Despite the recession, we Portlanders love to go out to eat. So it's no surprise that a bunch of storefronts in the Old Port are sporting "Coming Soon" signs. Pictured above is the spot at 183 Middle St. where Bard Coffee Roasters plans to pour its organic brew. The building permit in the window indicates the owner is Tom Bard, but there's no indication of when "soon" might be.

Across the street in the spot where the Pavilion used to be, work is underway to transform the former nightclub into an indoor mall.

Here's the floor plan for the Shops at 188 Middle, which shows Italian eatery Luna Rosa occupying space on both the first floor and the mezzanine level. The restaurant is hiring (a friend recently scored a job) and the owners of the building tell me the place should open around the beginning of April.

Infamous Portland landlord Joe Soley is behind this Japanese restaurant at 7 Exchange St. The permit application filed with the City Clerk indicates that Soley's former Wharf Street restaurant Soffritto is now doing business as Wasabi. The sample menu (which City Hall's wonderful Nicole Clegg graciously read to me over the phone) lists a full sushi bar ($3-$10.95 per roll) and bento boxes ($9.50 for a lunch special).

Down on Commerical Street, the Farmer's Table is the new bistro-style eatery slated for the old Mim's spot. A posting on Craigslist says the restaurant is hiring. According to papers filed with the City Clerk ahead of tonight's City Council meeting, the restaurant is being run by Jeff Landry, the current chef at Eve's at the Garden, and his wife, Mary Sue. Their intent is to showcase locally-grown, raised and caught food.

A sample menu lists offerings such as fish soup of the day, grilled early spring vegetables ($7), steakhouse salad ($7), farmer's burger ($9) and pan seared Atlantic salmon ($14). Since farms tend to grow lots of veggies, I assumed the bistro would be a vegetarian's paradise when I heard the name, but the only non-meat entree on the sample menu is cheese tortellini. As a devoted plant-eater, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that more vegetable-based meals will join the menu when this place opens.

In the glass-filled spot formerly occupied by the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, prolific Portland restaurateur Harding Lee Smith plans to open The Corner Room. He tells me it will be an Italian-inspired spot featuring house-made pasta.

"It will be a nice casual, affordable pasta place that's not heavily laden with cheese and tomato sauce," Chef Smith says.

Right now if you peek in through the paper in the windows, there's not much to see. But Smith says the tables and bar are being crafted off site, and he's hoping to open the doors by the end of April.