 Islington St., Plaza 800). The restaurant serves customizable bowls of the Hawaiian dish, in addition to sushi burritos.
January 23, 2018
Dan Watkins for By Chloe
By Chloe in Providence
MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Suzette Crepes & Waffles (62 Lowell St.) is a recent addition to Manchester, and it serves what diners might expect from the name. With stuffed crepes and waffles topped with various items (including Nutella), the restaurant is connected to Gaucho’s Brazilian Steakhouse.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Seacoast Online shares the history and longevity of restaurateur John Mikolajcyk, who was born in Portsmouth 80 years ago and is still involved in the industry, as manager of the Portsmouth Elks Lodge.
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — By Chloe, a New York City-born restaurant chain that has spawned locations in Los Angeles and Boston (with a couple opening soon in London), officially opened a new location in Providence last week at 223 Thayer St. The entirely vegan menu includes everything from avocado pesto pasta to various burgers, sandwiches, and breakfast items.
January 16, 2017
Facebook
Wow Barbecue skewers
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — Wow Barbecue got its start as a food truck in Boston before opening restaurants in Malden and Brookline. Now, there’s a new restaurant in play in Providence, open at 183 Angell St., and it’s serving a menu of Chinese barbecue dishes, rice bowls, noodles, and several appetizers.
SEABROOK, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Brown’s Lobster Pound closed down in August 2017 after a fire, but the restaurant is on the verge of reopening, slated to make its return by April 1.
WEST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT — A full-service restaurant and bar specializing in vegan food has opened in Connecticut from the same people behind Rooster Co. in Newington. Flora uses seasonal ingredients for its food and drink menu (there’s a juice bar in addition to wine and beer). In addition to falafel wraps, flatbreads, “mac-no-cheese,” and an avocado bowl, Flora serves the plant-based Impossible Burger. For any meat eaters who visit, Flora offers what it calls “viable fauna” or “sustainable and responsibly raised animal products,” like grass-fed beef, wild shrimp, and arctic char.
January 9, 2018
Facebook
Bissell Brothers
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Lunch Lady Food Truck debuted at the end of 2017 in Concord, serving a school-themed menu featuring items named for grades one through 10. There are burgers, barbecue pork nachos, Buffalo wings, and Reuben egg rolls, among many other items, including sides and drinks. Find it by the Everett Arena (15 Loudon Rd.), and keep an eye on social media for other locations.
DURHAM, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Burger joint Hop + Grind (7 Madbury Rd. — Madbury Commons) opened at the end of November. The restaurant butchers and grinds its own meats and makes its soda in-house. There are beef, chicken, and pork burgers and two versions of veggie burgers, plus chicken fried mac and cheese and a Nashville hot chicken sandwich. Hop + Grind also serves craft beer and ice cream malts.
MAINE — As a new year kicks off, Portland Food Map takes a look back at the year in 2017 — exploring new restaurants, notable events, trends, and obituaries — while looking ahead towards openings slated for 2018.
PORTLAND, MAINE — The Rock apparently has great taste in beer and sent an assistant to procure some. The famed Bissell Brothers Brewing Company (4 Thompsons Pt.) shared the story on Twitter: “An assistant for The Rock just showed up, he took a private jet here to pick up Substance cans. Got shown some credentials… either we just got massively played or THAT IS AWESOME!!”
Also in Portland, Definitive Brewing Company is under construction and could open in the spring at 35 Industrial Wy., near Allagash Brewing Company, according to the Portland Food Map. Few other details are available at this point, but stay tuned for more from Maine.
SOUTH PORTLAND, MAINE — The poke trend is creeping its way north to South Portland: Big Fin Poke, which specializes in the Hawaiian raw fish dish, is now open at 29 Western Ave., with this location joining a second in Westbrook, Maine. In addition to rice and salad bowls topped with seafood, chicken, beef, or tofu, Big Fin Poke also serves poke burritos, or seaweed wraps stuffed with sushi rice and proteins.
December 19, 2017
Facebook
Smoked pork loin chop at Nibblesworth in Portsmouth
KITTERY, MAINE — The Caribbean-inspiredBlue Mermaid Island Grill, which was previously open in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for over 20 years, returns to the dining scene this week, opening its new Kittery location at 10 Shapleigh Rd. on Thursday, December 21, right next to Tributary Brewing Company. Opening weekend is reservation-only; call (207) 703-2754.
Checkout our beautiful, brand new store front, isn’t she gorgeous?! … . . #bluemermaid #bluemermaidkittery #kitteryme #kittery #newlocation #storefront #restaurantdesign
A post shared by Blue Mermaid (@bluemermaid_kittery) on Dec 16, 2017 at 10:26am PST
NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Biryani Pot, which has a location in Framingham, Massachusetts, will add a location in Nashua (295 Daniel Webster Hwy.), and the grand opening will happen soon. The restaurant specializes in Hyderabadi cuisine, including biryani with chicken, goat, egg, shrimp, or vegetables.
PORTLAND, MAINE — Tuscan Table arrives at 390 Gorham Rd. in South Portland on Wednesday, December 20. The restaurant has ties to Royal River Grillhouse in Yarmouth, Maine, and Tuscan Brick Oven Bistro in Freeport, Maine. The restaurant will serve Italian cuisine.
In other Portland news, Bon Appetit recently featured a look at six of the city’s newest restaurants to check out, including Hunt & Alpine Club’s little sibling Little Giant (211 Danforth St.), which is both a restaurant and a market; Noble Barbecue (1706 Forest Ave.), which serves a “formidable” brisket sandwich and more; and Belleville (1 North St.), home of “legitimate Roman-style pizza.”
Eater Maine is also currently featuring some of the hottest new spots in Portland and beyond in the latest updated Heatmap; check it out here.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — A restaurant with a wonderfully silly name opened recently in New Hampshire, and it specializes in wood-fired cooking. Nibblesworth (409 The Hill) was started by wife-and-husband team Jenny and Tom Nelson, who launched the restaurant with a goal of taking “classic recipes and rejuvenat[ing] them for today’s palate.” The menu includes items like poutine, pierogi, seafood stew, and lobster tacos. As previously reported, it has taken the place of Blue Mermaid Island Grill, which closed in June and reopens in Kittery this week, as mentioned above.
