Tom Morris bowls at Sea Dog Brewing in South Portland in 2020. The lanes and the brewpub location closed in April but soon may become the site of Broadway Bowl. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer
Bayside Bowl, a 20-lane bowling center and restaurant in Portland’s Bayside neighborhood, plans to add a second branch in South Portland where Sea Dog Brewing closed an alley-eatery three months ago.
Bayside Bowl’s owner, Charlie Mitchell, said on Wednesday that he expects the new location to open in late October. He would not describe a lease or purchase of the Sea Dog space at 725 Broadway, although the 14,000-square-foot site was recently listed for rent at negotiable terms.
Dubbed Broadway Bowl, the new branch will have 10 lanes and offer a food menu and amenities similar to those at Bayside Bowl, Mitchell said. The South Portland space can seat up to 234 people indoors, according to the listing, and has a 2,000-square-foot patio that overlooks the Fore River.
Like its Portland predecessor, Broadway Bowl will host leagues for players of varying abilities.
“We have massive waitlists to get into most of our leagues and many days massive waitlists for lanes. So we’re kind of hoping holistically (Broadway Bowl) helps to handle all that demand,” Mitchell said. “Overall, the demand for bowling that we’ve seen and developed is so strong that we have no doubt we will fill those lanes as well.”
Sea Dog Brewing closed the Broadway site in April because it was “not able to meet and overcome the fixed costs to make it sustainable,” co-owner Fred Forsley said at the time.
The company partnered with Easy Day Bowling Center in 2020 to open the location. Sea Dog continues to operate five restaurants across Maine, including another in South Portland, at 125 Western Ave. The Broadway site was the only one to offer bowling.
Bayside Bowl opened in 2010 at 58 Alder St. in Portland. In recent years, the site has been a frequent tour stop for the Professional Bowlers Association.
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