19 Portland, Maine, Restaurants That Sadly Closed in 2024

Portland, Maine, is known as a stand-out foodie spot.

LoveFood has called out the Old Port as the best in Maine to grab a bite out to eat, while Food and Wine has ranked it in the top 10 U.S. cities for food and drink.

It continues to be a great city for restaurants, but sadly, some beloved establishments have had to close their doors in 2024.

Portland, Maine, Restaurants Closed in 2024

One of the first spots to close its doors in 2024 was Stars & Stripes Brewery at 3 Spring Street in February, which had opened two years before. Sadly the brewery would also close its Freeport location later in 2024 at the end of December.

On a positive note, the Portland location has already been filled with a new business: Yuri's Desserts, a bakery with a lot of delicious-looking treats.

Other places like The Pizza Joint in Portland closed its doors after being open since 1977. That's nearly 50 years.

The pizza place thanked its customers for all their support in a Facebook post: "Thank you all for your loyalty and kindness over 47 great years. We couldn't have done it without you."

READ MORE: We’ll Miss These 37 Maine Restaurants That Closed in 2024

Unfortunately, as the months went on, the closing announcements continued, and seemed way more frequent, with a majority in October and November.

Let's take a look back and remember 19 of the restaurants that closed in Portland in 2024.

Why Are So Many Restaurants Closing in Portland, Maine?

Unfortunately, there are reasons for so many Portland restaurants closing.

Kathleen Pierce of Hospitality Maine told Maine Public that things like rising food and labor costs, a worker shortage, and increased rent are just some of the causes.

According to WGME, another affecting aspect of the situation is that some people "just aren't heading out to eat like they used to."

So while we will certainly miss many of our favorite Portland places and hold onto our memories and the food we got there, keep on hitting up the spots that are still going and the new ones about to open their doors.