December 12, 2017
Bill Addison for Eater
Sally’s Apizza
BIDDEFORD, MAINE — Nuts & Bolts Brewing Company inches closer to an opening this winter at 7 York St. in the Pepperrell Mill, per the Portland Food Map. The brewery is the work of Patrick Doherty and Deedra Zeeh, and they’re providing progress updates on social media.
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — A new collaboration aims to bring tortillas made with local corn to a pair of restaurants in New Hampshire. Vida Tortilla unites the owners of Vida Cantina (2456 Lafayette Rd., Portsmouth) and Dos Amigos Burritos (26 N Main St., Concord, and other locations) with Tuckaway Farm (36 Captain Smith Emerson Rd., Lee), and they’ve launched a Kickstarter campaign to help pay for the equipment needed to produce the tortillas.
NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT — One of New Haven’s oldest and best pizza restaurants, Sally’s Apizza(237 Wooster St.), has been sold to new owners, as Eater reports. The names of those now involved will not be made public until January, but they apparently plan to try to expand the restaurant nationwide.
PORTLAND, MAINE — The Portland Harbor Hotel (468 Fore St.) will lean into the cold of winter with an ice bar and ice sculptures in its courtyard garden. From January 25 to 27, the Ice Bar will be open from 5 to 9 p.m., and tickets can be purchased online. There will be specialty cocktails and small bites available.
December 5, 2017
Facebook
Whiskey & Wine Concord
BIDDEFORD, MAINE — Elda opens its doors today, arriving at 140 Main St. with regional-inspired small plates from Bowman Brown, who relocated to the Northeast from Salt Lake City and is a James Beard-nominated chef. The restaurant is named for Brown’s grandmother and will initially serve food only, with wine, beer, and a full bar menu coming soon.
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — From the same owners behind Gale Motor Co. in Manchester, Whiskey & Wine has been open for nearly a month in Concord (148 N. Main St.), and it serves exactly that, with 34 varieties of whiskey and American and European wines. The varied food menu includes items like miso and tonkotsu ramen, pulled pork tacos, sushi rolls, chicken potstickers, and seared scallops.
PORTLAND, MAINE — The Highroller Lobster, a popular food truck in Portland, now has a permanent home at 104 Exchange St. The restaurant opened over the weekend and will officially begin operations Wednesday through Thursday, starting on December 6, serving lobster in several different forms (including lobster grilled cheese), plus corn dogs, burgers, and a surf n’ turf option.
November 29, 2017
Facebook
The Wilder, Portsmouth
BIDDEFORD, MAINE — Rover Wood Fired Bagels and Pizza is now open at 111 Elm St. Founders Kimberly Chaurette and Alec Rutter, both alums of Somerville’s Forge Baking Company, started Rover as a bagel pop-up, appearing in Salem at Bambolina and local farmers markets. They’re now in business as a brick-and-mortar up in Maine, serving up bagels and sandwiches, with wood-fired pizza on the way before the end of the year.
Instagram
A brunch burger at Sonny’s, closing on December 31
PORTLAND, MAINE — Sonny’s, a nearly decade-old restaurant in Old Port (83 Exchange St.), will close at the end of the year. Taking its place: Black Cow, a burger-and-shake shop with an old-fashioned soda fountain. Jay Villani and Garry Bowcott, who own Sonny’s, Local 188, and Salvage BBQ, are behind the new project, and longtime Local 188 chef Nicholas Nappi (who took a hiatus from the group and worked at Eventide and Hugo’s in the interim) is partnering with them for Black Cow. December 31 is the final day for Sonny’s, and Black Cow could open as soon as mid-February.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — The team behind the Wallingford Dram — an excellent cocktail bar in Kittery, Maine — has opened a new spot in Portsmouth. The Wilder, a “no-rules New England gastropub,” is now open at 174 Fleet St., the site of the former United Kingdom-themed Coat of Arms bar. It’s open daily, with bar service starting at 3:30 p.m. with snacks, the full menu available starting at 5 p.m., and a late-night menu offered until 1 a.m. Dishes include everything from Scotch duck eggs to braised kid ragu, which most likely refers to goats, not children. For dessert? Apple cider beignets with maple sauce. And shakshuka makes an appearance on the late-night menu.
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — A food hall slated for Providence just met its fundraising goal through a Kickstarter campaign. The forthcoming West Park Food Hall (233 West Park St.) will have a number of restaurants, a brewery, and a roastery, with communal seating and a roof deck. It raised more than $120,000, which will go towards various expenses, including design and legal costs.
Instagram
The second level at Thee Red Fez is now White Rabbit
In other Providence news, Thee Red Fez (49 Peck St.) is changing things up, converting the upstairs dining room into a cocktail bar with its own name, White Rabbit. Get dinner at the Fez Tuesday through Saturday, starting at 5 p.m., and drink snazzy cocktails upstairs Thursday through Saturday, starting at 5 p.m.
And in other Providence news, North is now up and running at its new location, the first floor of the Dean Hotel (122 Fountain St.). Stay tuned for details on what the team plans to do with the original space at 3 Luongo Sq. — owner James Mark promises a simpler neighborhood spot that could open in a few short months.
Further Reading
Rachel Leah Blumenthal for Eater
Spicy miso ramen at Anju Noodle Bar in Kittery, Maine
New England’s 38 Essential Restaurants: A guide to the best of the best throughout New England, compiled by Eater restaurant editor Bill Addison with the help of food writers from around the region.
The 9 Hottest New Restaurants in Providence, Rhode Island: Updated in October 2017, this map highlights some of the hot new spots to hit the Providence dining scene in 2017.
Eater Maine: Eater Boston’s sister site to the north has been largely retired, but stop by the homepage now and then for updates to major maps, such as the Heatmap, which tracks some of the hottest new openings.
