PORTLAND, Maine — A new walk-up window in Portland’s West End is offering Baja-style Mexican food, to-go. However, customers won’t have to wait long before enjoying their tacos indoors, as Cantina Calafia plans to expand in the New Year.
For West End locals, the new restaurant is a familiar spot. Dominique Gonzalez and Justin Grey, previously owned Bonobo Pizza, but closed the location down over a year ago, to change the restaurant completely, and renovate the space.
“There were a lot of rumors about what was going to happen here,” Gonzalez explained. “Now I’m happy to tell people that the dining room is going to come back; it’s going to be a completely different vibe than what it was before.”
In the meantime, Gonzalez and Grey opened a walk-up window at the location, where customers can enjoy a sampling of select items from their menu.
“What we are shooting for is California and Baja-style Mexican food. Seeing as though we’re lagging a bit on re-opening, we figured we’d get the window going just to show some signs of life because it’s been I think a year and a half since we closed,” Gonzalez said.
Having grown up in San Diego, Gonzalez said she’s more than familiar with Baja-style cuisine as her dad owned businesses on both sides of the border, and she spent time in both Mexico and southern California for most of her life. Gonzalez said one of her favorite aspects of Baja-style cuisine is the inclusion of fresh seafood and local ingredients, which she’s looking forward to incorporating here, in Maine.
At the walk-up window, Gonzalez said customers can expect a super simple menu, just to get started.
“We figured rolled tacos were the way to go because we could prep them ahead of time and have them ready to go, for high volume.”
The tacos topped with crema, avocado-tomatillo salsa, queso fresco, and radishes, come with three in an order. Cantina Calafia offers specials as well, and Gonzalez said the best way to keep up with the restaurant is on Instagram.
As they make the finishing touches on renovations, Gonzalez and Grey said they expect the dining room could open by the second week of January.
“The West End is such a great neighborhood and we have so many awesome regulars that we saw on a daily basis since opening the window,” said Gonzalez. “It’s been so nice to see people again and there are also a lot of new faces in the neighborhood. They’ve been really cool and they’re super excited for us.”
Cantina Calafia’s walk-up window is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. To stay up-to-date on the restaurant's official opening, follow their Instagram page.