A popular Searsport restaurant and bar that has anchored the coastal town’s downtown revival in recent years abruptly went dark this week, prompting online speculation about its future.
Hey Sailor! was not open during its regular hours Friday and its official internet pages have disappeared. In addition to serving food and drinks, the space hosted local events and musicians.
Charlie Zorich and partner Kirk Linder opened the establishment in 2022 and expanded it the next year to include the Starboard Lounge event space, helping to kickstart a revitalization of Searsport’s Main Street.
Attempts Thursday and Friday to contact Zorich and Linder were unsuccessful.
The partners previously operated The Hichborn restaurant, which they closed last year, in neighboring Stockton Springs. That property sold in July for $695,000, according to deed registry and state property transfer tax documents.
A two-year state rebuild of Route 1 through Searsport’s Main Street in 2023 and 2024 created traffic disruptions — one lane for northbound traffic and a lengthy detour for southbound travelers — that created significant operating challenges for Hey Sailor! and other neighboring businesses.
“Right until they closed the road, it was working,” Linder told the BDN in February about the project’s impact on their business.
The restaurant’s Main Street building has been for sale since last summer, when Zorich told the Bangor Daily News they planned to stay open until a sale went through. A $1.1 million online listing was still active and ‘for sale’ signs remained in the window Friday.
The restaurant’s website and social media pages were all deactivated this week.
The property’s listing agent, Dick Butler, declined to comment Friday on whether the restaurant had closed permanently. Calls to Hey Sailor! went to voicemail Thursday and Friday, and a text message was not returned.
An outgoing voicemail message at the restaurant says it is open from 4-8 p.m., Thursday through Sunday. But as of late Friday afternoon, the restaurant entrance was locked with shades drawn over the windows.
