Taste of India's owners announced in late September that they were closing the restaurant after nearly 36 years. The Bangor Daily News quoted their farewell: "thank you, Bangor and the surrounding communities, for 36 incredible years." Six months earlier, a new Indian kitchen had opened downtown on Exchange Street.
Very little of downtown's food news in 2026 came from new construction. One shop moved next door, another restaurant opened its second floor, two rooms were taken down to the studs and rebuilt, and one Union Street address had its third restaurant in a year and a half. Downtown filled and enlarged the rooms it already had, and most of that work came from people who already knew the block.
Here is the year by address, with the most recent hours each source reported. Hours change, so check before you go.
| Spot | Address | What changed in 2026 | Hours, as last reported |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rasa Indian Cuisine | 175 Exchange St. | New restaurant, opened March 29 | Lunch buffet daily 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; dinner and bar nightly from 4 p.m. |
| Bangor Sandwich Co. | 1 Central St. | Moved next door on June 1 | Monday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., per a June report |
| MJ's Catering | 16 Union St. | Italian bistro, soft-opened in July | Wednesday to Saturday, 4 to 9 p.m., per a July 31 report |
| Top of the Hill Subs | 120 State St. | New sub shop near downtown, opened Aug. 11 | 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., per an August report |
| Benjamin's | 123 Franklin St. | New upstairs dining room and bar, grand opening Oct. 16 | Check with the restaurant |
| Taste of India | 68 Main St. | Closed after nearly 36 years | Permanently closed |
The smallest move: a few feet, double the room
Bangor Sandwich Co. opened at 25 Hammond St. in 2020. On June 1, owners Joe and Jen Ramos moved it next door to 1 Central St., the corner of Central and Hammond. The corner had been empty since The Grind House closed abruptly the year before. The Bangor Daily News reported that the owners had looked at options outside downtown when the Hammond Street shop got cramped, then took the space next door when it opened up.
The new storefront is twice the size of the old one and has a much larger kitchen. Jen Ramos told the BDN, "You can only expand so much in a smaller kitchen." The bigger kitchen made room for nine new items alongside the hot and cold sandwiches, salads, pizza and ice cream: three sandwiches on homemade focaccia, three wraps and three salads. In an interview with WABI, Ramos said the dining room can seat twice as many people as the old shop. That matters for anyone who remembers waiting outside the Hammond Street shop on a busy day, which Joe Ramos told the BDN used to happen.
The move also filled a corner that had been sitting empty. Downtown got a busy business on that corner without any new building.
Going up a floor on Franklin Street
Benjamin's grew upward. On Friday, Oct. 16, the restaurant at 123 Franklin St. held a grand opening and ribbon cutting for a new upstairs dining room and bar, from 4 to 9 p.m. The Downtown Bangor event listing quoted the restaurant: "New dining room. New bar. More Benjamin's to love," and promised "more room to gather, grab dinner, and settle in for a drink."
The new floor adds seats and a bar at an address downtown already knew. The Sandwich Co. corner worked the same way: more capacity inside walls that were already standing.
Two rooms taken back to bare walls
Some rooms needed more than a move. They had to be rebuilt.
Rasa Indian Cuisine at 175 Exchange St. opened on Sunday, March 29, after months of construction delays. Co-owner Sai Guntaka told the Bangor Daily News that the restaurant completely overhauled the space. Its interior was designed by Ervin Architecture, the Maine firm behind the Maine Savings Amphitheater, Blaze downtown and Kanu in Old Town.
Guntaka owns Rasa with his uncle, Obul Reddy. He also owns Taj in South Portland. The menu is South Indian, with dosas, biryani and fresh naan from a clay oven. The bar pours cocktails and beer, including Sai Lager, which Oxbow Brewing makes for Taj, on draft and in cans. According to Rasa's website, the restaurant is open seven days a week. The lunch buffet runs daily from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and dinner and the bar start at 4 p.m.
Top of the Hill Subs at 120 State St. sits on a short strip just up from downtown, across the street from Judy's and near Frank's and Thai Etc. It opened Aug. 11 in a building that had been a Subway for more than two decades. The Bangor Daily News reported more than two months of work on the building before it opened. The shop is owned by Kaitlin LaPointe. It serves mostly deli-style hot and cold subs, like turkey and salami, plus ice cream, from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. A manager told the paper that most ingredients, chips included, come from Maine vendors. The shop delivers in Bangor and Brewer, and the stated goal is "good food to the locals for a good price."
Both buildings already had a long history of serving food. What changed is who runs them: one is now a locally owned sub shop, the other an Indian restaurant with a full bar.
One address, three restaurants in 18 months
At 16 Union St., the same room kept changing hands this year. Carolina's Sports and Spirits ran there for nearly 20 years before closing in 2025. Salt North Tap Room followed and closed in less than a year. The Bangor Daily News reported in May that Salt North had stopped operating there.
The space was filled again by Mark Greenleaf, who ran Carolina's and whose LLC still owns the building. According to the BDN's July report, he meant to retire but came back to open MJ's Catering. In May, MJ's started as a catering and events business with a public buffet on concert nights. Greenleaf felt that wasn't working and turned the space into an Italian bistro, which soft-opened in July and had its grand opening in early August.
Greenleaf calls the style casual Italian fine dining and a good date spot. He and executive chef Chris Cutler make everything from scratch. The menu runs from arancini and grilled shrimp skewers to several salads and a dozen pasta entrees, with a rotating wine list. His mother, Sharon Greenleaf, makes most of the desserts. The week of the BDN's visit, that meant tiramisu, lemon ricotta cheesecake, espresso brownies, creme brulee and ice cream. Greenleaf has worked in Bangor restaurants for years and started cooking as a teenager at the Lucerne Inn. As of the end of July, MJ's served dinner Wednesday through Saturday from 4 to 9 p.m., and Greenleaf said he would likely add hours once things settled.
After Salt North closed, the room went back to the person who had run it for nearly two decades.
The room on Main Street
Taste of India at 68 Main St. is the one 2026 change that hasn't been followed by a reopening. The restaurant's website now lists it as permanently closed. The owners did not give a reason in their announcement. They said they were "looking forward to enjoying retirement, spending more time with our family, and making new memories with the people we love." The Bangor Daily News described the response as shock and sadness. Some people said the restaurant was where they first came to love Indian food, and others remembered their first meal there decades ago.
Taste of India closed six months after Rasa opened on Exchange Street, so downtown still has a place for dosas and naan while the room on Main Street sits dark. No one has announced plans for the 68 Main St. space.
Downtown storefronts change hands often, and every move this year shaped what downtown Bangor looks like. If you own a downtown building, are looking to lease restaurant or retail space, or just want to know what's happening with a storefront you walk past every day, Elisha J Hardy and our team handle commercial sales and leasing across Greater Bangor and are glad to talk it through. Contact Us.
