LEWISTON – What’s old again is new again, or at least that’s how it seems inside the Pop Shoppe Diner.
A Dean Martin doll croons to patrons who occupy the 16 seats along the eatery’s long counter. Walls are decorated with vinyl albums and silhouettes of swing dancers. The skirt on a Betty Boop phone next to the cash register flares up every time the phone rings.
Even the menu evokes days gone by: diners can order egg creams, pot roast, root beer floats, corned beef hash or meat loaf. Everything is homemade, from the desserts down to the potato chips.
“It’s classic American diner fare,” said Monique McDaniel-Wood, who runs the restaurant with her husband, Ron, and their partner Domenick Romano. “And we try to make it fun.”
The trio has decades of experience in the food service industry. Most recently, the Woods owned As It Should Be, a restaurant in Brunswick, and Romano owned the Cross Street Bakery and Cafe in Topsham. Now they’re combining their talents in the Pop Shoppe Diner.
A Lewiston native, McDaniel-Wood said she knew the Main Street eatery was just what they were looking for. The previous occupant, Wen and Shirl’s Diner, closed in 2001; before that it was a diner operated by Marie Larochelle.
“I knew I’d found the spot for us,” said McDaniel-Wood. “I remembered coming here as a kid with my father and it was booming.”
The L-shaped diner has a section past the counter with eight booths. Each table has a soda bottle vase imprinted with a Pop Shoppe label. The bottles came from an old Lewiston beverage maker that sold under the Pop Shoppe label.
The partners have sunk a lot of time and money into getting the diner ready for business, rehabbing the interior and exterior. But they’re proudest of the food.
“We don’t cut any corners,” said Ron Wood. “We don’t use frozen food. For instance, the chicken fingers are homemade. We pound out the chicken and bread it ourselves.”
Prices are moderate. Two eggs, toast and home fries are $3.50; three pieces of fried chicken with mashed potatoes or french fries and veggies are $5.25; yogurt and granola is $1.95; a Reuben on marbled rye with choice of french fries or homemade chips and coleslaw is $5.95.
Romano’s specialty is Italian food and baked goods. A New York native, he nonetheless confesses to making “a really good whoopie pie.”
The trio expect to tap into his talents more by converting the adjacent laundry into a bakery/deli. That project is under way now; they hope to open it this spring. Plans call for removing the wall that separates the businesses so that diner patrons will smell the fresh bread baking and see the pastries and deli meats on display.
The partners also expect to keep five different pasta sauces bubbling in the deli so people can pick up a container of sauce (sampling is encouraged), fresh bread and dessert for an instant dinner when they get home. They also offer catering services, for any size gathering.
The diner opened Feb. 1 and there are regulars already, said Wood. Among the first patrons was Marie Larochelle, the previous owner. Now in her 80s, she ordered breakfast, then gave the Pop Shoppe Diner a thumbs up.
“She was very pleased to see what we’ve done,” said McDaniel-Wood.
What: Pop Shoppe Diner
Where: 413 Main St., Lewiston
Contact: 777-7467; [email protected]
Hours: Monday-Sunday, 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.
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