Central Bean owners rebrand café with The Bar Next Door in York

Max Sullivan, Portsmouth Herald
·4 min read

YORK, Maine — The space once known as the Central Bean is back in business under the same owners but with a new name and concept for casual drinks and tapas.

Kiersten Mayes and her husband John Ernst closed the Central Bean café in the plaza at 127 Long Sands Road one year ago. Now, they have reemerged with The Bar Next Door, named for its proximity next door to their first eatery the Central Restaurant they have run since 2014.

Kiersten Mayes raises a glass to the new eatery she and her husband John Ernst are opening in York.
Kiersten Mayes raises a glass to the new eatery she and her husband John Ernst are opening in York.

The Bar Next Door, Mayes said, will complement the Central Restaurant with its own menu of small plates and desserts served from a separate kitchen overseen by its own chef. Mayes said the new bar will bring a casual, cool experience similar to Wallingford Square where restaurants like the Dram and the Black Birch offer a variety of cocktails and a laid-back atmosphere.

“Just sort of that casual vibe,” Mayes. “A cool place where you can meet someone for a drink and not feel the pressure to have a full meal.”

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What happened to the Central Bean

Mayes and Ernst have owned the Central Restaurant since 2014, and they opened the Central Bean in 2017. They met while working at the Wentworth by the Sea Country Club, started dating and decided they wanted to own their own business together. They were married the year after they opened the Central Restaurant, sometimes simply referred to as “the Central.”

Mayes said they opened the Central because they wanted to add a local bar that served the year-round population just as much as the tourists. She said they chose to open the café three years later because there seemed to be a need for one on Long Sands Road heading out of the main village area.

“There were breakfast places like the Bagel Basket and St. Joe’s Café, but there wasn’t really anything over here,” Mayes said, pointing to the road from her restaurant’s door.

The Central Bean thrived in its first few years, she said, with some visitors coming back twice a day. Parents would bring their kids before school in the morning, and the kids would come back after school for smoothies, she said.

Kiersten Mayes is ready to serve cocktails at the new eatery she and her husband John Ernst are opening in York called The Bar Next Door.
Kiersten Mayes is ready to serve cocktails at the new eatery she and her husband John Ernst are opening in York called The Bar Next Door.

The COVID-19 pandemic hit the café hard, she said, when three core members of her team left. Some moved away, while her manager had a baby and was unavailable to work.

Staffing was still a problem last year when she said they decided to close their local café.

“It got really tough,” Mayes said. “We just said to ourselves, we have to rethink this and do something that’s going to work better for us personally, but also for our business.”

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The idea behind The Bar Next Door

Mayes said she and her husband decided after closing the café that they wanted to shift to evening dining. She decided to change the light-colored walls to dark colors for a “rustic chic” feel, and they decorated the back wall with paintings of their three rescue dogs - anthropomorphized in royal dress uniforms.

“We’re like psycho dog parents,” Mayes joked.

What remained to determine was a name, though. They considered naming it the Teddy Bar after one of their dogs, Teddy, since they call him “Teddy Bear.” That seemed too difficult for customers to understand, though, she said, so they decided against it.

Kiersten Mayes and her husband John Ernst love their dogs. Kiersten glances at a portrait of their dog, Teddy, and there are two more on the walls to the bathroom of their new eatery, The Bar Next Door in York.
Kiersten Mayes and her husband John Ernst love their dogs. Kiersten glances at a portrait of their dog, Teddy, and there are two more on the walls to the bathroom of their new eatery, The Bar Next Door in York.

The name finally came naturally through practical use. Mayes said they continued to call their closed dining space next to the Central Restaurant “the bar next door.”

“We kept referring to it as, ‘What’s happening next door?’” Mayes said.

By summer, the name was in place, and work was completed on redesigning the space and outfitting the kitchen for its new use. Mayes changed the Central Bean’s old social media accounts to reflect the new name. They were open by late July, and Mayes said the response has been positive.

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What’s on the menu at The Bar Next door

The menu of small plates features a wide range of options, from taquitos to tenderloin tips, dumplings, blackened shrimp and Korean fried chicken. It also include churros, or Spanish pastries rolled in cinnamon sugar and chocolate sauce.

Mayes said the goal of the Central Restaurant has always been to be the “Cheers” of York, catering to locals as well as vacationers. She said The Bar Next Door will give patrons a place to have a drink while waiting for their table at the Central, or simply serve as its own experience.

Kiersten Mayes sits in her new restaurant called The Bar Next Door that she and her husband, John Ernst, are opening at York Beach.
Kiersten Mayes sits in her new restaurant called The Bar Next Door that she and her husband, John Ernst, are opening at York Beach.

“Something similar enough that you know we’re related, but different enough so that this could build its own following,” Mayes said. “I look forward to it growing.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: The Bar Next Door: A new destination for drinks, tapas in York, Maine