Confirmed: Papa John’s is Opening Soon on Forest Avenue in Portland

Papa John's Pizza on Forest Avenue in Portland closed in the late 2010s and now we can confirm that it is returning to a new location less than a mile down the street.

The former location was at 1054 Forest Avenue and had two stores in the building. Papa John's was on the right.

When Papa John's closed, Falafel Time took its place.

I assumed Papa John's was returning when I saw a sign going up on the former Ernie's Pool and Darts at 815 Forest Avenue. It said "Better Ingredients. Better Pizza." That's Papa John's slogan, so it only made sense.

Today I confirmed it as the entire sign was in place, but still needed to be wired.

The old Ernie's Pool hall is a great location for Papa John's. There's not a lot of parking, but that shouldn't matter as most people will probably order delivery.

Now the question is, when will it open?

It looks like there's still a lot of work to be done before they are ready to open, but when I was searching on Google for any info on this new Papa John's at this address, only one thing popped up.

So there we have it. Sometime in June, the new Papa John's will open up just down the street from the old one. It also appears that they'll be utilizing the space for dine-in as well. Most Papa John's I've seen in Maine don't have that much space for dine-in, but this may be the exception. We'll have to wait and see!