Bakery and Gastropub Opening in Building Where Rivalries in Portland Closed

When one door closes, two doors open!

Two new yummy food places will be moving into the building where long-time Portland favorite Rivalries sports bar recently closed at 10 Cotton St. in Portland.

According to Mainebiz, the space that Rivalries was in has been leased by a Bar Harbor fine-dining chef/owner. Bobby Will has a seasonal restaurant called Salt & Steel in Bar Harbor. He's already hard at work remodeling Rivalries for a gastropub called Thistle & Grouse.

At the same building, but at a different address, 505 Fore Street, they are working on retrofitting a space for a bakery called Bread & Friends. This is their first brick-and-mortar location in Portland. I'm very excited about this expanded bakery which will offer an elevated breakfast and lunch menu with freshly baked pastries including their famous Pop Tarts, along with morning buns, pull-aparts, croissants, and more.  will be available with an expansion to our pastry program, featuring seasonal flavors and a continued emphasis on viennoiserie. (I had to look that up. It's baked goods made from a yeast-leavened dough in a manner similar to bread.)

Back to Thistle and Grouse, Chef Will says he's not making major changes to the floor plan of Rivalries but does plan to tear down the bar and put a raw bar in the corner and they will upgrade the dining room. The menu will include his signature seafood cassoulet, a house-ground burger, a Korean fried chicken sandwich, small plates, and large apps. In Bar Harbor, he locally sources as many dishes as he can, and will keep that tradition in Portland.

He's shooting for a July opening and Bread and Friends is hoping to open this month! Welcome to Portland!