Sangillo's to Become Tomaso's Canteen Thanks to Owner of Samuel's

Sam Minervino, one of a handful of bar owners who wrote passionately in defense of Sangillo's Tavern when it first came under fire last year, is taking over the dive bar forced to close by the City of Portland — a dive which Minervino and other patrons used to call a "neighborhood or corner bar, or even a cafe (to the more genteel among us)." The owner of Samuel's Bar and Grill has leased the space at 18 Hampshire Street and plans to open Tomaso's Canteen, his own neighborhood bar named after his great-grandfather who immigrated from Italy to Portland, according to Portland Food Map.

Urban Eye spoke with Minervino, who said he and his daughter Meg Minervino hope to open the "relaxed pub serving affordable fish and chips and Italian sausages for 'working class people'" by July. Dana Sangillo, the former owner who was on hand to clear out the remainder of the previous incarnation, said he's not sure what's next for him, but called Minervino's plan "nothing but a positive thing."