Wendy and Alex Caisse of Buck’s Naked BBQ said they hope to sign a lease this week for 50 Wharf St. in Portland, the former home of Havana South.

PORTLAND — The Old Port will soon add another restaurant to the city’s menu with the expansion of Freeport-based Buck’s Naked BBQ.

Wendy and Alex Caisse, owners of the Route 1 barbecue restaurant, said they expect to sign a lease this week for 50 Wharf St.

They said they already have plans laid out for the space, their third location, which they hope to open in November.

“We had some apprehension in the beginning,” Alex Caisse said. “But over the years we’ve become very confident in our staff and in our products. Now we’re ready to delve into a new atmosphere.”

The Caisses said they looked in New Hampshire and as far south as Boston before finding the space most recently occupied by Havana South.

“I was actually out of town when (Alex) found it,” Wendy Caisse said. “Usually when I go on vacation, I come back and he has a dog. But, it’s good to get a new restaurant, too.”

The Caisses said they had been looking for a new space for about 13 weeks.

“We’re highly motivated to get it open for the holidays,” Alex Caisse said. “All the guts are there, we just have to put our touch on it.”

Their existing restaurants, in Freeport and Windham, are each specialized to accommodate the clientele of the area, and the Wharf Street location will follow suit, they said.

Wendy Caisse said she is shopping for old windows and doors, along with “tacky” knick-knacks to decorate the Wharf Street restaurant, which, like the Buck’s in Freeport, will have an expansive kids’ play area.

The major difference at the new location will be an expanded bar compared to their other locations, with 40-50 seats, to cater to Portland’s nightlife.

In a tough economic climate, and in a city where restaurant competition is tough, the Caisses have their work cut out for them.

Portland is often cited as having more restaurants per capita than any almost any other city in the country – although the veracity of that statistic is hard to establish, according to Dick Grotton, president of the Maine Restaurant Association. Nonetheless, Grotton said, the food-dense climate, with some 400 restaurants, undoubtedly creates a tough atmosphere for new establishments.

What is true is that more than 50 percent of restaurants go out of business every year for the first five years, so it’s a risky business, Grotton said. But he thinks the Caisses are well positioned.

“Alex is an experienced chef and his wife has vast experience in the food industry,” Grotton said. “They know what they’re doing and they’re not likely to be blindsided by things. They understand very well where the market is going.”

Grotton said the key is matching the restaurant’s menu, style and ambiance with the customer base, and not over-investing.

“It’s a huge crap shoot,” he said. “But, no matter what you’re selling, you’re food has to be good.”

The Caisses are betting on their food, and on Buck’s becoming the only dedicated barbecue restaurant in Portland. They think their serious focus on the American-style cuisine and family-type atmosphere will be the right combination for their new location.

“There’s a lot of barbecue out there; there’s been a huge growth in the industry,” Alex Caisse said. “We don’t want to be all things to all people. We want to pick something and do it well, and treat people well.”

The Caisses said being in the Old Port will also allow them to expand their catering business, hoping to appeal to nearby office workers for quick, drop-off deliveries of their dry-rub delicacies.

Alex Caisse said he takes barbecuing seriously, and has the credentials to back it up. In addition to being the New England Barbecue Society’s Maine representative, he is also a Kansas City Barbecue Society certified barbecue judge and competes in competitions around the region, including the Western Maine BBQ Festival in Fryeburg and the Mainely Grillin’ & Chillin’ State BBQ Competition in Eliot, formerly known as the Celebrate Maine Festival.

All food at Buck’s is made in house, from scratch, the Caisses said, from their now retail-ready dry rubs to their salad dressings.

The husband-and-wife team owned a cafe and bakery before they switched over to barbecue. Alex Caisse began barbecuing while catering for the Portland Yacht Club, and bought a tow-behind smoker and to test recipes before opening the first Buck’s location in 2005 in a friend’s old Route 1 garage, about a mile south of the current Buck’s in Freeport.

“People used to wait in their cars in the winter because the restaurant was so cold,” Wendy Caisse said, noting that you could almost see outside through the cracks in the walls. “And, people used to be dripping sweat in the summer time because it was so hot.”

They eventually moved into the current 8,800-square-foot space near Exit 20 of Interstate 295 and then opened their Windham location in 2010.

Alex Caisse said the relationship he and his wife have is one key to their success.

“We play off each other,” he said. “It’s a great balance. My wife is my best and worst critic. You always need somebody to bounce something off of.”

He said they also credit their success to their staff, some of whom have worked for them for almost a decade. They hope to add 50 more employees in the Old Port.

Above all, he said, they owe their success to one thing: the pig.

“Praise the lard, truly,” Caisse said. “It’s done a whole bunch for us.”

Will Graff can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 123 or wgraff@theforecaster.net. Follow Will on Twitter: @W_C_Graff.

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Wendy and Alex Caisse, owners of Buck’s Naked BBQ, at their Freeport restaurant on, Friday, Sept. 7. The Caisses, who have another restaurant in Windham, plan to open a third estblishment in Portland’s Old Port in November.

Buck’s Naked BBQ of Freeport is expanding its array of authentic BBQ-style meats to Portland.

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