Colleen Kelley, the owner of Silly’s at 40 Washington Ave., has announced she’s closing the restaurant after 31 years. She closed her other restaurant, Simply Vegan by Silly’s, at 68 Washington Ave., over the weekend.
Kelley, who has owned Silly’s since 2002, wrote in a long post on Facebook that a lot of factors went into her decision, including needing more time to care for her father and the challenges of “doing business with the city of Portland.” But she also criticized the direction the city is taking as a culinary destination, and “the new hipster artisan Washington Avenue that I really don’t fit into anymore.”
“I am smart enough to know my business model won’t work in a city destined to be Seattle, which isn’t meant to be a slam it is just my opinion of where Portland is going,” Kelley wrote. “I don’t want anything but wonderful things for Portland, Maine, I have enjoyed many years here. However, I am a fat woman who serves fat, over-portioned food and I won’t charge 24.00 dollars for 4 oz of dip and some pita bread.”
Kelley and her sister have sold the buildings that housed the two eateries. Silly’s will close its doors at 4 p.m. on Sept. 1.
Silly’s opened on July 15, 1988, at 147 Cumberland Avenue, where the rent was just $125 a month, according to a history of the restaurant on the Silly’s web page. The first owners were two sisters, Deirdre and Stephanie Nice, who named the restaurant after one they’d visited in Jamaica. The restaurant moved to Washington Avenue in 1997. Kelley bought the place in November 2002.
“I had never eaten here before I bought it,” she told a Press Herald reporter in 2012.
The restaurant was known for its eclectic menu and funky decor, from bird houses to bumper stickers. Over the years, Kelley gave her dishes quirky names such as Tempeh of Doom, Put Me in the Game Poach! and Bleu Swayed Cue. Her ”Chicken in a Boat” became ”Tofu in a Dinghy” in its vegan version. Silly’s menu had plenty of vegan options, and just over a year ago Kelley opened a sister restaurant called Simply Vegan By Silly’s a few doors away.
Kelley appears to be leaving her options open, writing that “I may open up another space, or (in) another town or food truck or whatever.”
Kelley did not return a phone call seeking comment on Wednesday.
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