BANGOR, Maine — Two months after closing, the owners of Mexican restaurant Coco Loco are selling off all the equipment and supplies at the 11 Central St. location.
“Yeah, it’s kind of sad for me,” said co-owner Janice Graham, who spent two years with partner and chef Ruby Cruze planning the restaurant before it opened last May. “It’s really a neat town and there’s some good energy downtown and here on Central Street. We just ended up having to put a lot more money into this than we counted on.”
While Graham, who was at the restaurant Friday afternoon for a garage sale of sorts that will continue from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, is leaving the space, another duo already has paid a deposit on the site, signed an agreement, and is actively evaluating the space to plan and build a new restaurant and bar.
“We’ve been looking around for a great space for a while now,” said Ann Marie Orr, owner of the catering business Ann Marie’s Kitchen and wife of business partner Mark Sampson. “We are going to gut it and it’ll look completely different when we’re done. We’ll be evaluating it for a couple months, but we’d like to do a restaurant with a bar offering comfortable dining.”
Orr is a Long Island, N.Y., native and Sampson hails from Southern California, but both like “the vibe” Bangor has now and want to be part of it. Orr also is affiliated with the downtown beer bar Nocturnem.
“I’ve been here 11 years, and downtown is hot and so happening right now,” said Orr, who added a chef has been lined up for the yet-to-be-named restaurant, but the style of menu has yet to be determined.
Graham said she thought she and Cruze had a great style, but it wasn’t enough.
“People appreciated what we did, with everything fresh and authentic, from the mole to the salsa,” said Graham, a married mother of two college students. “But there wasn’t a whole lot of demand for our food as time stretched into November. There were a few hard-core customers who came for meals each week, but being a niche restaurant in a weak economy kind of did us in, I think.”
Ironically, it was that authenticity and freshness that created another problem.
“We had some difficulty getting the things we needed for that, like tomatillos, and other foods,” said Graham.
Graham said she won’t be getting back into the restaurant business in the immediate future, but won’t rule out a second foray into it. In the meantime, she’s going back to her native Long Island to take care of her sick mother.
I’m glad they gave it a go. I had wanted to try Coco Loco, but by the time I decided to go they had already closed.
I tried to try Coco Loco three times. All three times I was told they were sold out of everything.
exactly!!!!!!!! I gave up on TRYING to eat there after being told the cook was only making 2 things, and being told i couldn’t be served almost an hour before their closing time. It wasn’t worth the hassle to go there. Bad business
How many more restaurants will open and close in this dead spot location before people decide to stop opening restaurants there? Center Street? Really??? It’s NOT “downtown”…it’s CENTER street…You might as well try to open a restaurant on 2nd Street.
CENTRAL St not Center St
You should read and understand something before you post an opinion.
The problem I had with coco loco wasn’t its location. It’s that I TRIED to eat there. The first time I went for dinner, but they close early. The second time i showed up 45 minutes before closing, so they wouldn’t serve me. The third time was because when I tried to order food I was told the cook only wanted to make certain things.
That happened to me too, not in that order, but close. They didnt seem to care about customers that much. When you called and asked for the owners, no response from them
I really liked Coco Loco and hope they open a small spot again…. it was really great at the beginning.
thanks folks
Please listen to me, we don’t need another cool, hip, hot, happening place. This is Bangor, Maine. How about a diner, a regular place for regular people. Good tables, good comfortable booth and chairs, maybe a wood stove or fake gas wood stove, woodsey, campy, fishing, camping, family friendly, basic breakfast, burgers (normal ones), average good diner food, basic good coffee. Now lets talk about beer. PBR, on tap. (we really don’t need a another place to buy micro brewed beers, believe it or not a lot of people enjoy an American larger. Have newspapers to read, magazines. Dont make me pay pay too much and I’ll come back. Look at a place like the Eagles Nest going up towards Eddington. Keep it simple, good, fair.
Yuck – we’re drowning in campy. You’ve just described any one of 1000 places in Central Maine. Nicky’s, Coach-House, Eagles Nest , Chase Family Restaurant, Hermon Family Diner, Dysarts. How about somebody brings back the Brown Bag – that was a good breakfast joint?
