An Italian restaurant that was open in downtown Bangor for two months before closing indefinitely last year never received a health inspection or the license from the state it needed to operate.
Briar Jipson did not obtain a state license or health inspection before opening Lavano’s on July 12, 2024. She bought the restaurant, which was previously Tesoro Italian Restaurant at 118 Harlow St., but the eatery closed in mid September after a turbulent few months in business.
The state health inspection department learned on Sept. 13 that Tesoro had closed and a new restaurant opened in that location under new ownership and with a new name, according to Lindsay Hammes, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees state health inspections.
The owners of Lavano’s didn’t respond to outreach from the state’s health inspection department and “never applied for a license to operate,” Hammes said.
State health inspectors then saw the Bangor Daily News’ story, published on Sept. 26, reporting that Lavano’s had closed indefinitely.
“No further attempts at contact have been made,” Hammes said. “Lavano’s operated unlicensed for three months before closing in September.”
The revelation comes shortly after the former owner of Tesoro, Brian Pelletier, sued Jipson for allegedly failing to pay $54,000 for the business. Jipson signed two promissory notes to purchase the business from Pelletier for $52,400 and had not made a single monthly payment as of Thursday, the lawsuit said. It also alleges she has failed to make any payments on an additional $1,600 loan.
When asked if she had obtained a state license or health inspection, Jipson told the BDN on Tuesday that she asked Pelletier whether the business needed a health inspection, but Pelletier told her “because I was taking over, that it was all set because he had recently had one.”
A Maine database shows Tesoro last received a health inspection — which it passed — in March 2019. Pelletier bought Tesoro in 2022.
The state requires businesses to be inspected every two years, but more frequent health inspections may be required for a variety of reasons.
“I did, in fact, speak with a health inspector at a later date and when they informed me that that was not how it worked, I had already made the decision to close,” Jipson said.
Pelletier repeatedly told Jipson that she would need an inspection, according to Erik Peters of Portland-based Verrill law firm, who is representing Pelletier in his lawsuit against Jipson. Pelletier also contacted Jipson when a health inspector contacted him, but Jipson never responded, Peters said.
While Lavano’s never received a health inspection or a license to operate from the state, the restaurant did obtain liquor and victualer’s licenses from the city, which they needed to sell alcoholic beverages and food that is prepared on-site in Bangor, according to Brandon Powell, Bangor’s deputy clerk and customer service manager.
Lavano’s was also issued a 60-day temporary liquor license from the state following the ownership transfer last year, according to Sharon Huntley, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services. That temporary license lasted from June 18 to August 18, but the restaurant never obtained a permanent license.
In mid-September Lavano’s closed indefinitely without notice due to a medical emergency, Jipson told the BDN at the time. The restaurant, which initially planned to serve pizza and fresh, house-made pasta, experienced rapid fluctuations with its staffing and menu before the closure, as documented on its social media page.
