“Castine Variety Dishes up Family Dinners”
By Cindi Wood, The Ellsworth American 2/26/09
Castine – After graduating from Maine Maritime Academy with a masters in international business, Elizabeth Mabie decided to set up shop down the road.
She purchased the Castine Variety from previous owners Ray Nualla and Lynn Evans in July 2008.
“The more I put into it the more I get out of it,” Mabie said of the experience. The Variety is open seven days a week for breakfast, lunch, dinner and pizza. In addition to grabbing a meal at the counter or at one of the few tables, customers can pick up takeout, candy, the newspaper and lottery tickets.
Mabie said she would like to add a few more non-restaurant items. “I want to get more variety back in the Variety,” she said. But the food is the main attraction. Regular Pat Payson said the Variety’s lobster roll is “to die for,” and is a fan of just about everything else – from the Reubens to the pizza.
She and her two sisters attend Wednesday Family Dinner Night every week. On Wednesdays, the diner serves up a special meal for a crowd that has topped 30 people. Not bad for a small eatery in a small town in the middle of winter.
“This way we get to have dinner together, and its an excellent, excellent dinner, and we don’t have to do the dishes,” Payson noted. Each week features a different special. Previous Wednesday specials have included pot roast and New England boiled dinner.
Payson spent part of her childhood in Castine and remembers sitting at the Variety counter with an ice cream as a child. She said she was devastated when the former owners shut the business down last February. It was the first time it had been closed in the 66 year-old’s lifetime. Payson said she was thrilled when Mabie took over and started serving up hot, fresh food in heaping helpings.
Mabie, a New Jersey native, first came to Castine to earn a bachelors degree in marine transportation at MMA. She fell in love with the town. The Variety was a way to stay in the coastal community after completing her second degree. Her business is popular with locals and Academy students.
There is almost always a customer inside the Variety anytime of the week. In the summer the place is packed. The Castine Variety is open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call 326-0690.
