PORTLAND, Maine — In a city where eateries can come and go in an over-hyped instant, Hot Suppa! stands out as a study in quiet stability.
Local brothers Moses and Alec Sabina opened their cozy breakfast-and-lunch comfort food nook on Congress Street almost 20 years ago. Since then, their restaurant has survived shifting neighborhood demographics, a global pandemic and an ongoing, citywide real estate crunch.
The Sabinas are rightfully proud of their achievements, so last year, when they started to think about selling, they knew it had to be to the right party. The brothers had no interest in watching someone squander their two decades of hard work.
Now, they believe they’ve found the right people.
Earlier this month, the husband and wife team of Amber Nachreiner and Cameron Rodrigues officially took over Hot Suppa!
Both were already working there, and Moses Sabina said he knew the couple would be perfect when, one day, Nachreiner asked him a question.
“She asked me how to clean the ice machine,” Moses Sabina said. “In 19 years, nobody had ever asked me that before.”
Her attention to detail impressed him, so he asked if the couple was interested in taking over. They said yes and got down to working out the details. Of course, it wasn’t just the ice machine. Nachreiner and Rodrigues actually had everything the Sabinas were looking for in successors.
They wanted someone with copious restaurant experience but also enough confident, youthful energy to lead a team of servers and chefs through high-pressure breakfast shifts where customers routinely wait an hour for a table.
Both under 40, Rodrigues grew up in York and Nachreiner hails from southern California. They have decades of experience in restaurants and met while working in one at Lake Tahoe. The couple moved to Falmouth in 2022, and Nachreiner began working the front of house at Hot Suppa! around the same time. Rodrigues cooked most recently at Central Provisions before also moving to Hot Suppa! last year.
Rodrigues said he and Nachreiner have no plans to monkey with the menu or vibe at Hot Suppa! They know a good thing when they see one.
The Sabinas designed their original menu after an epic, months-long road trip across the American South. The two literally ate their way from the mid-Atlantic to New Orleans, getting word-of-mouth recommendations from locals about the best diners, barbecue joints, soul food restaurants and fish frys.
The current menu at Hot Suppa! (which ironically does not serve supper) reflects their culinary journey. It includes buttermilk waffles, pulled-pork-and-eggs benedict, and shrimp with mushrooms, bacon, garlic butter, scallions and cheddar grits.
Nachreiner said she feels a little bit of manageable pressure after getting hand-picked to take over the business, but it’s nothing she and Rodrugues can’t handle.
“I would say more proud than pressure,” she said. “These walls hold a lot of memories and conversations and experiences — and you can feel it in this room. That’s special.”
After years of hard work, tweaking the menu and keeping customers happy, Moses Sabina said he’s looking forward to spending more time on his sailboat. He’s had it for a while but has only managed to get it as far as Monhegan Island before having to turn around to get back to the restaurant.
The new owners say they’re in it for the long haul and hope to operate Hot Suppa! at least as long as the Sabina brothers.
“I see it going to my daughter one day,” Nachreiner said. “We were in here last week, and she set all the tables with menus and was hanging order tickets in the window and ringing the bell.”
