Until May 31, there was little to draw the eye to an empty lot across from Birch Point Road on Route 1 in Wiscasset. Now passing motorists beep their support day and night for a new walk-up seafood eatery, “Sea Digger's Grub.”

“Everyone loves the name,” co-owner Sydney Morin, 19, said after the lunch rush June 6. Even then, scarcely any time went by without someone pulling in and stepping up to the window to order.

Morin's best friend Mary-Ellen True, 20, owns the new business with her. The Wiscasset High School graduates had several years of food service experience between them, and a shared need for summer jobs.

Morin is studying nursing at the University of Southern Maine; True, elementary education at Southern Maine Community College.

They learned prep work, window and cooking duties as teens, at such mainstays as Red's Eats and Boothbay Lobster Wharf in Boothbay Harbor. Having their own business is its own learning experience, from town rules to the long hours.

“Most jobs give you 40 hours. This is going to be more like 60 or 80,” True said.

Morin, who is also fitting in a class this summer, just launched a Sea Digger's Grub page on Facebook.

True's father Tony True and Morin's mother Lisa Michaud, who are dating, help out at the business.

The leased Route 1 location has been getting the curious to stop. But just one week into the business, the women were already seeing one of the best signs they're on a successful track. They were getting repeat customers.

“You know the food's good when people come back,” Morin said.

They plan to keep the business open until late fall and then start it back up next summer.

“Definitely,” True said.

Hours are Friday and Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to midnight and Sunday through Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., but they won't turn people away, Morin said. To order ahead, call 207-315-5902.

Susan Johns can be reached at 207-844-4633 or sjohns@wiscassetnewspaper.com.