Maine Restaurant News Archive on Eater Boston: While most Maine news going forward will appear right here in this New England news round-up, older stories are archived at the Maine Restaurant News Archive link.
A Guide to Dining and Drinking in Portsmouth and Kittery: Take a trip up to the New Hampshire-Maine border.
Eater Recommends: What to Eat and Drink in Portsmouth and Kittery: Don’t have time to read the whole guide mentioned above? Skip to this map, which highlights some of the Eater Boston team’s Portsmouth and Kittery favorites.
Where to Drink Beer in Portsmouth, New Hampshire: And here’s the beer-specific accompaniment to the above two links.
0 notes
Text
New England News: New Hampshire’s Got a New Speakeasy Hidden Behind a Barbershop
And other regional food and beverage updates beyond Massachusetts
Broadening the scope a bit, here’s the latest restaurant news from beyond Greater Boston; we’re keeping an eye out for dining developments throughout New England. This piece is updated on a rolling basis, covering restaurant openings, closures, and more in Portsmouth, Providence, Portland, and elsewhere.
Check back for updates — the most recent ones will always be at the top — and email [email protected] with any news tips pertaining to New England restaurant news beyond Boston.
Note: Jump to the bottom of this page for a list of other links pertaining to New England dining, including a guide to Portsmouth and Kittery, an archive of Maine news, a map of the hottest new restaurants in Providence, and more.
February 13, 2018
CHESTER, CONNECTICUT — Grano Arso(6 Main St.) is now open within a former bank building in Chester, and it showcases a “modern yet familiar approach to traditional Italian cooking.” Chef Joel Gargano mills grain in-house for pasta and bread and has created a menu consisting of crostini, pasta dishes, and entrees ranging from monkfish stew to grilled pork loin with polenta and pesto. There are also cocktails, wines, and beer.
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Chuck’s BARbershop(90 Low Ave.) is a new speakeasy-style bar from the team behind Codex in Nashua, serving up classic cocktails in a space hidden behind an actual barbershop.
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT — The newly opened Lo Sano Restaurant & Bar (678 Maple Ave.) has a menu full of Latin American classics, including mofongo (made with fried plantains), skirt steak with chimichurri, fried chicken, and tres leches flan for dessert.
NORTH WOODSTOCK, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Pemi Public House (115 Main St.) is a new option for those visiting the White Mountains. The restaurant serves sandwiches, soups, flatbreads, and hearty entrees like mac and cheese and pot pie, plus salads and appetizers. The restaurant also has open mic nights.
February 6, 2018
Katie Chudy/Eater
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — A new cocktail bar has opened in the former Red Door space at 107 State St. The Nice is the work of Kevin Walsh and Bryan Emerson, alums of Moxy and Franklin Oyster House, and they’re running the bar from 6 p.m. on, six days a week (closed Tuesday). Drinks include the Venetian Monk (Bully Boy gin, chartreuse, aperol, lemon, and Peychaud’s) and Pearl Harbor (vodka, jalapeño-infused green chartreuse, pineapple, and melon).
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — Coffee fans may soon get the chance to drink their favorite beverage in the presence of a double-decker bus. The Burgundian: Coffee and Waffles is a Rhode Island company that specializes in (as the name suggests) coffee and Liege-style waffles. Founder Shane Matlock purchased a double-decker British bus to restore and convert into a mobile coffee shop, where customers will be able to place orders through a service window but will also be able to enter the bus and partake in coffee and waffles on the second level. Matlock has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the bus conversion.
Xaco Taco is now open in Providence (370 Richmond St.), with ten versions of tacos (available as singles or platters) and a wide selection of tequila, plus beer, wine, and churro doughnuts for dessert.
A pop-up that serves sandwiches has debuted in Providence, from the same folks behind UMelt, a sandwich shop with locations at the University of Rhode Island and Brown. The aptly named Sandwich (stylized as ‘sandwich.’) pop-up operates out of the Brown UMelt location (267 Thayer St.) and offers build-your-own options, breakfast sandwiches, and 15 pre-set menu items.
SMITHFIELD, RHODE ISLAND — Laura’s Bar and Grill (945 Douglas Pke.) debuted in Rhode Island recently, with a menu of flatbreads, burgers, sandwiches, and other pub fare. There’s a selection of cocktails, plus sangria.
WARWICK, RHODE ISLAND — New Haven’s famous Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana (which has a location near Boston, in Chestnut Hill) plans to expand to Rhode Island, opening in Warwick some time in April or May, the Providence Journal reports. The restaurant will feature a specialty brick, coal-fired oven that requires seasoning.
January 30, 2018
Facebook
Gelato Fiasco
BRUNSWICK, MAINE — The Gelato Fiasco— a Maine-based gelato producer that’s previously popped-up in Boston and has been “eyeing properties in Boston for a while” for a potential permanent location here — has first landed on a site a little bit more southern: Orlando, Florida. After producing gelato for distribution and gaining traction in Florida thanks to the state’s beloved grocery store, Publix, Gelato Fiasco has signed a lease for a space at 25 West Crystal Lakes St., planning to open in spring 2018.
LONDONDERRY, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Long Blue Cat Brewing (298 Rockingham Rd.) is up and running with pints, flatbreads, and snacks. Operating varied hours from Wednesday through Sunday, the brewery is the work of two friends, Jason Knight and Shane Sorenson, who are serving several different beers, including a honey ale, a traditional porter, and a kolsch, among others.
MANCHESTER, VERMONT — Mystic Cafe & Wine Barhas opened in Manchester (4928 Main St.), serving lunch and dinner — both cafe fare and entrees, including salmon tartine, Cuban sandwiches, pastries, grilled cheese and tomato soup, salads, and mussels. The restaurant also offers a full bar and wines by the glass.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Poke hit Portsmouth with the opening of Ohana Kitchen several weeks ago (800 Islington St., Plaza 800). The restaurant serves customizable bowls of the Hawaiian dish, in addition to sushi burritos.
