Two Longtime Maine Restaurants Permanently Close

It isn't uncommon to see restaurants come and go in Maine. Especially restaurants that really exist solely for the summer tourism crowds.

Seasonal restaurants in Maine face enormous challenges to stay afloat, from staffing to hoping and praying for good weather and lots of visitors.

Year-round restaurants face many of the same challenges with the added caveat of whether they did enough in the summer to make it through a much slower winter.

Many of those challenges have led a pair of longtime restaurants in Maine have called it quits even before the summer tourism season has ended.

Bayley's Seafood in Scarborough, Maine, Announces Permanent Closure

In a social media post, Bayley's Seafood announced it would permanently close on Thursday, August 20.

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The statement only read that the decision to close came to be after careful consideration.

Bayley's Seafood has had a tumultuous few years, including some lost seasons. The restaurant's patriarch died in 2021 and the future of the restaurant seemed bleak.

Reopening again took years and Bayley's Seafood struggled to recapture the magic it once had that made the restaurant a three-decade staple in the area.

Village Tavern in Kennebunk, Maine, Announces Permanent Closure

Open for well over a decade, the Village Tavern in Kennebunk, Maine, announced they would be permanently closing as well.

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The Village Tavern highlighted rising costs and a changing economic reality as the key reasons behind the closure of the popular restaurant.

The Village Tavern also stated that their landlord had terminated the restaurant's lease.

The Village Tavern had changed ownership just last year before its permanent closure in 2026.