What’s closed, what’s new, what’s changing

Changes on the Midcoast food scene, from Searsport to Camden, Rockland, Warren

Kay Stephens
Tue, 11/17/2015 - 12:45pm
Nautilus Seafood & Grill readies their new location at the former Weathervane Restaurant in Belfast. (Photo courtesy Jenifer Oakes)
The Brown Bag closed without fanfare on Nov. 13 after 28 years in the business. (Photo courtesy The Brown Bag’s Facebook page)
Atlantica kitchen staff: Noah Cobourn, Ken Paquin and Jared Harbaugh (Photo by Chris Wolf)
Wendy’s fast food restaurant is no longer open in Belfast. (Photo courtesy of Yelp)
Pho Sizzle has vacated their food truck and has become a year-round restaurant and Asian Market at 10 Leland St. in Rockland. (Photo by Kay Stephens)
The Salty Soup Kitchen has moved from their temporary home in a barn to oyster River Winery in Warren for their pop up Mexican Night dinners. (Photo courtesy Salty Soup Kitchen)

    Some changes on the Midcoast food scene have been trickling in over the last few weeks. Some are quiet and under the radar, others have more visibility. Here is a quick update on what’s closed, what’s new and what has changed.

    What’s Closed

    On Nov. 13, The Brown Bag, the deli/cafe at 606 Main Street in Rockland that has been around since 1987, quietly stopped operations. A single word now appears on their website —“Closed.” While it’s not known why owners Jack and Tina Williams shut the doors of the popular eatery, the restaurant had been listed for sale for the last several months.

    On Nov. 14, anyone going through the Wendy’s fast food restaurant at 22 Belmont Avenue in Belfast found an empty window with dismantled signs. A temporary sign noted that this franchise had closed for good and would still be open at other Maine locations. 

    For those who didn’t know that October was Atlantica in Camden’s last month open, read our PenBay Pilot story about it here: After 16 Years, Atlantica Restaurant Has Closed Its Doors.

    What’s New

    Two new happy hour offerings have been announced. Shepherd’s Pie in Rockport is now offering a “reverse” happy hour special from 8-9 p.m. on Thursdays, Sundays and Mondays as a way to entice people to come in after the shows at the Rockport Opera House.

    Thomaston Café in Thomaston is now also offering a new $5 happy hour food and bar menu starting at 5:30 p.m. You can find more details in our Guide To Midcoast Happy Hours.

    FOG Bar, which previously only served dinner, started serving lunch as of Oct. 27, serving 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Thursday.

    What’s Changed

    The Laughing Dog BBQ wagon, which had been operating in Searsport all summer, has now moved to a Belfast location. It can be found next to new Goose River facility on Route 3, across from EBS. They do not have a website or Facebook page.

    The Pho Sizzle food truck located in Bouy Park Rockland this past summer is also gone for good. Instead the owner, Tom Pham, has moved into his first restaurant space at 10 Leland Street in Rockland. See our recent story for more details: Pho Sizzle is latest food truck eatery to gain restaurant space in Rockland

    Once summer was over, Salty Soup Kitchen, the pop up Mexican food night, had to move out of an unheated barn it had been working out of in Rockport. It has now secured a winter home at the Oyster River Winery in Warren. For their next pop up night in November, visit their Facebook page and check out our original story: It’s a Wonderful Night for a Pop Up.

    Nautilus Seafood and Grill, formerly in the location of 95 Searsport Avenue (over the bridge) in Belfast, has moved into the downtown waterfront Belfast location that was formerly the Weathervane Restaurant. They are renovating now and plan to open in December. For more info visit their Facebook page.

    Note: we are not including restaurants closed for the season. We will update this story as more information comes in.

    Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com

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