January 23, 2018
Dan Watkins for By Chloe
By Chloe in Providence
MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Suzette Crepes & Waffles (62 Lowell St.) is a recent addition to Manchester, and it serves what diners might expect from the name. With stuffed crepes and waffles topped with various items (including Nutella), the restaurant is connected to Gaucho’s Brazilian Steakhouse.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Seacoast Online shares the history and longevity of restaurateur John Mikolajcyk, who was born in Portsmouth 80 years ago and is still involved in the industry, as manager of the Portsmouth Elks Lodge.
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — By Chloe, a New York City-born restaurant chain that has spawned locations in Los Angeles and Boston (with a couple opening soon in London), officially opened a new location in Providence last week at 223 Thayer St. The entirely vegan menu includes everything from avocado pesto pasta to various burgers, sandwiches, and breakfast items.
January 16, 2017
Facebook
Wow Barbecue skewers
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — Wow Barbecue got its start as a food truck in Boston before opening restaurants in Malden and Brookline. Now, there’s a new restaurant in play in Providence, open at 183 Angell St., and it’s serving a menu of Chinese barbecue dishes, rice bowls, noodles, and several appetizers.
SEABROOK, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Brown’s Lobster Pound closed down in August 2017 after a fire, but the restaurant is on the verge of reopening, slated to make its return by April 1.
WEST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT — A full-service restaurant and bar specializing in vegan food has opened in Connecticut from the same people behind Rooster Co. in Newington. Flora uses seasonal ingredients for its food and drink menu (there’s a juice bar in addition to wine and beer). In addition to falafel wraps, flatbreads, “mac-no-cheese,” and an avocado bowl, Flora serves the plant-based Impossible Burger. For any meat eaters who visit, Flora offers what it calls “viable fauna” or “sustainable and responsibly raised animal products,” like grass-fed beef, wild shrimp, and arctic char.
January 9, 2018
Facebook
Bissell Brothers
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Lunch Lady Food Truck debuted at the end of 2017 in Concord, serving a school-themed menu featuring items named for grades one through 10. There are burgers, barbecue pork nachos, Buffalo wings, and Reuben egg rolls, among many other items, including sides and drinks. Find it by the Everett Arena (15 Loudon Rd.), and keep an eye on social media for other locations.
DURHAM, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Burger joint Hop + Grind (7 Madbury Rd. — Madbury Commons) opened at the end of November. The restaurant butchers and grinds its own meats and makes its soda in-house. There are beef, chicken, and pork burgers and two versions of veggie burgers, plus chicken fried mac and cheese and a Nashville hot chicken sandwich. Hop + Grind also serves craft beer and ice cream malts.
MAINE — As a new year kicks off, Portland Food Map takes a look back at the year in 2017 — exploring new restaurants, notable events, trends, and obituaries — while looking ahead towards openings slated for 2018.
PORTLAND, MAINE — The Rock apparently has great taste in beer and sent an assistant to procure some. The famed Bissell Brothers Brewing Company (4 Thompsons Pt.) shared the story on Twitter: “An assistant for The Rock just showed up, he took a private jet here to pick up Substance cans. Got shown some credentials… either we just got massively played or THAT IS AWESOME!!”
Also in Portland, Definitive Brewing Company is under construction and could open in the spring at 35 Industrial Wy., near Allagash Brewing Company, according to the Portland Food Map. Few other details are available at this point, but stay tuned for more from Maine.
SOUTH PORTLAND, MAINE — The poke trend is creeping its way north to South Portland: Big Fin Poke, which specializes in the Hawaiian raw fish dish, is now open at 29 Western Ave., with this location joining a second in Westbrook, Maine. In addition to rice and salad bowls topped with seafood, chicken, beef, or tofu, Big Fin Poke also serves poke burritos, or seaweed wraps stuffed with sushi rice and proteins.
December 19, 2017
Facebook
Smoked pork loin chop at Nibblesworth in Portsmouth
KITTERY, MAINE — The Caribbean-inspiredBlue Mermaid Island Grill, which was previously open in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for over 20 years, returns to the dining scene this week, opening its new Kittery location at 10 Shapleigh Rd. on Thursday, December 21, right next to Tributary Brewing Company. Opening weekend is reservation-only; call (207) 703-2754.
Checkout our beautiful, brand new store front, isn’t she gorgeous?! … . . #bluemermaid #bluemermaidkittery #kitteryme #kittery #newlocation #storefront #restaurantdesign
A post shared by Blue Mermaid (@bluemermaid_kittery) on Dec 16, 2017 at 10:26am PST
NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Biryani Pot, which has a location in Framingham, Massachusetts, will add a location in Nashua (295 Daniel Webster Hwy.), and the grand opening will happen soon. The restaurant specializes in Hyderabadi cuisine, including biryani with chicken, goat, egg, shrimp, or vegetables.
PORTLAND, MAINE — Tuscan Table arrives at 390 Gorham Rd. in South Portland on Wednesday, December 20. The restaurant has ties to Royal River Grillhouse in Yarmouth, Maine, and Tuscan Brick Oven Bistro in Freeport, Maine. The restaurant will serve Italian cuisine.
In other Portland news, Bon Appetit recently featured a look at six of the city’s newest restaurants to check out, including Hunt & Alpine Club’s little sibling Little Giant (211 Danforth St.), which is both a restaurant and a market; Noble Barbecue (1706 Forest Ave.), which serves a “formidable” brisket sandwich and more; and Belleville (1 North St.), home of “legitimate Roman-style pizza.”
Eater Maine is also currently featuring some of the hottest new spots in Portland and beyond in the latest updated Heatmap; check it out here.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — A restaurant with a wonderfully silly name opened recently in New Hampshire, and it specializes in wood-fired cooking. Nibblesworth (409 The Hill) was started by wife-and-husband team Jenny and Tom Nelson, who launched the restaurant with a goal of taking “classic recipes and rejuvenat[ing] them for today’s palate.” The menu includes items like poutine, pierogi, seafood stew, and lobster tacos. As previously reported, it has taken the place of Blue Mermaid Island Grill, which closed in June and reopens in Kittery this week, as mentioned above.
