Ports of Italy restaurant will soon be opening in another Maine port.

Owners Sante Calandri and his partner German Lucarelli have been operating the highly successful Boothbay Harbor restaurant since 2010. They plan to open their new restaurant in Kennebunk around mid-May.

The partners purchased what was previously Bartley's Dockside Restaurant in January. They had originally planned to renovate, but upon closer inspection decided to tear the building down and start over.

“The building was in bad shape,” Calandri said. “The only part that was OK was the kitchen.”

Calandri said the original estimate for renovation was $250,000. Then it went up to $450,000.

“We called a friend in New York to come take a look at the place,” he said. He came, and said the kitchen was great, but that the best thing to do was to tear it down and start over.

The restaurant was known to be frequented by the Bush family, which has a compound on Walker's Point in Kennebunkport.

The new building, at 4 Western Ave. in Kennebunk, has been under construction since late March, and Calandri is anticipating completion, and opening, by May 16. The site is located at the edge of the bridge that connects Kennebunk to Kennebunkport.

Laura Dolce, executive director of the Kennebunk-Kennebunkport-Arundel Chamber of Commerce said she and local residents are looking forward to having the new restaurant in their town.

“We’re so excited,” she said. “The building is shaping up fast, and it is in the heart of our tourism industry. A lot of people are talking about it.”

The building will be bigger than the former restaurant, enlarging the interior to include some of what was deck space. “There is a new foundation, larger than the old one,” Calandri said. “Inside it will be one big room with a bar in the middle. It's going to be beautiful.”

There will still be some deck space for outside seating.

Lucarelli will be the chef at the Kennebunk location. Fabrizio Ventricini, who was born in Rome, is the chef at the Boothbay Harbor restaurant.

The menus at the two restaurants will be similar, according to Calandri. “What we do here works very well,” he said. “The menu in Kennebunk will be a little different. German is a great chef.”

Calandri is originally from Trevi, Perugia in Italy, halfway between Rome and Florence. He came to the United States when he was 24. Lucarelli is from Argentina. The two met while working at Manhattan's Bice Ristorante. They became close friends and have remained friends and partners ever since.

The new restaurant will be called Ports of Italy, The Kennebunks.

The Boothbay Harbor Ports of Italy, at 47 Commercial Street is now open for the season. Call 207-633-1011 for reservations.

Asked if he thinks the Bush family will try out his new restaurant, Calandri is hopeful that they will.

“That's what everybody says,” he said in his animated, musical Italian accent. “I'm scared, I'm telling you.”