Most of the new places to eat in South Portland this year come from owners residents already know. The owner of Taj turned his old Gorham Road address into a brunch cafe in June. He's now building an Italian restaurant a few doors down from Taj's current home on Clarks Pond Parkway. In Knightville, the partners behind Portland's Hi Bombay opened a Nepali and Tibetan restaurant on Ocean Street in August.
Each of these openings started with a kitchen that was already working. The owners grew from there, often into the next empty room nearby, and sometimes with staff they already had. That changes how to read the city's restaurant news. The name on the sign may be new, but the people behind it usually aren't.
| New room | Address | Who's behind it | The kitchen it grew from | Status as of early October 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cobblestone Coffee & Co. | 200 Gorham Road | Sai Guntaka | Taj, which started at this same address | Open since June |
| Il Forno | 333 Clarks Pond Parkway | Sai Guntaka and Jim Baldi | Taj, a few doors down | Expected to open in October |
| Himalayas on the Bay | 60 Ocean Street, Knightville | Sachet Timilsina, Pushpa Regmi, Dipesh Karki | Hi Bombay in Portland | Grand opening held August 15 |
Taj's First Address Became Its Owner's Next Restaurant
Taj Indian Cuisine started at 200 Gorham Road. In 2024 it moved to a larger space, and the Press Herald reported that the owner was bringing a new Indian-inspired brunch cafe into the original spot. That cafe is Cobblestone Coffee & Co., announced for a June 25 launch. WMTW reported on the open shop in August. Taj itself now sits at 333 Clarks Pond Parkway, Suite 6.
Cobblestone is Sai Guntaka's bakery and cafe, with about 40 seats. Adam Williams runs the kitchen, and Guntaka plans to put the business's profits toward his free-meals outreach. Guntaka told Portland Food Map he wanted a menu of items "you won't find just anywhere else." The current menu does that with Indian flavors in a breakfast format. It includes a masala omelette, egg vindaloo, chai-spiced French toast, braised lamb and a pumpkin curry.
The cafe's own description of the space is "a sunlit room of arches and warm oak." The hours are what matter most for planning a visit:
- Coffee: every day, 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Brunch: Thursday through Sunday, 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Bakery: Thursday through Sunday, 7 a.m. until it sells out
The cafe says the kitchen and bakery are on a Thursday-to-Sunday schedule "for now, while we finish staffing up." So a Tuesday stop gets you coffee and nothing from the kitchen. A Saturday stop gets the full menu, and the bakery case is better early in the morning than at 2 p.m.
The Third Room Is a Few Doors From the Second
Guntaka's next project is Il Forno, an Italian restaurant he's opening with business partner Jim Baldi at 333 Clarks Pond Parkway, a few doors down from Taj. The pair already work together at Silver Street by Taj in Portland's Old Port. Guntaka also co-owns Rasa in Bangor with Obul Reddy.
Portland Food Map's September report described a 50-seat restaurant designed and built with Woodhull, plus an outdoor deck that seats another 15 to 20 guests in warmer months. The report said the buildout was well underway and the restaurant was expected to launch in October. As of October 3, no exact opening date had been published. The restaurant's Instagram account, @ilforno_maine, is the best place to watch for it.
The planned menu, as Portland Food Map described it:
- Appetizers such as baked polenta with gorgonzola, sage and honey
- Fresh pasta, including cacio e pepe and rigatoni alla vodka
- Pizzas and salads
- Entrees such as a grilled strip steak
The bar, run by Nick Shanley, will serve cocktails, local draft beers, and wine by the glass or bottle.
The staff also comes from kitchens people in the area already know. Chef Ron Medlock ran the kitchen at Bar Publica, and chef Jim Fitzgerald worked at the Regency Hotel. Pasta chef Ruth Connelly has cooked at Evo, Via Vecchia and Papi. Once Il Forno opens, Guntaka will have three South Portland places within a short drive of each other. Each serves a different meal: Indian dinner at Taj, brunch and pastry at Cobblestone, and pasta and pizza at Il Forno.
