A new bar and restaurant wants to bring community and good food to Bangor.
Salt North TapRoom, 16 Union St., opened Thursday, marking the end of a decade of dreaming and planning for owner Dane Morgan. He took over the old Carolina’s Sports and Spirits and opened the restaurant after months of renovations.
Entertainment, including live music and DJs, is a big focus of Salt North. The goal is for everyone to “catch a vibe” and bring community back to Bangor, Morgan said. He spent years working as a DJ, trying to find the location and atmosphere that he wanted for a bar.
Opening on Juneteenth, which marks the end of slavery in the United States, was intentional, Morgan said, as a Black man and activist with a crew of construction workers and restaurant staff who are Black, Indigenous or people of color.
“It felt like everything I’ve ever stood for, as an activist coming up across the board — it just felt right,” Morgan said. “It felt like this is a story that we’ve been trying to tell for a long time. That excellence does exist.”
The first live music in the space was Stream Reggae, a band billed as Maine’s premiere reggae group, which Morgan said he brought in to christen the space.
The location has all new floors, seating and paint. The outdoor space has its own bar, some VIP seating and a DJ booth.
Chef Johnny Williams is cooking up Caribbean fusion cuisine, with everything from coconut shrimp and oxtail dinners to curry chicken and a blueberry chicken sandwich. Sides include red beans in gravy, plantains, steamed cabbage and French fries. Williams operated The Virgin Island Hotspot at Korean Dad in 2024.
The bar is serving up everything from green tea shots to nine specialty cocktails, including a hibiscus rum punch and a roasted pineapple mezcal cocktail.
“Our bartenders collectively have decades of history behind the bar and a lot of history behind craft cocktail bars as well,” Morgan said.
The taproom is open from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. Tuesday through Friday, 11 to 1 a.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday.