Once Popular Pakistani Restaurant In Bangor Will Now Officially Close

You probably already thought it was closed.

The Bahaar Pakistani restaurant has been closed up tight since 2017, according to to the BDN. So like me, you might be surprised to be reading that it's "officially" closing. There's a bit to unpack here, so let's back up just a smidge. Besides, this place has a loooong history here in the Bangor area.

I remember going there in high school with friends. It seemed so exotic. At the time, Bangor wasn't really a cultural melting pot of different kinds of foods. There was Pepino's, Sing's, and the Jade. Everything else was good old American grease, haha. So for a bunch of teenagers looking for a new experience, this was the place.

Bahaar has always seemed like it was off and on.

To me, it always seemed like it was open.... sometimes. As though there were no real rhyme or reason to when they were open. But if the lights were on, you'd do a u-turn immediately because you didn't wanna miss out on a chance to order. Back then the food was tremendous. It may still be, but I haven't been in ages.

Fast forward to now, and the doors have been closed for five years due to ongoing health and code violations, and trouble meeting eye-to-eye with the landlord. Of course, the pandemic didn't do any favors for any business. By then, most of the issues had been addressed, but the owners of the restaurant wanted more from the landlord.

But there was no lease....

I don't know anything about law, but I imagine it's as hard to hold landlords accountable when you have no lease, as it is for the landlord to hold the tenant accountable. This ended up the case, seemingly. But now a judge has given the landlord, Paul Cook, permission to evict the owners, Noor and Zafar Khan, with a no-cause eviction.

That's for cases where there is no lease to dispute. The Khans have made several attempts to protect their livelihood, but will now have to find a new space to do it in, which will ultimately be their intention. And we all hope that's the case... That they can find a new space and keep cranking out the delicious food they're known for.

But I tell you... There aren't a lot of businesses that have been in the same location in downtown Bangor for literally decades. Hopefully, the Khans can find a way to do it again.

SPEAKING OF BEING IN HIGH SCHOOL, HOW MANY OF THESE 90'S THINGS WERE IN YOUR ROOM?! AND, PLAY SOME MAINE BASED WORDLE