Bangor’s newest cocktail lounge tucked on the bottom floor of a downtown building is poised to open next month.
Barliman’s, a new restaurant and bar that will serve cocktails, hearty farm-to-table snacks and plenty of nonalcoholic options, is the brainchild of local developers and a former co-owner of The Fiddlehead, a shuttered Bangor restaurant.
The business is located at 1 Kenduskeag Plaza West, tucked in the walk-out basement behind 2 Hammond St., along the Kenduskeag Stream. The space was previously a drive-thru for Merrill Bank and still features a large teller window.
Zack Pike, a developer at Pike Project Development, serves as the co-owner of Barliman’s and Laura Peppard, former co-owner of The Fiddlehead, which closed in March 2023 after 13 years in business, will be the bar’s co-owner and general manager.
The business will be staffed by the former Fiddlehead team with the exception of the head chef position.
When Pike and Peppard began work on the space last May, the rooms were clogged with mechanical equipment for the rest of the building. The ceiling clearance has since been raised, floors were leveled for accessibility, and brick walls were knocked down to make the space feel more open.
Today, dark walls, muted sconce lighting, exposed masonry and wooden elements give the bar a cozy atmosphere, but two exterior doors and windows let in natural light. Peppard hopes to later add outdoor seating next to the building.
“It feels like when they built this building more than 100 years ago, they were waiting for us to make it a restaurant,” Peppard said.
The bar can seat 54 people with additional standing room. An old bank vault now serves as a private function room that patrons can reserve for parties or meetings.
The upper floors of the building, built in 1906, previously held the Hammond Street Senior Center, which closed in November 2015, and now hosts the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce and apartment units on the top floors.
Peppard grapples with what exactly to call the new business. Since it won’t serve entrees, calling it a restaurant feels “wrong” and calling it a bar might deter people who don’t drink alcohol.
While the bar’s basement location and moody decor makes the business feel like a speakeasy Pike and Peppard hesitated to label the business as such, as they worry it’s elitist and exclusive. This is because they don’t want patrons to feel like they need a membership or know a secret password to enjoy the space.
“Everyone has that place where they love to go,” Peppard said. “We want to be that place for as many people as possible.”
Many of the elements in the space, including furniture, were hand-picked from various antique markets or reused from previous projects Pike worked on. The bathroom stall doors were once doors to safety deposit boxes in an old bank Pike worked on and the wall of the bar is accented with former radiator covers, he said.
Other furniture and accent pieces are custom made for the business. The bar and a few tables, for example, are made from the same trunk of an old white oak tree, Pike said.
The name is a nod to a “Lord of the Rings” character, Barliman Butterbur, who owned The Prancing Pony, an inn that served beer and food and provided shelter to travelers.
The food menu will include only small plates. The drinks menu will include cocktails as well as plenty of nonalcoholic options.
The dishes are all farm-to-table, so the food options will change frequently based on what in-season ingredients head chef Terrance Bonnin can get from local farms.
The business is now waiting for its liquor license to be approved before an official opening date is set, Pike said.
