A bartender pours a draft from one of 24 taps at the new Goodfire Brewing location in Freeport, which opens this weekend. Photo courtesy of Goodfire Brewing

The highly anticipated Freeport location of Goodfire Brewing is slated to open Saturday, with a full kitchen run by alums from prestigious Portland restaurants.

The new 5,000-square-foot Goodfire Tasting Room and Kitchen at 180 South Freeport Road, can seat almost 100 inside, with full capacity of outdoor and indoor seating of around 150. By comparison, Goodfire’s Portland tasting room – which marks its fifth anniversary this week – is 1,500 square feet, with a capacity of about 90 customers.

Owners David and Julia Redding have been working on completely renovating the Freeport building on Route 1 that formerly hosted Conundrum wine bar and El Jefe, a taco bar.

“We’re excited to restore this corner in Freeport to the community,” David Redding said. “We live in Freeport now, so I feel doubly invested in this.”

Goodfire has hired Ben Christie, formerly chef de cuisine at Hugo’s, to run the kitchen, along with sous-chef Colin Kennedy, previously sous-chef at Leeward. Additionally, Redding signed on former Honey Paw general manager Kevin Nelson as general manager for the Freeport location.

Despite the fine-dining firepower on the new staff, Redding said the menu at Goodfire will be “high-quality casual, with nothing overly fancy.”

The menu features straightforward categories like starters, sandwiches, wings and salads, though the dishes themselves seem to standout from standard pub fare. Some wing flavors, for instance, include tamarind and habanero, gochujang bbq, and miso-honey mustard, while pork rillettes, are served with apple mostarda and come fried with a crisp coating.

“We think this will help create a new enclave north of the city for tourists to come visit,” Redding said.

Additionally, the Freeport tasting room has 24 taps at the bar, twice as many as Goodfire has in Portland. Redding said six of the spigots will pour draft cocktails, six will pour wine, and Goodfire beer will flow from 10, with the remainder reserved for “guest beers.”

Goodfire in Freeport will be open Tuesdays through Sundays from noon until at least 9 p.m.

BOTTO’S BAKERY MOVING TO WESTBROOK

After 70 years on Washington Avenue, local institution Botto’s Bakery is moving to a space in Westbrook that gives them 5,000 additional square feet to boost production.

Botto’s has signed a lease on a 14,000-square-foot space at 5 Karen Drive. The third-generation bakery will move into the new space by April.

Botto’s puts out about 4,000 loaves of bread and 100,000 rolls from its Portland location. Company officials estimated that the new space should allow them to turn out 25% more product.

“It was either expand or downsize, and going backwards didn’t make sense,” said Steve Mathews, Botto’s vice president, who started working full-time at the family bakery in 1983. “The new facility is going to provide a better working environment for a great team, and now there’s a plan in place for the next generation.”

The Boulos Company has listed Botto’s original Washington Avenue location for $1.2 million.

SWEETCREAM DAIRY REOPENS

Biddeford’s cherished ice cream shop, Sweetcream Dairy, plans a grand reopening this month to mark its long-awaited move to Main Street.

At more than five times the size, the new 1,600-square-foot space at 128 Main St. dwarfs Sweetcream’s original 300-square-foot location in the nearby Pepperell Mill. Sweetcream has set the Main Street opening event for Saturday, Nov. 26 from 12-8 p.m.

The dairy had been working out of the mill building for six years, until vacating the space last December.

Almost a year in the making, Biddeford’s Sweetcream Dairy has moved to Main Street, and will hold a grand reopening Saturday, Nov. 26. Photo courtesy of Sweetcream Dairy

“We feel like we’re in a palace now,” said Jacqui DeFranca, who co-owns Sweetcream with her husband, Jonathan Denton. DeFranca said the new location offers major enhancements like a full kitchen and walk-in freezer space that the Pepperell location didn’t have.

The additional freezer space alone will allow Sweetcream to churn and store about 500 gallons of ice cream at a time, five times as much as they previously could.

Before running into the same delay issues and supply chain shortages plaguing restaurant and food shop openings all over, Sweetcream had hoped to open on Main Street last May. “Which seems just laughable now,” DeFranca chuckled.

In addition to their popular homemade ice creams, the menu at the new location will include ice cream floats made with house-crafted sodas. DeFranca said they plan to have a cranberry soda on hand for Nov. 26 made with cranberries from Gray Beaver Bog in Kennebunk.

The new space can accommodate up to about 32 people, with seating for 15. DeFranca said she and Denton have not yet set their hours, but expects Sweetcream to be open likely Wednesdays through Sundays.

MORE THANKSGIVING DINNERS

Here are a few more restaurants offering holiday meals on Thursday, Nov. 24:

Natalie’s at the Camden Harbour Inn, 83 Bay View St., Camden, is serving a five-course meal for $107, with wine pairing an additional $87. Call 207-236-7008 for reservations. For an extra-special Thanksgiving, the Inn is also offering a Maine Thanksgiving package, including a two-night stay and holiday meal at Natalie’s. Prices start at $467 per person.

Dock Fore, 336 Fore St., will be open Thanksgiving Day, with specials including a turkey sandwich, Fall Fowl sandwich and “turkey dinner pizza,” from $12.95 to $14.95.

Harraseeket Inn, 162 Main St., Freeport, is offering its Grand Buffet. Prices are $139 per person plus tax and tip, $49 for children 5 to 12 years old.

MK Kitchen, 2 School St., Gorham, is serving a three-course dinner for $55 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Make reservations online.

Sea Glass, 40 Bowery Beach Rd., Cape Elizabeth, offers a three-course dinner from 1-7 p.m. Find more information or book a table online.

Verbena, 103 Ocean St., South Portland, is serving a three-course, $50 menu with vegan options.