How did the Brown Bag dissolve? Some family dust up or something as I recall? That was a great place with clean space and quality food.
no dust up. just got to be too much.
Where is Herman Family Diner? Is it in Hermon?
I don’t usually pick on other peoples spelling, but since it’s you…..
But I agree with your comment 100%. Hey, first time for everything.
Yes, lots of people do like Bud/PBR/Miller/Coors etc etc (I’m not one of them, unless its free)…..that’s why EVERY SINGLE RESTAURANT/ BAR in Bangor has at least 2 or more of them on tap, except Sea Dog (for what should be obvious reasons) and Nocternum, which caters to us “beer snobs”.
Have you tried Geaghan Brothers Brewing yet?
The two places in this location before Coco Loco were very diner-y; Portla’s and Central Street Cafe. It wasn’t enough to keep them in business.
Maybe, just maybe it’s because there is NO PLACE TO PARK!!!!
You know how to have a MILLION dollars from the restaurant business? Start out with 2 million! (rim shot please) ;-P
Hmm – that’s to bad. Restaurant business is tough. You better have deep pockets to begin with. And catering to places with relatively low population you better have a razor sharp business plan because you are competing for the scarce entertainment dollar with lots of others. It certainly can be done though…
Local eateries have to have great food to attract customers, but the personality of the individuals or family that owns and operates these establisments is what keeps customers coming back day after day, year after year. That’s what separates local food from mall chains.
I agree, but I wonder how Tesoro stays open? Just plain rude almost to the point of being ignorant each time I have been in…3 times. Regulars seem to get better treatment, but for me to become a regular, you have to be decent at least 2 out of 3, which they were not. Guess they are happy enough in their Niche to not want/need new business, must be nice.
I hate to have to agree . My wife and I rarely eat in the restaraunt. However, we get take out all the time. Here’s the secret Mike-somehow drop a hint that you are Italian. Be sure to pick an authentic name that has no Bangor link as she will catch you. They don’t take credit cards so you’ll not be found out. Honestly they are really nice people even though Mom has a few rough edges.
Went to Tesoro’s once too. It was worse than awful. Never been back.
The have the best pizza in Bangor.
Sorry we kept putting off going there, heard very good things about the food and service……too bad…hopefully the next place will be successful…….be good for Bangor to have more local choices rather than just the chains…..
Bangor/Brewer area has come a long way over the years (despite what some of the posters here may have to say….)
Too bad, we need a good mexican style restaurant here in Ellsworth now that The Mex is getting outlandish prices.
LOL want to move?
Has the quality of the food improved there at all? It had been pretty run of the mill to not quite poor.
No. I went there recently after having not been there for 3 years (because I had banned it). I just banned it again and won’t ever go back.
Then nothing has changed then from what you are saying. They seem to have been on life support there for the last four or five years.
Wife and I always had stomach probs after eating at the Mex last few times. You would think with prices they charged that they would at least serve food that wouldnt give you the runs. Only mexican food I cant stomach.
Went to the Mex once. It was awful. Never have been back.
I opened this article to read it because I’d never even heard of Coco Loco and wondered where it was! I wouldn’t have noticed it casually either, because when driving through Central St you have to watch carefully for the people who will walk right out in front of you or the trucks parked in the middle of the street to load and unload. That street is a nightmare to park on. So sorry that this happened to people who were trying hard to bring an interesting new business into the City.
What Bangor needs is a place that serves consistently good food made from scratch with FRESH ingredients at reasonable prices. That place doesn’t exist now, nor has it ever as far as I can tell.
Have you been on Miguel’s on Hogan Road? I like it there and have yet to order something I didn’t like. People are friendly, too.
Been there twice. There won’t be a third time unless someone else is paying.
The area has the bars know it just needs a good strip joint. As a mater of fact it looks like the whole main street is starting to look like a bar room. Good for the sick and the addicts and the jail is also within walking distance for the patrons when they have all the money drained out of them and they have become a nusance.