December 12, 2017
Bill Addison for Eater
Sally’s Apizza
BIDDEFORD, MAINE — Nuts & Bolts Brewing Company inches closer to an opening this winter at 7 York St. in the Pepperrell Mill, per the Portland Food Map. The brewery is the work of Patrick Doherty and Deedra Zeeh, and they’re providing progress updates on social media.
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — A new collaboration aims to bring tortillas made with local corn to a pair of restaurants in New Hampshire. Vida Tortilla unites the owners of Vida Cantina (2456 Lafayette Rd., Portsmouth) and Dos Amigos Burritos (26 N Main St., Concord, and other locations) with Tuckaway Farm (36 Captain Smith Emerson Rd., Lee), and they’ve launched a Kickstarter campaign to help pay for the equipment needed to produce the tortillas.
NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT — One of New Haven’s oldest and best pizza restaurants, Sally’s Apizza(237 Wooster St.), has been sold to new owners, as Eater reports. The names of those now involved will not be made public until January, but they apparently plan to try to expand the restaurant nationwide.
PORTLAND, MAINE — The Portland Harbor Hotel (468 Fore St.) will lean into the cold of winter with an ice bar and ice sculptures in its courtyard garden. From January 25 to 27, the Ice Bar will be open from 5 to 9 p.m., and tickets can be purchased online. There will be specialty cocktails and small bites available.
December 5, 2017
Facebook
Whiskey & Wine Concord
BIDDEFORD, MAINE — Elda opens its doors today, arriving at 140 Main St. with regional-inspired small plates from Bowman Brown, who relocated to the Northeast from Salt Lake City and is a James Beard-nominated chef. The restaurant is named for Brown’s grandmother and will initially serve food only, with wine, beer, and a full bar menu coming soon.
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — From the same owners behind Gale Motor Co. in Manchester, Whiskey & Wine has been open for nearly a month in Concord (148 N. Main St.), and it serves exactly that, with 34 varieties of whiskey and American and European wines. The varied food menu includes items like miso and tonkotsu ramen, pulled pork tacos, sushi rolls, chicken potstickers, and seared scallops.
PORTLAND, MAINE — The Highroller Lobster, a popular food truck in Portland, now has a permanent home at 104 Exchange St. The restaurant opened over the weekend and will officially begin operations Wednesday through Thursday, starting on December 6, serving lobster in several different forms (including lobster grilled cheese), plus corn dogs, burgers, and a surf n’ turf option.
November 29, 2017
Facebook
The Wilder, Portsmouth
BIDDEFORD, MAINE — Rover Wood Fired Bagels and Pizza is now open at 111 Elm St. Founders Kimberly Chaurette and Alec Rutter, both alums of Somerville’s Forge Baking Company, started Rover as a bagel pop-up, appearing in Salem at Bambolina and local farmers markets. They’re now in business as a brick-and-mortar up in Maine, serving up bagels and sandwiches, with wood-fired pizza on the way before the end of the year.
Instagram
A brunch burger at Sonny’s, closing on December 31
PORTLAND, MAINE — Sonny’s, a nearly decade-old restaurant in Old Port (83 Exchange St.), will close at the end of the year. Taking its place: Black Cow, a burger-and-shake shop with an old-fashioned soda fountain. Jay Villani and Garry Bowcott, who own Sonny’s, Local 188, and Salvage BBQ, are behind the new project, and longtime Local 188 chef Nicholas Nappi (who took a hiatus from the group and worked at Eventide and Hugo’s in the interim) is partnering with them for Black Cow. December 31 is the final day for Sonny’s, and Black Cow could open as soon as mid-February.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — The team behind the Wallingford Dram — an excellent cocktail bar in Kittery, Maine — has opened a new spot in Portsmouth. The Wilder, a “no-rules New England gastropub,” is now open at 174 Fleet St., the site of the former United Kingdom-themed Coat of Arms bar. It’s open daily, with bar service starting at 3:30 p.m. with snacks, the full menu available starting at 5 p.m., and a late-night menu offered until 1 a.m. Dishes include everything from Scotch duck eggs to braised kid ragu, which most likely refers to goats, not children. For dessert? Apple cider beignets with maple sauce. And shakshuka makes an appearance on the late-night menu.
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — A food hall slated for Providence just met its fundraising goal through a Kickstarter campaign. The forthcoming West Park Food Hall (233 West Park St.) will have a number of restaurants, a brewery, and a roastery, with communal seating and a roof deck. It raised more than $120,000, which will go towards various expenses, including design and legal costs.
Instagram
The second level at Thee Red Fez is now White Rabbit
In other Providence news, Thee Red Fez (49 Peck St.) is changing things up, converting the upstairs dining room into a cocktail bar with its own name, White Rabbit. Get dinner at the Fez Tuesday through Saturday, starting at 5 p.m., and drink snazzy cocktails upstairs Thursday through Saturday, starting at 5 p.m.
And in other Providence news, North is now up and running at its new location, the first floor of the Dean Hotel (122 Fountain St.). Stay tuned for details on what the team plans to do with the original space at 3 Luongo Sq. — owner James Mark promises a simpler neighborhood spot that could open in a few short months.
Further Reading
Rachel Leah Blumenthal for Eater
Spicy miso ramen at Anju Noodle Bar in Kittery, Maine
New England’s 38 Essential Restaurants: A guide to the best of the best throughout New England, compiled by Eater restaurant editor Bill Addison with the help of food writers from around the region.
The 9 Hottest New Restaurants in Providence, Rhode Island: Updated in October 2017, this map highlights some of the hot new spots to hit the Providence dining scene in 2017.
Eater Maine: Eater Boston’s sister site to the north has been largely retired, but stop by the homepage now and then for updates to major maps, such as the Heatmap, which tracks some of the hottest new openings.
Maine Restaurant News Archive on Eater Boston: While most Maine news going forward will appear right here in this New England news round-up, older stories are archived at the Maine Restaurant News Archive link.
A Guide to Dining and Drinking in Portsmouth and Kittery: Take a trip up to the New Hampshire-Maine border.
