LEWISTON, Maine (March 23, 2022) — Before moving to Lewiston-Auburn (my wife Sharon and I officially arrived here Sept. 1, 2021) we’d already heard tell of El Pocho’s Mexican Grill. Those of us who reside in the Union’s most white-bread state have long endured an acute Mexican-food-related problem: not enough Mexicans. Or Central Americans. The situation has improved somewhat over the last 10-15 years. But no one was prepared El Pocho‘s, one of several Maine pop-up restaurants to emerge during Covid.
And here’s the topper: This killer burrito shop just happens to operate from one half of a gas station-convenience store on outer Lisbon Street. Further intrigued by that tableau, I sampled a carne asada model straightaway this past winter: superb. They press-grill the final product to create a sort of South of the Border panini effect. Great enchiladas, too.
The menu at El Pocho‘s is small but they do everything on it very well. It’s not practical to just show up at El Pocho’s, however. It’s a tiny space. There’s a bar where 3-4 folks can sit and eat, but take-out is strongly encouraged, especially in Covid times.
Last month, when I was out running errands, I not-so-cleverly resolved to stop in at 11:30 a.m., when the place opened. There were already a half-dozen guys standing around, waiting for their baby chimichangas. The woman behind the counter advised me — in no uncertain terms — to go outside, call in my order, and don’t come back for half an hour.
Maine Pop-Ups: Thai Goes to the Runner
A mile away, at the foot of College Street, a similar operation has sprouted inside Dave’s Place, a pretty grimy gas station and convenience store where another pop-up kitchen, Tina’s Thai, has similarly colonized one corner of the indoor premises.
The fare isn’t quite so revelatory here, though I can vouch for the tom kha gai (the cuisine’s signature chicken/lime/ginger/coconut-cream soup) and massaman curry. A more formal Thai restaurant sits right across the street. I’m willing to speculate that a kitchen employee named Tina got into a pissing match with the owner at some point, stalked out, and set up competitive enterprise 30 yards away. Bravo.
Lewiston-Auburn, Maine’s second-largest metropolitan area (combined population: 60,000), cannot compete with the celebrated food culture in Greater Portland. The Peninsula and surrounds are home to all manner of nationally recognized eateries, including, starting in 2010, some first-rate, upscale taco establishments.
But I know of no gas stations down there serving up such high-quality enchiladas or satay. And let me be clear: The burritos at El Pocho’s are without peer in all of Vacationland.
I was marveling at this bizarre, down-market L-A food trend, alongside the admirable edible diversity & ferment in our new place of residence, when Sharon pointed out that these are basically food truck operations: “It’s too cold in Maine to be outside on some street corner all year round,” she posited. “So they’ve gone inside.” I think she nailed it.
For a while there, El Pocho’s remained so informal, it didn’t even maintain a proper website, just a Facebook page. But now it does.
Another Embedding Option: Breweries
One of the bands I play in, Bald Hill, has enjoyed a sort of monthly residence this winter at the Side By Each Brewery, across the Androscoggin River from Lewiston, in Auburn. Opened in 2020, SBE serves outstanding beer, but the canny owners there have essentially ceded the food operation to a third party: a food truck specializing in poutine.
This type of relationship isn’t so unique. We play at another brewery, Fore River in South Portland, where, every time we’ve been there, a different food truck has conducted business from the parking lot. At New Gloucester’s Nu Brewery, a superb if pricy food truck, Yolk, is permanently ensconced.
Pinky D’s still operates a mobile business; in 2021, Downeast magazine listed it among Maine’s top 5 food trucks. However, at Side By Each the owners invited Pinky D’s to integrate one of its boxy vehicles directly into one of the brewery’s interior walls! It’s a spectacular visual conceit (see below) that further buttresses Sharon’s observation.
Through the small order window, one can spy an entire kitchen operation whipping up inventive takes on this Quebecois standard. My fave: the Korean BBQ poutine, especially when paired with a pint of Kuriro, SBE’s lovely Japanese rice lager.
‘Not practical, Mon!’
Between sets one night, I ran into Everton, a Jamaican fellow I’d met before. His brother, Jefferyton, owns an honest-to-goodness Jamaican food truck. He parks it more or less permanently beside the Caribbean Life grocery he owns with his wife at 940 Lisbon Street. To my dismay, the food-truck operation has been closed since December.
When I saw him at SBE, Everton explained his father had recently passed away; he and Jefferyton had only just returned from Jamaica, where they laid him to rest. I offered my condolences — along with my hopes that the truck would reopen sometime soon.
“Not till the spring, mate,” Everton informed me. “Jefferyton closes the food truck each winter. Can you imagine standing in there all day, with the window open — in January? Not practical, mon!”
We did agree there are plenty of Lewiston-Auburn breweries that would likely be eager to serve curried mutton and bone-out jerk chicken plates to young hipsters and Gen X fogies alike. Everton smiled: “It’s being discussed.”
[Ed. Update: The Maine pop-up restaurant scene is super fun, almost romantic. But these things open, move about and close down with little warning… In 2024, El Pocho’s moved to a larger, downtown-Lisbon Street location. Today it occupies the space once occupied by Boba, a superb pan-Asian bistro that had started out in the same gas station-convenience story on Lisbon Street! When Boba vacated Lisbon Street for another pop-up venture — this one at the Maine Mall — El Pocho took its place for the second time… In 2026, a new pop-up roast beef shop called Bene’s occupies the original convenience-store lunch counter… Side By Each started making its own food in 2024. Alas, the brewery closed its doors in 2025… Meantime, Yolk has left the Nu Brewery parking lot for a proper brick & mortar home in Windham: https://www.yolkedfarmtotable.com]
