1. Billy’S Tavern
City: Thomaston, ME
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (207) 354-1177
Address: 1 Star St.
Description: This place may be inspired by the public houses of Ireland, but there’s no pretension here, just good drinks, neighborhood charm, and pub food that isn’t really pub food. There’s an oyster bar, for example. Have a cheesesteak or a bacon burger, play a game of Jenga or foosball, and enjoy yourself.
2. Thomaston Cafe And Bakery
City: Thomaston, ME
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (207) 354-8589
Address: 154 Main St.
Description: Herbert Peters, owner-chef of this downtown favorite, got a nod from Gourmet magazine for his fish cakes, so you may want to order those. Everything in this small cafe is good, however, and made from scratch. Ingredients tend toward organic, and the fish is not long off the boat. The menu is small but inventive, with a lot of traditional favorites done with flair, like lobster ravioli with fresh oyster sauce or Frenched lamb chops. The fish chowder comes highly recommended as well, and the soups are always a good selection. Quiche, pasta, and sandwich options change on a regularly basis. The seating area is casual, comfortable, and bright, and lunch is fairly inexpensive for food of this quality. Recommended.
3. Dorman’S Dairy Dream
City: Thomaston, ME
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (207) 594-4195
Address: Route 1
Description: Sure, the name has a preciousness to it, but this roadside ice-cream stand is the real deal, having been a hugely popular institution for more than half a century. Kendrick Dorman started serving homemade ice cream out of a little white building on the Rockland-Thomaston town line, back before Route 1 was even Route 1. His brother, William, was doing the same thing down the road, making cones from ice cut on northern Maine lakes. Sugar shortages during the Second World War forced the pair to combine their efforts, and their enterprise as it stands today was born. Family members still run the shop, dishing out 22 flavors of homemade goodness, and crowds line up for it, particularly the pistachio. Good to see it survive all the development occurring in the neighborhood.
4. Montpelier General
City: Thomaston, ME
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (207) 354-8062
Address: Knox Mansion High St.
Description: This grand white mansion lords over Route 1 as it heads north after Thomaston. (Unfortunately so does the Dragon Cement plant behind it.) Though it looks straight out of the colonial era, it is a reconstruction of the former estate of Henry Knox, George Washington’s secretary of war—the original was torn down to make room for the Thomaston railroad station. But the Daughters of the American Revolution thought that Knox deserved a tribute and worked tirelessly to have this exact replica built in the 1930s. The inside has been designed to replicate even the minutest of details, and the house is filled with antiques and some furnishings rescued from the original. The museum and gift shop are open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday from late May through late September and opened occasionally afterward for special occasions. Tours are given on the hour and half-hour from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.