Sur Lie

What Sur Lie does

Sur Lie is a privately held, 100% female-owned tapas-style restaurant founded in fall 2014 by Krista Cole in downtown Portland, Maine. The restaurant operates at 11 Free Street and serves American contemporary cuisine with globally influenced shareable plates built around locally sourced Maine ingredients, priced at roughly $16-$31 per dish. The business runs primarily as a direct-to-consumer dine-in venue complemented by a craft cocktail and wine program (cocktails $14-$15, wine from $12) and a daily bar menu with Happy Hour at the bar/lounge only.

The company monetizes through four transaction-fee streams: dine-in food service, beverage service (cocktails, wine, beer), private events and large parties (parties over 6 require an $80/person pre-fixe and full restaurant buyouts are available), and gift cards sold through Toasttab. Customer segments are largely consumer, split between individual dining enthusiasts and private event hosts, with no enterprise or contract-based revenue. Distribution is exclusively through the physical Portland storefront, augmented by Resy for online reservations and a Visit Portland tourism partnership for top-of-funnel awareness.

In January 2022, founder Krista Cole acquired Gather restaurant in Yarmouth, Maine, creating a two-unit, values-aligned restaurant group; Cole has also co-founded and consulted at Catface Cafe in Biddeford. The company is bootstrapped and founder-owned with no disclosed institutional investors, no parent company, and no publicly disclosed revenue. Sur Lie and Krista Cole are two-time James Beard Award semi-finalists (Outstanding Restaurateur and Outstanding Hospitality), with headcount reported at approximately 5 employees (likely excluding hourly front-of-house and back-of-house staff).

Name

Sur Lie

Legal name

Sur Lie

Website

https://sur-lie.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Sur Lie is a 100% female-owned tapas restaurant in downtown Portland, Maine, serving shareable New American plates, craft cocktails, and wine to local diners, tourists, and private-event guests.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Tapas Restaurant

NAICS

Full-Service Restaurants (722511)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Wine Bars (THAFAEAF)

Keywords

• Tapas dining
• Craft cocktails
• Wine bar service
• Private event hosting
• American contemporary cuisine

Headquarters

HQ city

Portland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Dine-in Food Service: Sur Lie generates revenue primarily through dine-in tapas-style food service. Customers order from a menu featuring shareable plates ranging from $16-$31, with the restaurant recommending 2-3 dishes per person. The revenue is transaction-based, collected at time of service.
2. Beverage Service: The restaurant earns revenue from craft cocktails, wine (white, red, rosé, sparkling), and beer sales. Cocktails range from specialty drinks like the Scarlett Macaw to classics, with wines starting at $12.
3. Private Events: Revenue is generated from hosting private events including full restaurant buyouts and parties larger than 6 people, with a mandatory pre-fixe menu priced at $80/person.
4. Gift Cards: Gift cards are sold through Toasttab platform, providing additional revenue stream and customer acquisition.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Sur Lie operates a tapas-style restaurant in downtown Portland, Maine serving American contemporary cuisine with eclectic global influences, featuring locally-sourced Maine ingredients, craft cocktails, wine, and beer for dine-in service. The restaurant also offers private event hosting including full restaurant buyouts, a chef's choice tasting menu, and gift cards sold online through Toasttab.

Product overview

Sur Lie operates as a tapas-style restaurant business with a primary location in Portland, Maine. The core offerings include shared tapas dining, craft cocktails, and wine service. The company also manages a sister restaurant called Gather in Yarmouth, Maine. Additional services include private event hosting and gift cards sold through Toasttab. The restaurant operates on a tapas concept where dishes are meant to be shared, recommending 2-3 dishes per person.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Gather: Sister restaurant located in Yarmouth, Maine, focused on buying local and giving back to the community. Acquired by Krista Cole in January 2022.

Products and services

• Sur Lie Tapas Restaurant Dining A tapas-style restaurant in downtown Portland, Maine offering American contemporary cuisine with eclectic global influences, featuring shareable plates built around locally-sourced Maine ingredients for individual diners and small groups.
• Private Events and Large Parties Private event hosting for groups of 6+ guests and full restaurant buyouts for celebrations, corporate events, and special occasions, featuring a mandatory pre-fixe menu at $80 per person for parties greater than six.
• Gift Cards Gift cards redeemable at Sur Lie, sold online through the Toasttab platform, allowing customers to gift the tapas dining experience.
• Chef's Choice Tasting Menu A guided tasting experience at $80 per person where the chef takes guests through the entire Sur Lie menu, requiring the entire party to participate.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Gather RestaurantcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Krista Cole, sole owner of Sur Lie, acquired Gather restaurant in Yarmouth, Maine in January 2022. Both restaurants share values around buying local and giving back to the community. Gather focuses on similar community-focused dining philosophy, creating a unified restaurant group with aligned values.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Eventide Oyster Co. Portland, ME upscale seafood restaurant with national recognition. Comparable in market, daypart, and price tier; both leverage Portland's seafood/locavore identity for differentiated positioning.
• 555 Restaurant: Portland, ME upscale contemporary American restaurant. Comparable in market and format; notably mentioned as a previous employer of Sur Lie's Executive Chef Sam Helmke, indicating direct talent and concept overlap.
• Hugo's Restaurant: Portland, ME upscale fine-dining restaurant. Comparable in market, full-service format, locally-sourced philosophy, and chef-driven approach to American contemporary cuisine.
• Drifters Wife: Portland, ME natural-wine bar and small-plates restaurant. Closest comparable concept to Sur Lie: wine-forward program, shareable plates, similar neighborhood scale, and similar price point.
• Scales Restaurant: Portland, ME waterfront upscale seafood restaurant. Comparable in market (downtown Portland), price tier, and locally-sourced seafood positioning.
• Fore Street: Iconic Portland, ME farm-to-table fine-dining restaurant. Comparable in market (downtown Portland), price tier, locally-sourced ingredient philosophy, and chef-driven menu structure.

Regional players

• Oleana: Cambridge, MA upscale Mediterranean restaurant with globally influenced small plates. Comparable in shareable-plate format, eclectic global influences in menu, and full-service upscale positioning.
• Tasting Counter: Somerville, MA chef's-choice tasting-menu restaurant. Comparable in chef-driven tasting format, premium pre-fixe pricing model (similar to Sur Lie's $80/person pre-fixe), and small-plate progression style.

Broad incumbents

• José Andrés Group: José Andrés' hospitality group operating tapas and Spanish-influenced concepts. Relevant for shareable-plates/tapas format and globally influenced menu philosophy; Sur Lie's tapas concept and bar program map to this category at a much smaller scale.
• Union Square Hospitality Group: Danny Meyer's multi-concept restaurant group (e.g., Gramercy Tavern, Union Square Cafe). Relevant as a benchmark for what scaled, values-driven, full-service restaurant groups can become — operator playbook comparable, though vastly larger scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sur-lie

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sur Lie