Dick's Restaurant

A Coffee Maven Review

On a drive from Port Hawkesbury on Cape Breton to Derby Line in Vermont and Quebec, we had a nice stay at a tidy lakeside inn just outside of Farmington, Maine. The place was lovely but we wanted more than the included continental breakfast. Coffee had been offered in styrofoam cups, so we set off on toward the northern border, with our eyes peeled for a diner.

Photo: Yelp

We found a newish, trendy-looking place when we arrived in the paper-mill town of Mexico, but on the door found that all-too common and sad obituary of small businesses: a handwritten note that simply said, "Sorry, closed."

We drove just a few blocks further when we spied Dick's Restaurant in the center of the town. From the outside, it had the look of a café that is more saloon than diner. We had walked out of such a place elsewhere in Maine on the first morning of our trip, and so at first I continued to drive. Then I remembered how few options we had seen so far (that is, zero), so we turned around and entered.

And we were very glad we did. I did not get a photo, but picture a rather large interior in several sections with a lot of pine paneling and wooden furniture and you will have a good idea. Picture a table full of older ladies talking quietly and a couple of tables of older men talking loudly, and you will have an even better idea. (I'm not sure why, but in our study of diners, we have found more than once that men of a certain age who are regulars will take separate tables and then talk across open air to each other. We call them "Old Man Kelliher" guys, not because that is their name, but because the two who haunt a diner in our town analyze each bit of the day's gossip in terms of what Old Man Kelliher would have said about it.

So yes, the place has atmosphere. And it has very friendly, efficient service and really good food. I had corned-beef hash just as crispity as it ought to be. My favorite librarian was considering several options, but had to choose the plate called Pam's Special -- after the owner -- because she very rarely finds things with her name out in the world. Xará!

As I commented elsewhere, very few places have excellent food and excellent coffee, and this does not quite qualify as an exception. But the coffee is definitely better than standard diner brew, and this Coffee Maven had two cups, no cream. I did find specialty coffee a bit later in the drive.