Maine Diner

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The Maine Diner is a diner which serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and is located in Wells, Maine.^[1]

1 History
2 Accolades
3 References
4 External links

[edit] History

The Maine Diner started in 1983. Its first customer was a man who crashed into a pole near the parking lot. He had mistaken the diner for a bar he was looking for.^[2] The diner is now co-owned by Myles and Dick Henry,^[3] and is managed by Jim MacNeill.^[4]

The Maine Diner is known for its award-winning seafood chowder and lobster pie and other Down East fare.^[5] ^[6] It serves breakfast all day. Behind the diner is a garden which provides vegetables and herbs for the diner's dishes.^[7] ^[8]

[edit] Accolades

The diner, as referred to by Colleen Stone of MaineToday.com, is "oft-hyped and popular with tourists",^[9] and by 1999 had served over 2 million guests. As of May 21, 2008, that number has risen to 4,816,646^[10]. The diner, which has a seating capacity of 90 and a year-round staff of about 60, serves an average of 1200-1500 patrons on a good summer day.^[11]

The Maine Diner was featured on NBC's The Today Show (invited to the show by Jane and Michael Stern), as a banner on the restaurant states.^[12] Also, it was mentioned in the magazine Travel + Leisure^[13] and in the Jane and Michael Stern Book Eat Your Way Across The USA. Cartoonist Wiley Miller stated that the Maine Diner is the model for a diner in one of his cartoon strips.^[14]

The Maine Diner has seen some famous guests, including boxing announcer Bob Sheridan, a Boxing Hall of Fame member, and Eddie Andelman, a sports radio talk host.^[15] It has a platter named after the Phantom Gourmet.^[16]

Next door to the Maine Diner is a gift shop called "Remember the Maine", the famous battle cry of the Spanish-American War. It sells Maine and Maine Diner souvenirs.^[17]