My Buddy’s Place, a Sicilian-inspired restaurant that opened in downtown Bucksport last year, has announced it is closing.
“It is with heavy hearts that we share we will be closing our doors on September 30, 2025, due to a variety of ongoing issues, one of them being health,” the restaurant said in a Facebook post on Sunday.
Owner and chief Dustin Diolio opened My Buddy’s Place in July of 2024 at 84 Main St., which previously had been the popular Friar’s Brewhouse Tap Room. At the time, Diolio’s goal was to serve elevated comfort food such as sliders and house-made pasta.
In the Facebook post announcing the closure, the restaurant said it “fully intend[s] to reopen in a new location in the future.”
“This has not been an easy decision, as this restaurant has been more than a business — it has been a place where we’ve shared meals, laughter, stories and memories with all of you,” the post said. “I truly love the community that has been made, each of you individually have a purpose, place and belong. Thank you.”
The closure comes amid a larger period of turnover in Bucksport’s restaurant scene. The downtown space that had long been MacLeod’s Restaurant is now getting reopened as Stowaway’s Town Tavern and Ugly’s Bar, which will specialize in seafood. The owner of that new spot, Rob DeGennaro, is closing Crybabies, another family restaurant he had run in Stonington.
Chalee Thai-Sushi To Go opened on Main Street earlier this year, and the Verona Island-based Sweet Cheeks Bakery is taking over the Route 1 restaurant Glenn’s Place, renaming it Sweet Cheeks Diner and adding breakfast to its menu.
Another Hancock County restaurant, Serendib in Ellsworth, also announced Sunday that it’s closing.