Eater Recommends: What to Eat and Drink in Portsmouth and Kittery: Don’t have time to read the whole guide mentioned above? Skip to this map, which highlights some of the Eater Boston team’s Portsmouth and Kittery favorites.
Where to Drink Beer in Portsmouth, New Hampshire: And here’s the beer-specific accompaniment to the above two links.
0 notes
Text
New England News: New Hampshire’s Got a New Speakeasy Hidden Behind a Barbershop
And other regional food and beverage updates beyond Massachusetts
Broadening the scope a bit, here’s the latest restaurant news from beyond Greater Boston; we’re keeping an eye out for dining developments throughout New England. This piece is updated on a rolling basis, covering restaurant openings, closures, and more in Portsmouth, Providence, Portland, and elsewhere.
Check back for updates — the most recent ones will always be at the top — and email [email protected] with any news tips pertaining to New England restaurant news beyond Boston.
Note: Jump to the bottom of this page for a list of other links pertaining to New England dining, including a guide to Portsmouth and Kittery, an archive of Maine news, a map of the hottest new restaurants in Providence, and more.
February 13, 2018
CHESTER, CONNECTICUT — Grano Arso(6 Main St.) is now open within a former bank building in Chester, and it showcases a “modern yet familiar approach to traditional Italian cooking.” Chef Joel Gargano mills grain in-house for pasta and bread and has created a menu consisting of crostini, pasta dishes, and entrees ranging from monkfish stew to grilled pork loin with polenta and pesto. There are also cocktails, wines, and beer.
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Chuck’s BARbershop(90 Low Ave.) is a new speakeasy-style bar from the team behind Codex in Nashua, serving up classic cocktails in a space hidden behind an actual barbershop.
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT — The newly opened Lo Sano Restaurant & Bar (678 Maple Ave.) has a menu full of Latin American classics, including mofongo (made with fried plantains), skirt steak with chimichurri, fried chicken, and tres leches flan for dessert.
NORTH WOODSTOCK, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Pemi Public House (115 Main St.) is a new option for those visiting the White Mountains. The restaurant serves sandwiches, soups, flatbreads, and hearty entrees like mac and cheese and pot pie, plus salads and appetizers. The restaurant also has open mic nights.
February 6, 2018
Katie Chudy/Eater
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — A new cocktail bar has opened in the former Red Door space at 107 State St. The Nice is the work of Kevin Walsh and Bryan Emerson, alums of Moxy and Franklin Oyster House, and they’re running the bar from 6 p.m. on, six days a week (closed Tuesday). Drinks include the Venetian Monk (Bully Boy gin, chartreuse, aperol, lemon, and Peychaud’s) and Pearl Harbor (vodka, jalapeño-infused green chartreuse, pineapple, and melon).
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — Coffee fans may soon get the chance to drink their favorite beverage in the presence of a double-decker bus. The Burgundian: Coffee and Waffles is a Rhode Island company that specializes in (as the name suggests) coffee and Liege-style waffles. Founder Shane Matlock purchased a double-decker British bus to restore and convert into a mobile coffee shop, where customers will be able to place orders through a service window but will also be able to enter the bus and partake in coffee and waffles on the second level. Matlock has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the bus conversion.
Xaco Taco is now open in Providence (370 Richmond St.), with ten versions of tacos (available as singles or platters) and a wide selection of tequila, plus beer, wine, and churro doughnuts for dessert.
A pop-up that serves sandwiches has debuted in Providence, from the same folks behind UMelt, a sandwich shop with locations at the University of Rhode Island and Brown. The aptly named Sandwich (stylized as ‘sandwich.’) pop-up operates out of the Brown UMelt location (267 Thayer St.) and offers build-your-own options, breakfast sandwiches, and 15 pre-set menu items.
SMITHFIELD, RHODE ISLAND — Laura’s Bar and Grill (945 Douglas Pke.) debuted in Rhode Island recently, with a menu of flatbreads, burgers, sandwiches, and other pub fare. There’s a selection of cocktails, plus sangria.
WARWICK, RHODE ISLAND — New Haven’s famous Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana (which has a location near Boston, in Chestnut Hill) plans to expand to Rhode Island, opening in Warwick some time in April or May, the Providence Journal reports. The restaurant will feature a specialty brick, coal-fired oven that requires seasoning.
January 30, 2018
Facebook
Gelato Fiasco
BRUNSWICK, MAINE — The Gelato Fiasco— a Maine-based gelato producer that’s previously popped-up in Boston and has been “eyeing properties in Boston for a while” for a potential permanent location here — has first landed on a site a little bit more southern: Orlando, Florida. After producing gelato for distribution and gaining traction in Florida thanks to the state’s beloved grocery store, Publix, Gelato Fiasco has signed a lease for a space at 25 West Crystal Lakes St., planning to open in spring 2018.
LONDONDERRY, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Long Blue Cat Brewing (298 Rockingham Rd.) is up and running with pints, flatbreads, and snacks. Operating varied hours from Wednesday through Sunday, the brewery is the work of two friends, Jason Knight and Shane Sorenson, who are serving several different beers, including a honey ale, a traditional porter, and a kolsch, among others.
MANCHESTER, VERMONT — Mystic Cafe & Wine Barhas opened in Manchester (4928 Main St.), serving lunch and dinner — both cafe fare and entrees, including salmon tartine, Cuban sandwiches, pastries, grilled cheese and tomato soup, salads, and mussels. The restaurant also offers a full bar and wines by the glass.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Poke hit Portsmouth with the opening of Ohana Kitchen several weeks ago (800 Islington St., Plaza 800). The restaurant serves customizable bowls of the Hawaiian dish, in addition to sushi burritos.
January 23, 2018
Dan Watkins for By Chloe
By Chloe in Providence
MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Suzette Crepes & Waffles (62 Lowell St.) is a recent addition to Manchester, and it serves what diners might expect from the name. With stuffed crepes and waffles topped with various items (including Nutella), the restaurant is connected to Gaucho’s Brazilian Steakhouse.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Seacoast Online shares the history and longevity of restaurateur John Mikolajcyk, who was born in Portsmouth 80 years ago and is still involved in the industry, as manager of the Portsmouth Elks Lodge.
