REGION —Steve and Rhonda Jones had been planning to open a take out style restaurant in Livermore Falls since early fall of last year. When Gov. Mills declared a Civil State of Emergency due to the coronavirus on March 15, the couple considered abandoning their plans all together.

“It made me wonder if I should [open] but I figured, eventually it would be taken care of and I just said, ‘the heck with it,’” Steve Jones said while his staff prepped for the lunch rush. 

Steve, pictured above and Rhonda Jones serve burgers and Mexican food and prepare all of their salsas, beans and meat fillings in-house. They are located at 24 Main Street in Livermore Falls and are open Wednesday through Monday. Andrea Swiedom/Franklin Journal

The couple opened Stevie J’s Burgers and Burritos on Memorial Weekend and were shocked by the community’s response. 

“They were lined up to the corner. People were waiting for over an hour for almost three straight hours the first day,” Steve Jones said. “The first three weeks, we were swamped.”

While restaurants were permitted to reopen for indoor dining in 12 rural counties across the state on May 18, many people are still preferring take out style establishments. 

“You like to enjoy the experience when you go spend money, not have the mask up and this and that,” Jay resident Rick Howatt said while waiting for his lunch at Stevie J’s. “So with that all being said, coming to an open forum like this, it feels, there’s a normalcy here.”

The Jones did not expect the pandemic to have such an immediate demand for take out. They initially anticipated running their business’ first season with just the two of them working. 

“It exceeded [our expectations] by a hundred-fold. I probably should have done a soft opening,” Steve Jones said while laughing. 

The flood of customers remained consistent after their opening weekend, and the Jones have had to hire five additional employees.   

The We Fry High food truck in Wilton also opened during the pandemic. The owners have expanded their hours in response to the consistently increasing amount of business they’re experiencing.

Even take out services, such as Cantrell’s Seafood which sells fish and shellfish from trucks parked in Jay and Farmington, have seen a spike in business during the pandemic.

“It improved sale-wise,” owner of Cantrell’s Seafood Andy Cantrell said. “I think being a quick in and out service has helped. Back when the whole pandemic started, they had the long lines at Hannaford. We’re just pretty quick, I would say.”

Cantrell said that he’s seen a significant increase in sales in the past five months. More people have been utilizing online ordering options either through the company’s website or Facebook page.

Brian Bates opened his take out style BBQ restaurant, The Outpost, at 495 Wilton Road in Farmington on March 21. He is finding that business is just now picking up. 

Brian Bates smokes brisket and pork butt throughout the week and has seen business increasing since he opened during the pandemic. He also attributes increased business due to the closure of Irving’s Big Stop. Andrea Swiedom/Franklin Journal

“When we first started, it was funny, every time Janet Mills or pretty much anything was on the news our business would drop off. No matter what it was,” Bates said. “And then of course, it would start picking back up and then either she’d say something or there would be something on national news, or something else would happen and it would drop back off again. Now it’s actually getting pretty good.”

Despite the pandemic potentially causing inconsistencies, Bates has had to hire two additional employees to help with his seven days a week schedule. Bates’ initial plan was to have his daughter run The Outpost with him, but she has decreased her involvement to minimize her exposure to the coronavirus. 

Bates said wearing a mask can be a suffocating chore at The Outpost where his smoker runs daily and he prepares food in a small kitchen. He’s had customers come up and thank him for not wearing a mask because they feel so uncomfortable by the sight of face coverings.

Wilton resident Betsy Mancine was at The Outpost to pick up her family’s dinner. She understood how masks could cause anxiety.

“So basically my current MO is if I have to wear a mask, I’m not going, except for Sandy River to see my parents outside. That makes sense to me there,” Mancine said.

Mancine has been frequenting take out style food establishments more than ever during the pandemic.

“Anytime there’s something like this [The Outpost], especially now–there’s this, there’s Stevie J’s down in Livermore Falls–those are the kinds of places we’re trying to go,” Mancine said. “Anybody who opens up during this crap deserves a chance and deserves everybody’s business because the odds are stacked against them. So we seek out places like this.”