5 minute read
DINING BACK THEN
Back Then
A LOOK BACK TO MAINE RESTAURANTS OF YESTERYEAR
BY RICHARD SHAW
(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 My 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.
(Below) A collection of matchbook covers from 1945-1970. COURTESY RICHARD SHAW
(Right) Baldacci’s Restaurant staff in Bangor circa 1970, including future Gov. John Baldacci, far left, third row. COURTESY PAPER TALKS MAGAZINE (Top left) Lobster Pound Restaurant, Lincolnville Beach, circa 1960. COURTESY RICHARD SHAW
(Above) The waitresses and cooks of Auto Rest Park Restaurant in Carmel, circa 1947. COURTESY LAURIS HODSDON
(Left) A postcard of the Auto Rest Park Restaurant in Carmel, circa 1940. COURTESY RICHARD SHAW
(Above) Oronoka Restaurant, circa 1962. COURTESY RICHARD SHAW
(Top right) Helen and Lawrence Mugnai, proprietors of Helen’s Restaurant, Machias, in a 1963 photo. COURTESY JIM AND JANE HARNEDY
(Right) 95er Restaurant on the Hogan Road in Bangor, circa 1970. COURTESY BANGOR DAILY NEWS
My first job was working on the F.W. Woolworth Co. lunch counter in downtown Bangor. Our regular crowd included a guy dressed like a cowboy and a woman who chatted incessantly about the weather. One day I tangled with the store manager after he opened the dumb waiter door at quitting time and discovered a tray full of unwashed forks and spoons. When we stopped yelling at each other, I was grateful that the gentleman didn’t fire my 17-yearold derriere on the spot.
In addition to other chain-owned store luncheon nooks, downtown Bangor enjoyed a glut of family-owned eateries. Included were the Brass Rail, Atlantic Sea Grill, Brountas and the Pine Tree Restaurant, where owner Peter Aloupis would send customers on their way with the words, “Pleasure, pleasure.”
A short drive away was the king of Bangor restaurants, Pilots Grill. Owners Bill and Paulette Zoidis always made me feel welcome, as I perused menu items with odd names such as Shrimp Wiggle, Welsh Rarebit and Finnan Haddie.
One day, I saw author Stephen King feasting on Salisbury steak and fries, so I didn’t feel bad ordering the cheapest menu items.
Up the road eight miles, the Oronoka Restaurant was worth an article all its own. In the 1950s, my family and I would warm up with a cup of hot chocolate and a toasted cheese sandwich, all for $2.50, after tobogganing at the Penobscot Valley Country Club. Norm Lambert serenaded us on the organ, while logs crackled in the large stone fireplace.
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(Top) Brookside Restaurant in Ellsworth, circa 1960. COURTESY RICHARD SHAW
(Bottom left) A circa 1960 menu from the Brass Rail Restaurant in Bangor. COURTESY GERRY PALMER
Family restaurant memories include stops at the Valle’s Steak House chain in southern Maine, Waterville’s Silent Woman and a long walk under the Maine Turnpike in a tunnel that connected Howard Johnson’s in the north and southbound lanes.
Other favorites included the original Helen’s Restaurant in Machias, East Millinocket’s Hamlet Restaurant, Tozier’s in East Corinth and Sweeney’s in Veazie. Our first taste of ethnic food was Mandarin Chinese at Bangor’s Oriental on Exchange Street and Italian at the old Baltimore under the Joshua Chamberlain Bridge, and when all else failed, there was always Miller’s Restaurant.
Many classic eateries closed decades ago, but a few, such as Moody’s Diner in Waldoboro and the Pat’s Pizza and Governor’s chains, live on.
As Dad, Mom, my siblings and I discovered too many years ago to count, nothing beats the smell of fresh-roasted coffee and being greeted by a server with a smile to light up the world. Give that worker a tip!
