MAINE LINE

BY COLIN WRENN

When Drew Ryan opened Maine Shack in Denver’s LoHi neighborhood at the tail end of 2019, he was looking for a home away from home.

Ryan grew up in Maine, where his father ran an independent broadline food distribution company. “That inspired me to be our own distributor,” he says. That means Ryan deals directly with several fishermen, all in Maine, and he heads down to the airport twice a week to pick up the hundreds of pounds of lobster that go into the signature dishes. He does another weekly stop to claim the rest of the seafood, which includes fresh scallops, shrimp, haddock and clams.

The Denver location, which he and partner John Caprio established as a celebration of their East Coast roots, is a two-story shack a stone’s throw from another one of the city’s more iconic perpetual lines, Little Man Ice Cream. Both draw crowds on hot summer days, with more than a few finger-food fanatics bouncing directly from one to the other.

Boulder’s new location at 16th and Pearl will debut on Nov. 3 with a ribbon cutting and celebratory claw cracking.

The 59-seat dining room is big and bright, the bar alone roughly the size of Denver’s whole kitchen. The place is outfitted with offices downstairs and will serve as the company’s new headquarters and catering wing.

“It was just a natural progression,” says Ryan, adding that he’s been anxious to get a spot open in Boulder since before the Denver location launched. In the years between, Maine Shack added a food truck in Naples, Florida, became an official partner of the Boston Red Sox, began serving at both Empower Field and Coors Field and started vending at Ralphie’s Corral at CU Boulder.

“We’ve got a good relationship with CU and we’re very proud of that,” says Ryan. Director of Operations Britt Gralka has helped to solidify the connection after a five-year stint in the same role for Levy Restaurants, which was named the university’s culinary partner in 2014.

Ryan says the Boulder outpost will start with a menu similar to Denver’s. This isn’t such a bad thing, considering that the rolls, of which there are many, are joined by sides like fried Ipswich whole belly clams, lobster mac and cheese and clam chowder dense enough to threaten the integrity of most plastic spoons.

But the new location’s menu isn’t all the same. The seafood bouillabaisse, established in collaboration with on-site chef Damon Garcia, is the first Boulder exclusive and is already a contender for pièce de résistance. The dish, which combines large chunks of about every one of the house’s available fish in a robust tomato-based broth, was one of Ryan’s childhood favorites and is entirely exquisite for both the nostalgic and the first-timer. “As it gets colder, we’re gonna start running heartier dishes,” Ryan says.

The new bar will feature eight taps, with lines that include the Maine Beer

Co.’s famous Lunch IPA. A Maine Shack Crisp Clean Lobster Ale, produced in collaboration with Diebolt Brewing Company, will be available onsite and to-go in 16 ounce cans. Classic cocktails will be joined by an allday lobster Bloody Mary, garnished with a lobster tail, lemon, celery and olives; the Maine Mule, which takes the standard copper-mug classic and infuses it with fresh Maine blueberries; and the Cape Codder, which combines vodka, lime and cranberry juices with smoked sea salt.

Decor-wise, Ryan spared no expense in making sure that Maine Shack Boulder is the real deal.

“If you’re going to do Maine Shack, you gotta do it as authentic as possible,” he says. Designed in collaboration with Maine Cabin Masters’ Ryan Eldridge, Jared “Jedi” Baker and Ashley Morrill, the place is covered head to toe with reclaimed wood from back home. A massive firewood display gives a nod to the forest that covers nearly 80 percent of what is affectionately known as The Pine Tree State.

“Our visiting friend said this is more Maine than any place in Maine,” Ryan says.

ON THE PLATE: Maine Shack Opening Weekend. Nov. 3-5, 2010 16th St., Boulder. A portion of proceeds will be donated to support victims of the recent shooting in Lewiston, Maine.