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — By Chloe, a New York City-born restaurant chain that has spawned locations in Los Angeles and Boston (with a couple opening soon in London), officially opened a new location in Providence last week at 223 Thayer St. The entirely vegan menu includes everything from avocado pesto pasta to various burgers, sandwiches, and breakfast items.
January 16, 2017
Facebook
Wow Barbecue skewers
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — Wow Barbecue got its start as a food truck in Boston before opening restaurants in Malden and Brookline. Now, there’s a new restaurant in play in Providence, open at 183 Angell St., and it’s serving a menu of Chinese barbecue dishes, rice bowls, noodles, and several appetizers.
SEABROOK, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Brown’s Lobster Pound closed down in August 2017 after a fire, but the restaurant is on the verge of reopening, slated to make its return by April 1.
WEST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT — A full-service restaurant and bar specializing in vegan food has opened in Connecticut from the same people behind Rooster Co. in Newington. Flora uses seasonal ingredients for its food and drink menu (there’s a juice bar in addition to wine and beer). In addition to falafel wraps, flatbreads, “mac-no-cheese,” and an avocado bowl, Flora serves the plant-based Impossible Burger. For any meat eaters who visit, Flora offers what it calls “viable fauna” or “sustainable and responsibly raised animal products,” like grass-fed beef, wild shrimp, and arctic char.
January 9, 2018
Facebook
Bissell Brothers
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Lunch Lady Food Truck debuted at the end of 2017 in Concord, serving a school-themed menu featuring items named for grades one through 10. There are burgers, barbecue pork nachos, Buffalo wings, and Reuben egg rolls, among many other items, including sides and drinks. Find it by the Everett Arena (15 Loudon Rd.), and keep an eye on social media for other locations.
DURHAM, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Burger joint Hop + Grind (7 Madbury Rd. — Madbury Commons) opened at the end of November. The restaurant butchers and grinds its own meats and makes its soda in-house. There are beef, chicken, and pork burgers and two versions of veggie burgers, plus chicken fried mac and cheese and a Nashville hot chicken sandwich. Hop + Grind also serves craft beer and ice cream malts.
MAINE — As a new year kicks off, Portland Food Map takes a look back at the year in 2017 — exploring new restaurants, notable events, trends, and obituaries — while looking ahead towards openings slated for 2018.
PORTLAND, MAINE — The Rock apparently has great taste in beer and sent an assistant to procure some. The famed Bissell Brothers Brewing Company (4 Thompsons Pt.) shared the story on Twitter: “An assistant for The Rock just showed up, he took a private jet here to pick up Substance cans. Got shown some credentials… either we just got massively played or THAT IS AWESOME!!”
Also in Portland, Definitive Brewing Company is under construction and could open in the spring at 35 Industrial Wy., near Allagash Brewing Company, according to the Portland Food Map. Few other details are available at this point, but stay tuned for more from Maine.
SOUTH PORTLAND, MAINE — The poke trend is creeping its way north to South Portland: Big Fin Poke, which specializes in the Hawaiian raw fish dish, is now open at 29 Western Ave., with this location joining a second in Westbrook, Maine. In addition to rice and salad bowls topped with seafood, chicken, beef, or tofu, Big Fin Poke also serves poke burritos, or seaweed wraps stuffed with sushi rice and proteins.
December 19, 2017
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Smoked pork loin chop at Nibblesworth in Portsmouth
KITTERY, MAINE — The Caribbean-inspiredBlue Mermaid Island Grill, which was previously open in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for over 20 years, returns to the dining scene this week, opening its new Kittery location at 10 Shapleigh Rd. on Thursday, December 21, right next to Tributary Brewing Company. Opening weekend is reservation-only; call (207) 703-2754.
Checkout our beautiful, brand new store front, isn’t she gorgeous?! … . . #bluemermaid #bluemermaidkittery #kitteryme #kittery #newlocation #storefront #restaurantdesign
A post shared by Blue Mermaid (@bluemermaid_kittery) on Dec 16, 2017 at 10:26am PST
NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Biryani Pot, which has a location in Framingham, Massachusetts, will add a location in Nashua (295 Daniel Webster Hwy.), and the grand opening will happen soon. The restaurant specializes in Hyderabadi cuisine, including biryani with chicken, goat, egg, shrimp, or vegetables.
PORTLAND, MAINE — Tuscan Table arrives at 390 Gorham Rd. in South Portland on Wednesday, December 20. The restaurant has ties to Royal River Grillhouse in Yarmouth, Maine, and Tuscan Brick Oven Bistro in Freeport, Maine. The restaurant will serve Italian cuisine.
In other Portland news, Bon Appetit recently featured a look at six of the city’s newest restaurants to check out, including Hunt & Alpine Club’s little sibling Little Giant (211 Danforth St.), which is both a restaurant and a market; Noble Barbecue (1706 Forest Ave.), which serves a “formidable” brisket sandwich and more; and Belleville (1 North St.), home of “legitimate Roman-style pizza.”
Eater Maine is also currently featuring some of the hottest new spots in Portland and beyond in the latest updated Heatmap; check it out here.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — A restaurant with a wonderfully silly name opened recently in New Hampshire, and it specializes in wood-fired cooking. Nibblesworth (409 The Hill) was started by wife-and-husband team Jenny and Tom Nelson, who launched the restaurant with a goal of taking “classic recipes and rejuvenat[ing] them for today’s palate.” The menu includes items like poutine, pierogi, seafood stew, and lobster tacos. As previously reported, it has taken the place of Blue Mermaid Island Grill, which closed in June and reopens in Kittery this week, as mentioned above.
December 12, 2017
Bill Addison for Eater
Sally’s Apizza
BIDDEFORD, MAINE — Nuts & Bolts Brewing Company inches closer to an opening this winter at 7 York St. in the Pepperrell Mill, per the Portland Food Map. The brewery is the work of Patrick Doherty and Deedra Zeeh, and they’re providing progress updates on social media.
