PORTLAND – A longtime Portland restaurant is closing its doors at the end of the month, and its future is uncertain.
The Oriental Table at 106 Exchange St., open since 1995, has been popular with the Old Port business lunch crowd and Merrill Auditorium patrons who want to grab a bite of dinner before a concert.
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But the restaurant’s owner, Yan Lam, said a series of frustrating disputes with his landlord is forcing him to shut the restaurant down. He’s not sure if he will re-open somewhere else.
“I’d love to, but right now I don’t know,” he said. “I’ll wait until I wrap up here first, and then I’ll see what I can do.”
Lam is a Vietnamese refugee who became a U.S. citizen in 1985.
His landlord, Joe Palacci, who operates an electronics shop next door, said he was perplexed by suggestions of a disagreement, and added that that Lam’s decision to leave was unexpected.
“We’ve been more than fair to him all along,” Palacci said.
Lam, meanwhile, said customers have been understanding, but sad, about his situation.
“Everybody feels so bad,” Lam said. “Everybody feels so sorry. Other people have given me their name and phone number. If I do re-open, they ask me to contact them.”
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