Boston Restaurant Talk: Kennebunk restaurants

Friday, March 24, 2017

Bennett's Sandwich Shop Is Opening in Boston's Fenway Neighborhood

A Maine institution that is known in part for its lobster rolls is on its way to Boston.

A licensing board page within the city's website indicates that Bennett's Sandwich Shop is planning to open in the Fenway, taking over the space on Peterborough Street where Swish Shabu had been until closing last November. Based on the name of the manager listed (Brendin McCord) and a note on its website, this is the same Bennett's that is located in Kennebunk, ME, along with a second location in Portsmouth, NH; the Kennebunk shop is a legendary place frequented by countless beachgoers and visitors to nearby Kennebunkport for its lobster rolls and other subs/sandwiches.

The original location of Bennett's first opened in Kennebunk in 1982, while the Portsmouth location opened in 2015.

The address for this new dining spot in the Fenway is: Bennett's Sandwich Shop, 84 Peterborough Street, Boston, MA, 02215. The website for the original location can be found at http://www.bennetts-store.com/

[July 10 update: Eater Boston states that Bennett's Sandwich Shop is now open in the Fenway.]

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[Related article from our sister site (Boston's Hidden Restaurants): Slideshow--Twelve Sandwiches from Restaurants in the Boston Area and Elsewhere in New England]

Friday, April 29, 2016

News Elsewhere: NYC's Pearl Oyster Bar to Open in Kennebunk, ME

A popular "upscale lobster shack" in New York City is expanding to Southern Maine, and it is a homecoming of sorts for the restaurant's owner.

According to a job post within the Craigslist site, Rebecca Charles of Pearl Oyster Bar in the West Village of Manhattan is opening another location of the dining spot in Kennebunk, ME, which is where her family has summered for many decades and where she worked at the landmark White Barn Inn as executive chef in the 1980s, according to Pearl's website. It is not yet known where in Kennebunk the new location of Pearl will be, nor is it known when it might open; as soon as we find out more, we will post an update here.

Pearl Oyster Bar, which is known in part for its lobster rolls, has received much praise since opening in 1997, with the eatery being picked as a semifinalist for the 2014 James Beard Foundation Awards for outstanding restaurant. Another page within the restaurant's site shows that the eatery has also gotten recognition from Gourmet Magazine, Bon Appetit, and the Washington Post, and celebrity chef and restaurateur Mario Batali is quoted as calling it "...my favorite lunch spot on the planet..."

The address for the original Pearl Oyster Bar in the West Village is 18 Cornelia Street, New York, NY, 10014.

Follow us on Twitter at @hiddenboston

[A related post from our sister site (Boston's Hidden Restaurants): List of Restaurant Closings and Openings in the Boston Area]