The Miss Wiscasset Diner has been on Route 1 forever. This is a place where local folks have congregated for years over a cup of coffee, a game of cards or just to talk over the happenings in town. Over the past few years, about four attempts have been made to bring it back to the successful business it once was.

This time it looks like a winner. The new manager, Kat Alexander, who opened the doors last month, said business has been great, and they have been very busy since they opened.

She serves all home cooked food at reasonable prices. The menu includes breakfast, lunch and dinner. Her hours are seven days a week from 5 a.m. until 8 p.m. daily.

The diner is a family business. She works in the dining room, her son, Brad Alexander, is the kitchen manager, her husband Richard, a Damariscotta and Waldoboro police officer, works in the kitchen when he is not on duty.

The new business will also give a lift to the town’s economy.  Currently there are nine other employees at the restaurant besides the family.

During an interview with the kitchen manager Tuesday afternoon, he said the restaurant will be using all his mother’s recipes, homemade breads, muffins and desserts included. The customers are also treated to pastries from Frosty’s Donut Shop in Brunswick. Each morning at 4 a.m. Kat Alexander stops to pick up pastries for customers.

Bob Rogers, who operated the Miss Wiscasset Diner in the late '70s and early '80s, was one of the customers there Tuesday afternoon; he was asked what he thought of the new menu. He said, “My wife Heather and I eat here at least once or twice a day. The food is good, the service is good, and I believe they will be successful.”

Before opening for business, the family worked for 32 days cleaning and remodeling the restaurant. A new pellet stove has replaced the old wood stove in the corner, the walls and ceiling have been painted, booths and tables with a long counter with chairs provides for comfortable seating and a pleasant dining room atmosphere

Kat Alexander said during a conversation last week with some of her customers, “We are here to stay.” We wish her luck.

Charlotte Boynton can be reached at 844-4632 or cboynton@wiscassetnewspaper.com.