A new grab and go shop specializing in international cuisine will open in downtown Ellsworth during the first week of April, run by the former owners of a popular local South Asian restaurant that closed last year.
Sanjeeva and Menemsha Abeyasekera’s new eatery will replace State Street Grocery, the longstanding deli shop that has offered quick and hot meals to Ellsworth residents and visitors for decades.
The married couple, who shut down their beloved downtown Sri-Lankan and Indian restaurant Serendib in December 2025, bought the State Street site in late February.
The new eatery will pair the market’s history of takeout food with a host of international cuisines, including the couple’s speciality: Sri-Lankan and Indian-inspired dishes, Menemsha said.
They’ve named the new business “Palmyra,” after a versatile Sri Lankan tree that can be used for food, medicine and lumber. Because the shop will focus on fast and casual to-go meals, Palmyra will seat around 6-8 tables for limited indoor dining, Menemsha said.
Palmyra will be open between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m., serving pastries and burritos for breakfast and ready-to-go lunch and dinner dishes that draw on an assembly of international cuisines, from South Asian to Mediterranean, Sanjeeva said.
A fixed menu will complement rotating specials, featuring some inspiration from their predecessor and what Sanjeeva describes as “fun food:” among the options will be Italian and vegetarian subs, sandwiches, butter chicken, lamb curry, chicken wings, fried rice and Singapore noodles.
“There’s going to be something for everyone here,” Sanjeeva said. “There’s going to be a lot of fun and high quality food.”
The building in which Palmyra sits is the first the Abeyasekeras have owned. Menemsha says she’s excited to use her interior design skills to personalize their space in a way for which renting doesn’t allow. Still, she’s mindful that the building — which she estimates was built in 1902 — has served as a local, family-owned general store for decades.
“There’s a lot of nostalgia in that building,” Menemsha said. “It’s fun to bring our own vibe but also respect that too.”
Cara Romano — the executive director of Heart of Ellsworth, a local nonprofit that promotes downtown economic development — was relieved that the city wouldn’t lose a longtime local market. She said it was a community-wide success for the site to continue to be run by another family-owned business that will preserve its decades-long tradition of serving food.
“I feel so incredibly hopeful and excited about the direction of downtown Ellsworth because we are seeing this where many other main streets around the country are not,” Romano said. “They’re seeing people from away purchasing these buildings and either bulldozing them or they’re absentee property owners. It’s a real win for this community.”
