Iconic summer season eatery in Dover-Foxcroft will reopen with a brand new title
An iconic Dover-Foxcroft ice cream and seafood joint that shuttered in 2021 will reopen beneath a brand new title and possession this summer season, although individuals can count on lots of the similar favourite treats.
Pat’s Dairyland was a well-liked summertime spot downtown, serving ice cream, burgers and fish sandwiches, fried seafood, onion rings and extra. It opened in 1964 and has had completely different homeowners over the a long time, stated Jimmi Brown, the brand new proprietor who plans to reopen it as Riverside Grill in early July.
He purchased the enterprise from Rose Grant, whose accomplice Burgess Grant died in September 2021, which is when it stopped working, Brown stated. The Grants ran it for about 25 years, he stated. Earlier than them, Hazel Joyce and Paul Hews owned and operated it for 17 years, in response to her obituary from Could 2016.
Information of the defunct enterprise reopening has space residents excited and inquisitive about Riverside Grill’s choices, Brown stated. He highlighted a “Nineteen Fifties cruise-in diner theme,” and plans to host cruise-ins with basic vehicles on a weekly foundation. The restaurant’s revival provides these dwelling in and visiting Piscataquis County one other restaurant possibility and can create new jobs, although they are going to be seasonal from about April to October.
“Pat’s was undoubtedly a staple on the town,” he stated. “There’s plenty of buzz about opening again up. Our meals can be just like Pat’s as a result of that’s what individuals favored. We’d throw just a few different issues in there.”
Brown, who lives in Bowerbank and grew up attending college in Dover-Foxcroft, plans to rent 10 to 12 individuals, together with part-time and full-time positions. He’s keen about using highschool college students and can work with their schedules to accommodate, he stated, as a result of he remembers how essential that was for his daughters.
Brown additionally owns Lincoln-based Darkish Bark of Maine, which provides mulch across the state and to Massachusetts and New Hampshire. He has one other comparatively new fencing enterprise in Leesburg, Florida, which Brown’s nephew and his spouse function.
He by no means had plans to personal a restaurant, however Brown knew the earlier homeowners and understood how liked Pat’s Dairyland was by the group, he stated. Riverside Grill will supply a few of its components from native companies, although plans are nonetheless within the works.
As a part of the reopening, modifications to the constructing are underway, together with a renovated kitchen with new tools meant to hurry up wait instances for purchasers, Brown stated. The constructing’s siding was stripped, partitions are being painted and home windows are being moved in order that they’re stage, he stated.
Riverside Grill will provide seating indoors and outdoor in a newly constructed screened-in porch, he stated. Patrons may take meals to-go.
Karen Pomeroy, who lives in southern Maine however was born and grew up in Dover-Foxcroft, remembers frequenting Pat’s Dairyland throughout her childhood and later along with her personal youngsters. It was thrilling when the enterprise would open within the springtime as a result of it meant ice cream after college — the final word deal with, she stated.
Pomeroy remembers that the earlier homeowners had been real and hard-working regardless of generally having lengthy strains of consumers, and her relations have raved concerning the haddock sandwiches and onion rings, she stated.
When Pomeroy’s kids would drive up from southern Maine and Massachusetts to the household’s camp on Sebec Lake, they’d place an order at Pat’s to choose up alongside the way in which. Rose Grant additionally knew her late husband’s common order.
“Individuals would go for fried clams,” she stated. “All people had their favorites. I’m excited [for the reopening] as a result of we don’t have plenty of decisions on the town.”
Brown expects Riverside Grill, 1016 South St. in Dover-Foxcroft, can be open from 11 a.m. to eight p.m. Tuesday by Sunday. For extra data, discover the restaurant on Fb.