In Knightville, the Room Was Chosen for the Size of the Plates
Hi Bombay is an Indian restaurant in Portland. Sachet Timilsina owns it with two partners, and they wanted a second, larger place where they could add Nepali food to their menu. Pushpa Regmi and Dipesh Karki are named as co-owners of the new restaurant, Himalayas on the Bay. They found it at 60 Ocean Street, in the former Taco Trio space. It's a 6,000-square-foot unit in a seven-unit mixed-use building that went up in 2019.
Timilsina told Mainebiz he was looking for a spot with high foot and car traffic and the right feel. 60 Ocean Street was big enough to serve thali, a Nepali spread of curries, relishes and side dishes built around rice and lentils, which needs bigger tables. "I thought this place was perfect," he said.
The partners paid for the roughly $60,000 project themselves. It included two large commissioned murals, one of the Himalayas and one of a lotus mandala. Some Hi Bombay employees are moving over to the new restaurant. Before opening, the partners held a free food sampling that drew about 200 people.
Timilsina's path to the business is a story about trying a restaurant before buying one. He grew up in Kathmandu and worked in accounting in New Hampshire for years. About eight or nine years ago, he ate at Hi Bombay while visiting a friend in Portland. When the restaurant went up for sale, he joined as a partner to buy it. A couple of years later he left his senior accountant job and moved to Maine. He told Mainebiz he plans to work the bar at the new restaurant, though he still works as an accountant during tax season.
The restaurant planned a limited opening on August 7 and held its grand opening on August 15. Coverage before the opening listed momo, thali, thukpa and chow mein among the planned dishes. Those dishes came from pre-opening reports, so check the current menu on the restaurant's Instagram, @himalayasonthebay, before you go.
The Closing on Cottage Road Has Owners Planning to Rebuild
The same pattern holds for the year's biggest closing. On May 24, a fire hit Makoto at 448 Cottage Road. The South Portland Fire Department said everyone got out safely, no injuries were reported, and the restaurant would likely stay closed "for an extended period" during repairs. Makoto is owned by Rattanak Tray and Hope MacVane-Tray. The restaurant's website still says "temporarily closed due to fire." It says the owners intend to rebuild and will share updates, but it gives no reopening date. We found no newer announcement, so the best answer for now is that Makoto plans to come back but hasn't said when.
Two Openings From Outside That Pattern
Not every new food business this year grew from an existing one. Maine Jamaican Kitchen opened by late May at 85 Western Avenue, in the former Elevation Burger space. Early coverage mentioned jerk chicken wings and fried plantains. WCYY reported a grand opening at the plaza shared with Buffalo Wild Wings. The owners haven't been named in the coverage so far.
The smallest new food business in town may be The Little Crumb Bakery. In September, the Press Herald profiled a self-serve bakery in South Portland. It's a home business, so the coverage left out the street address, and this post does too.
A Week of Eating Around the New Rooms
Based on the published hours and opening news, here's how the new places fit into a week:
- Monday through Wednesday: Cobblestone serves coffee only, 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Taj is a few minutes away on Clarks Pond Parkway for dinner.
- Thursday through Sunday morning: Cobblestone's brunch and bakery are both running. Go early for the bakery.
- A weekend dinner in Knightville: Himalayas on the Bay at 60 Ocean Street. Thali is the dish the space was chosen for.
- Later this month: watch @ilforno_maine for Il Forno's opening date at 333 Clarks Pond Parkway.
- Cottage Road: check makotomaine.com for rebuild updates.
Owners who expand close to home end up shaping more than their own business. They also decide what goes into the empty storefronts nearby. If you own a South Portland property and want to know what the changes on your street mean for its value, Ashley Fearon and A Team Realty can walk through it with you. Book your free seller strategy consultation.
