PORTLAND (NEWS CENTER Maine) -- Regulars and visitors seeing a note on a locked door of $3 Deweys, and a suspended website. The family behind the restaurant citing retirement as the reason. Employees and customers were given very little notice before the iconic restaurant and bar shut down.
Matt Thompson works around the corner and frequently stopped by for lunch. He has gone there many times in the last three or four years.
"Sad to see them go," said Thompson. "I think somebody can save this place, it's Deweys. You have your iconic bars in town, and I am not going to name drop here, but you know who they are, and this was one of them. To be at the corner on Commercial Street, you got to have Deweys. Hopefully we'll get it back."
People were taking pictures of the menu posted next to the door, including Charles MacKenzie. He is visiting from New York. He is a Bowdoin College alumn and said he used to come here with his friends 30 years-ago. He was disappointed when he saw the note,
"I didn't hear about it closing," said MacKenzie. "It is one of the few places I remember. I was going to come down to the harbor area and have a salad and a beer and it's closed."
The note said, "our family has been honored sharing this time with you." The Old Port's $3 Deweys was located at the corner of Commercial and Union Streets. Deweys closed Sunday and has been at this location for decades since moving from its previous location on Fore Street.