Bar Harbor eatery to open Bangor location

BANGOR – People familiar with eateries in Bar Harbor may recognize the name of a new restaurant that is expected to open soon near the Bangor Mall.

Miguel’s, a popular Mexican restaurant on Rodick Street in Bar Harbor, is opening a second location on Hogan Road where Evo Italian Brick Oven closed last year.

For Bar Harbor restaurateur Michael Boland, it represents his second effort to expand into Bangor. He operated Guinness & Porcelli’s on Main Street near the Hampden town line a few years ago before moving the eatery to Bar Harbor, where he owns or operates several restaurants. He still owns the Main Street building, but now rents it out to the Perrihouse restaurant.

“Opening a restaurant in Bangor again is something I knew we would do again eventually,” Boland said Saturday. “I think we’ll get some mileage out of the name Miguel’s.”

Boland said the restaurant is scheduled to open Nov. 1, which coincides with the Day of the Dead holiday in Mexico.

Miguel’s, under founders Michael and Fayelle Anderson and subsequent owner Chris Pasha, was a longtime popular restaurant in Bar Harbor prior to going through a series of owners over the past couple of years. During that time, its menu and then its name were changed before Boland purchased the building earlier this year. He and partners Chris Jones and Cassidy Pappas decided to bring back the old menu and to reopen the business as Miguel’s.

Calling the Hogan Road location a “primo site,” Boland said expanding to Bangor makes economic sense. Had the Quirk family, which owns the Hogan Road building, been willing to let it be torn down – in the style of “Extreme Makeover: Restaurant Edition,” he joked – a national chain restaurant surely would have taken the place of Evo.

“Obviously, it’s the largest market close to us,” Boland said of Bangor. “I still think it’s underserved by independent restaurants.”

Though there are virtually no national chain restaurants in Bar Harbor, Boland is confident he and his partners can compete with them near the Bangor Mall. Mexican cuisine restaurants are among the most popular in the country, he said.

“It does seem to be the kind of restaurant people get excited about,” he said. “They want something clean, consistent and good.”

The new restaurant will offer casual and family dining and, unlike its Bar Harbor counterpart, will be open for lunch, according to Boland. For that reason, its menu will differ slightly from its other location, he said. There also will be a small bar with a television where customers can have a drink.

Miguel’s Bar Harbor menu can be viewed on the Internet at miguelsbarharbor.com.