Montes Int’l to close in August, new cafe to open on Bangor’s Main Street

Montes International Catering, located on Columbia Street in downtown Bangor, announced this week that on Aug. 31 it would be closing its doors after 15 years in business. Carmen Montes will go on to manage a new, as-yet unnamed cafe, to be located in the old Miller’s Restaurant location on Main Street. It will offer breakfast and lunch; it is not immediately known when it the new cafe will open.

Montes said in her message, posted on the restaurant’s website, that the decision was a difficult one to make, but a necessary one, and that the staff was grateful to all its customers over the years.

“Without all of you we would have closed many years ago and the decision would not have been this hard,” she wrote. “Everyone who walked through our doors has made an impact in ours and our children’s lives. We loved seeing and visiting with so many of you.”

Montes’ husband and business partner, Arturo Montes, will continue to be the executive chef of both the Bluenose Inn in Bar Harbor and the Black Bear Inn in Orono. The current cafe — known and beloved in Bangor for its eclectic, multicultural fare and decadent desserts — has been a staple of downtown Bangor lunches for more than a decade. Montes International recently began offering breakfast, in addition to lunch. It will remain open with regular hours until Aug. 31.

Emily Burnham

About Emily Burnham

Emily Burnham is a Maine native, UMaine graduate, proud Bangorian and a writer for the Bangor Daily News, where she's worked since 2004. She reports on everything from local bands to local food to all the cool things going on in the Greater Bangor area. In her quest for stories, she's seen countless concerts and plays, been lobster fishing, interviewed celebrities, hung out with water buffalo and played in a ukulele orchestra. She's interested in everything that happens in Maine.