Eats: The Old Goat in Richmond

A unique local pub brings people (and the occasional horse) together for pizza, paninis, beer and banter.

It’s a warm spring morning in Richmond. It’s Cinco de Mayo, to be exact, and Scott McIntire is chunking up limes in The Old Goat pub’s compact kitchen. Pizza prep has started and if the weather is any indicator, it’s going to be a good day along the Kennebec River. McIntire looks up from the cutting board and says “So, a horse walks into a bar . . .”

‘Now or never’

McIntire, a New England native, made his way back to Maine in 2000 after owning and operating a printing company in Florida. He had settled in and was between gigs, substitute teaching at Richmond High School, when he saw a “For Rent” sign on the building across from what is now The Old Goat’s current location. “I had nothing to lose. . . . It was now or never. . . . Richmond needed a pub.”

He opened The Old Goat with nothing but credit cards and one part-time employee, working “a hundred hours a week” himself. With the low overhead and a loyal Richmond following, he was able to make a go of it.

About three years after he opened the pub, the vacant and derelict former bank building across the street went up for sale. Hearing rumors that someone was going to buy the building and put in a restaurant or pub, McIntire decided another similar establishment would “put me out of business and I’d be right back in the hole again.” He bought the building at 33 Main St. in May 2007. He completely gutted and rebuilt the interior, then removed the dated space-age aluminum exterior that hid an attractive brick and iron-columned facade.

Today, the food production at The Old Goat pub is done in a small, efficient kitchen at the end of a long wooden bar. “We crank out a lot of food,” says McIntire, and the menu is simple by design. “The original menu was six paninis. That was it. . . . I’d experiment with something and if people liked it, I’d add it to the menu.”

Over time, the menu grew to 22 paninis, with names like “The Blenheim Palace” (an ode to Winston Churchill, with roast beef, sauteed peppers and onions, tomato, cheddar and horseradish) and “The Ozvaldo” (dedicated to a hard-working Mexican employee and friend who worked for McIntire in Florida, with turkey or roast beef, guacamole, salsa, sour cream, shredded lettuce and jalapeno Jack cheese.)

But customers were always asking him to add pizza to the menu. Not wanting to offer a mediocre product, he spent “seven months experimenting at home with different recipes.”

Three years ago, McIntire added pizza to the panini roster. There’s a New York-style, a white pizza and a traditional Margherita made with homemade sauce and fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and basil. Fresh vegetables are chopped daily and meat toppings are from Boar’s Head.

Pizza is a popular menu item, and McIntire admits his insistence on serving only the best and freshest sometimes results in a “sell-out.” He tries to gauge the number of pizzas to be sold each day, limiting the amount of dough he makes to “keep the product fresh. Dough is a living thing and its characteristics change over time.”

What you won’t find at The Old Goat? A deep fryer. McIntire’s not a big fan of fried foods, so you won’t leave the pub smelling like a French fry.

As for beverages, The Old Goat is a pub, and there is plenty here to wash down a tasty panini or pizza. Nine draft beers are on tap as well as 105 bottled beers, including domestic, British, German,and Belgian, and a large assortment of hard ciders.

Beyond the food

If you’re looking for more than food or drink, there’s philanthropy and community-building at The Old Goat too.

For instance, every August since 2005 the pub has teamed up with Country Fareways in Bowdoin to host a golf tournament. The money raised goes to Pine Tree Camp, which offers a Maine summer camp experience for children and adults with disabilities.

There’s the annual Chili Cook-Off, which was held for the sixth time two weeks ago in the pub’s upstairs function room. McIntire considers it “the culinary high-water mark of the entire Kennebec watershed.” This year, 20 cooks came from all over Maine to compete for a cash prize, while many more came to sample and judge for $5. The proceeds this year went to repairing Richmond’s town tennis courts.

If you like to run, you can join the “Trotting Goats Running Club,” which meets at the pub every Tuesday night at 6 p.m. Runners of all ability are welcome and they get a discount on their post-run beers and entry fees for three local road races.

And there’s the cerebral and philosophical at The Old Goat, delivered every week to your email via McIntire’s “Goat Mail.” Here, and on his website, McIntire reports on the local day-to-day happenings, politics, music and such things as why there’s no iced tea at The Old Goat. Sometimes, he tilts at windmills and ponders whether The Old Goat is Richmond’s equivalent of the Acropolis. He might contemplate a customer complaint or wax eloquent about the weekend’s live music at the pub. Other times, he takes on human frailty, including his own. It’s funny, informative and sometimes offensive.

At the end of the day, McIntire says he’s just trying to promote the independent local pub, with many beers and good food. If you’re looking for some of that — and quite likely some lively and frank conversation — go to The Old Goat.

And about the horse that walked into the bar? Yes, a horse really did wander in. The Old Goat was the location for filming a public service announcement promoting designated drivers, titled “Call a Friend.” (You can see it at www.nickernews.net. Look under “Humor & Fiction.”)

Julie-Ann Baumer lives, cooks, gardens and blogs from her home in Lisbon Falls. You can read about her adventures at www.julieannbaumer.com and follow her on twitter @aunttomato.