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — A new collaboration aims to bring tortillas made with local corn to a pair of restaurants in New Hampshire. Vida Tortilla unites the owners of Vida Cantina (2456 Lafayette Rd., Portsmouth) and Dos Amigos Burritos (26 N Main St., Concord, and other locations) with Tuckaway Farm (36 Captain Smith Emerson Rd., Lee), and they’ve launched a Kickstarter campaign to help pay for the equipment needed to produce the tortillas.
NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT — One of New Haven’s oldest and best pizza restaurants, Sally’s Apizza(237 Wooster St.), has been sold to new owners, as Eater reports. The names of those now involved will not be made public until January, but they apparently plan to try to expand the restaurant nationwide.
PORTLAND, MAINE — The Portland Harbor Hotel (468 Fore St.) will lean into the cold of winter with an ice bar and ice sculptures in its courtyard garden. From January 25 to 27, the Ice Bar will be open from 5 to 9 p.m., and tickets can be purchased online. There will be specialty cocktails and small bites available.
December 5, 2017
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Whiskey & Wine Concord
BIDDEFORD, MAINE — Elda opens its doors today, arriving at 140 Main St. with regional-inspired small plates from Bowman Brown, who relocated to the Northeast from Salt Lake City and is a James Beard-nominated chef. The restaurant is named for Brown’s grandmother and will initially serve food only, with wine, beer, and a full bar menu coming soon.
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — From the same owners behind Gale Motor Co. in Manchester, Whiskey & Wine has been open for nearly a month in Concord (148 N. Main St.), and it serves exactly that, with 34 varieties of whiskey and American and European wines. The varied food menu includes items like miso and tonkotsu ramen, pulled pork tacos, sushi rolls, chicken potstickers, and seared scallops.
PORTLAND, MAINE — The Highroller Lobster, a popular food truck in Portland, now has a permanent home at 104 Exchange St. The restaurant opened over the weekend and will officially begin operations Wednesday through Thursday, starting on December 6, serving lobster in several different forms (including lobster grilled cheese), plus corn dogs, burgers, and a surf n’ turf option.
November 29, 2017
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The Wilder, Portsmouth
BIDDEFORD, MAINE — Rover Wood Fired Bagels and Pizza is now open at 111 Elm St. Founders Kimberly Chaurette and Alec Rutter, both alums of Somerville’s Forge Baking Company, started Rover as a bagel pop-up, appearing in Salem at Bambolina and local farmers markets. They’re now in business as a brick-and-mortar up in Maine, serving up bagels and sandwiches, with wood-fired pizza on the way before the end of the year.
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A brunch burger at Sonny’s, closing on December 31
PORTLAND, MAINE — Sonny’s, a nearly decade-old restaurant in Old Port (83 Exchange St.), will close at the end of the year. Taking its place: Black Cow, a burger-and-shake shop with an old-fashioned soda fountain. Jay Villani and Garry Bowcott, who own Sonny’s, Local 188, and Salvage BBQ, are behind the new project, and longtime Local 188 chef Nicholas Nappi (who took a hiatus from the group and worked at Eventide and Hugo’s in the interim) is partnering with them for Black Cow. December 31 is the final day for Sonny’s, and Black Cow could open as soon as mid-February.
PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE — The team behind the Wallingford Dram — an excellent cocktail bar in Kittery, Maine — has opened a new spot in Portsmouth. The Wilder, a “no-rules New England gastropub,” is now open at 174 Fleet St., the site of the former United Kingdom-themed Coat of Arms bar. It’s open daily, with bar service starting at 3:30 p.m. with snacks, the full menu available starting at 5 p.m., and a late-night menu offered until 1 a.m. Dishes include everything from Scotch duck eggs to braised kid ragu, which most likely refers to goats, not children. For dessert? Apple cider beignets with maple sauce. And shakshuka makes an appearance on the late-night menu.
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND — A food hall slated for Providence just met its fundraising goal through a Kickstarter campaign. The forthcoming West Park Food Hall (233 West Park St.) will have a number of restaurants, a brewery, and a roastery, with communal seating and a roof deck. It raised more than $120,000, which will go towards various expenses, including design and legal costs.
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The second level at Thee Red Fez is now White Rabbit
In other Providence news, Thee Red Fez (49 Peck St.) is changing things up, converting the upstairs dining room into a cocktail bar with its own name, White Rabbit. Get dinner at the Fez Tuesday through Saturday, starting at 5 p.m., and drink snazzy cocktails upstairs Thursday through Saturday, starting at 5 p.m.
And in other Providence news, North is now up and running at its new location, the first floor of the Dean Hotel (122 Fountain St.). Stay tuned for details on what the team plans to do with the original space at 3 Luongo Sq. — owner James Mark promises a simpler neighborhood spot that could open in a few short months.
Further Reading
Rachel Leah Blumenthal for Eater
Spicy miso ramen at Anju Noodle Bar in Kittery, Maine
New England’s 38 Essential Restaurants: A guide to the best of the best throughout New England, compiled by Eater restaurant editor Bill Addison with the help of food writers from around the region.
The 9 Hottest New Restaurants in Providence, Rhode Island: Updated in October 2017, this map highlights some of the hot new spots to hit the Providence dining scene in 2017.
Eater Maine: Eater Boston’s sister site to the north has been largely retired, but stop by the homepage now and then for updates to major maps, such as the Heatmap, which tracks some of the hottest new openings.
Maine Restaurant News Archive on Eater Boston: While most Maine news going forward will appear right here in this New England news round-up, older stories are archived at the Maine Restaurant News Archive link.
A Guide to Dining and Drinking in Portsmouth and Kittery: Take a trip up to the New Hampshire-Maine border.
Eater Recommends: What to Eat and Drink in Portsmouth and Kittery: Don’t have time to read the whole guide mentioned above? Skip to this map, which highlights some of the Eater Boston team’s Portsmouth and Kittery favorites.
Where to Drink Beer in Portsmouth, New Hampshire: And here’s the beer-specific accompaniment to the above two links.
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