FEATURE
Back Then A LOOK BACK TO MAINE RESTAURANTS OF YESTERYEAR BY RICHARD SHAW
M (Above) Louis Amatruda, owner of Astoria Cafeteria on Central Street in Bangor, circa 1935. (Below) Writer Richard Shaw at a favorite Bangor restaurant, the former Kev-Lan Korner, circa 2008, PHOTOS: COURTESY RICHARD SHAW
48 / BANGOR METRO June/July 2022
y late father loved to dine out, and so do I. So, you might say the apple — or perhaps the cheeseburger deluxe — didn’t fall too far from the tree. We both lived for our weekend jaunts to classic Maine eateries, from the coastline northward to Aroostook County. The first commandment of eating out was to treat the hardworking wait staff kindly. Dad’s mother, Hazel Oliver, a waitress at Gene’s Restaurant in Skowhegan, knew that well. In the 1940s, the storied cafe’s heyday, she never knew who might walk through the door. Hometown celebrity Sen. Margaret Chase Smith was a frequent customer, along with a summer pantheon of show business mavens headed for nearby Lakewood Theater. Save for dealing with the occasional tipsy thespian, Grandma enjoyed pouring coffee and slinging hash. Maybe her most memorable guest was the jovial little bellboy, Johnny Roventini, who made a fortune belting out the tobacco advertising slogan, “Call for Philip Morris!” Smoking used to be welcome in restaurants, but today it’s illegal. So, glass ashtrays and matchbook covers bearing the eateries’ names are eBay-ready relics.
