If you live in Scarborough, you’ve probably noticed that you’ve more options for eating out, especially along the U.S. Route 1 corridor. Now yet another new restaurant has opened in the area.

The restaurant, 21 Taps Wood Fired Grill, combines craft beers from at least 10 local breweries with wood-fired food such as sirloin steaks, burgers, salmon fillets, roasted half-chickens and pizza, according to Jennifer Siegler, who owns the restaurant with her husband, Dave.

Siegler said the restaurant, located at 185 Route 1, has an 85-seat dining room, plus a separate pub where they plan to offer karaoke on Friday nights, beginning this week. A 60-seat deck is surrounded by lawn and trees, to help cushion diners from the noise of busy Route 1.

Siegler said she’s worked in the restaurant industry for 25 years. She’s never owned a restaurant before, but has a lot of management experience. “For the last year and a half, my husband and I have been talking about the wood-fired concept and have been experimenting with our own wood-fired cooking and absolutely love the flavor of wood-fired food,” she said.

In addition to karaoke, the restaurant also offers live music with no cover charge on Wednesdays and Saturdays and a trivia night on Mondays.

The hours at 21 Taps are 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

WE CAN EAT HERO’S

Hero’s Subs has opened at 50 Wharf St. in Portland, the former location of Buck’s Naked BBQ and Mark’s Sports Bar. It’s the second location for the sandwich shop, which has another store in Lewiston. The hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Hero’s will be closed on Sundays.

LET’S PLAY THE FYOOD

Think you make a better lasagna than your sister? Ever dream of out-cooking your dad in the kitchen? Fyood Kitchen, a “Top Chef”-style competition for families and friends that dubs itself “Portland’s Most Creative Dinner Party,” offers just such an experience for Portlanders who consider themselves amateur cooks – mystery ingredients and all. The business, owned by Maddie Purcell, just won a national SCORE award, which honors the achievements of outstanding U.S. entrepreneurs and small business owners.

The competitions are held at Fork Food Lab at 72 Parris St. in Portland.

WHEY THEY GO

Eighteen Maine creameries are scheduled to open their doors and barns Sunday for Open Creamery Day, a great chance to tour the creameries and taste the cheeses made there. This is always a great opportunity to combine your favorite fall activities into a single road trip – apple picking, cider tasting, Oktoberfest beer sampling, and so on. To see which creameries are open and find out more about them, go to mainecheeseguild.org.

THE SEAFOOD COURSE

The Maine Historical Society’s yearlong Maine Eats exhibition, on display through Feb. 9, 2019, continues to serve up in-depth discussions about Maine food. Maine seafood will be the topic at an Oct. 11 panel discussion and Q&A on “Seafood – The Strength of Our Past and the Promise of Our Future.”

The featured guest will be South Freeport resident Barton Seaver, whose latest book, “American Seafood: Heritage, Culture & Cookery from Sea to Shining Sea,” will be available for purchase and signing. Other panelists will represent the Maine Coast Fisherman’s Association in Brunswick and the Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland.

Tickets cost $15 ($10 for members of the Maine Historical Society), and are available online or by phone, 774-1822.

Meredith Goad can be contacted at 791-6332 or at:

mgoad@pressherald.com

Twitter: MeredithGoad

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