We asked readers of the Bangor Daily News’ Morning Update newsletter what long-gone menu item from a Maine restaurant they miss, and they responded with some truly unique and delightfully nostalgic answers — some of which are about as Maine as it gets.
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“The Steak and Cheese from the Whig and Courier Pub in West Market Square in Bangor. Best I have ever had — or maybe I am romanticizing it in my distant memories. I have never found another one I liked as much!”
– Megan, Bangor
“My father Albro Sr. had five restaurants in the 1950s and 1960s. Al’s Food Shops in Lewiston, Newport, Presque Isle, Caribou and Houlton. They served hot chicken sandwiches. Sliced chicken between two slices of Nissen’s white bread and mashed County potatoes, all smothered in chicken gravy with a side of Birds Eye green peas from the Caribou plant. Sixty nine cents. Coffee for another dime. Tapioca with real whipped cream for dessert.”
– Al Cowperthwaite Jr., Houlton
“I remember, fondly, the deep fried tripe that was once served at the A1 Diner in Gardiner, Moody’s Diner in Waldoboro and the late David’s Restaurant in Rockland. A delicacy that time has obviously passed by — and to add insult to injury, has been replaced on menus by chicken fingers.”
– David Douglass, Brunswick
“Stella Eames’ apple pies at Cotton’s Restaurant in Bethel. Both long gone but well remembered by many. Fifty years ago I was standing in a grocery line in Spokane, Washington, when I heard two young men talking with a Maine accent. They were talking about pie. I interrupted them to ask where they were from — West Paris. Then asked about the pie and restaurant. Turns out it was Cotton’s Restaurant, and the pie was Stella Eames’. She was the only cook there for 40 plus years. She was also my aunt. Small world.”
— Betsey Foster, Bethel
“My mother and grandmother always got the Finnan Haddie at Le Garage in Wiscasset. For dessert they would get the Indian pudding. The waitress said, ‘Finnan Haddie people always get the Indian pudding.’ I miss those old New England flavors.”
— Drew Laughland, Belfast
“The Kersey family ran The Chicken Coop in Mexico for decades. I think the most famous dish was Bite-Size Turkey in a Basket. Notorious for prom dates, hot dates, car sales dates, and the rare every day family dinner for locals and folks passing through to ski, fish, hike, paddle or visit the paper mill in Rumford. Located on Main Street/Route 2 in Mexico. This dish put Mexico, Maine on the foodie map!”
— Eileen Whynot, Mexico
“The first sighting of pizza in Waldo County was Grace LaFontaine’s pizza shop in Belfast. For Belfast in the early 1960s, it was pretty good pizza.”
— Nancy, Searsport
“The grilled cheese with homemade potato chips at the Oronoka in Orono. Homemade bread, thick sliced, huge. Perfectly crispy and melty. And then the homemade chips had the crunchy edge but often were a little pillowy in the center. In the early to mid-90s I remember almost always taking home half wrapped in tin foil for later.”
— Gretchen, Bangor