BANGOR, Maine — It's the day before Thanksgiving, and there's a line out the door at Dysart's Restaurant in Hermon. People wait with hoods up and masks on in the cold air to pick up takeout orders for the holiday -- one that will look different than usual because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Mary Dysart Hartt is the owner of the restaurant franchise and has been serving Thanksgiving dinner to people since 1967. She says this year they're expecting a lot of takeout orders, since there's limited seating indoors. Seating is first come, first serve -- and people can wait in their cars until a table opens up.
"We’re expecting guests, but we're not really sure how it will be different from previous years," Hartt told NEWS CENTER Maine. The number of to-go orders already placed in advance could be an indication that this year, dining at home may be what more Mainers choose to do.
"It's become just a tradition for people to come here, so we'll see the same people year after year -- and it's very sad to think some of that won't be the same," Hartt admitted.
Governor's restaurants, another greater Bangor area Thanksgiving staple, won't even be offering in-person dining this holiday. Instead, they're asking people to call or go online to place their orders in advance and schedule a socially-distanced pick-up time.
"The great challenge of 2020 is not being able to project how things are going to go," Jason Clay, the director of operations at Governor's, explained to NEWS CENTER Maine. On Wednesday, the Bangor kitchen is busy whipping up pies and packing up orders. Clay says his team has been anticipating this to-go model for a while.
"We decided pretty early on that we wanted to just be open for takeout only on Thanksgiving -- and that way in case there were any sort of changes to the state guidelines or anything like that, we'd be prepared for that," Clay said.
The Bangor Area Homeless Shelter is following a similar structure for people who can't afford to buy a Thanksgiving dinner. Boyd Kronholm, the shelter's executive director, says Hollywood Casino has put on a big meal the past few years for anyone experiencing food insecurity. That wasn't possible in 2020 because of the coronavirus, so his kitchen coordinator and administrative staff are cooking instead.
"We just want to make sure (people) have the opportunity to have a Thanksgiving meal also and not wonder where that's going to come from," Kronholm told NEWS CENTER Maine.
Thanksgiving Day information for these locations is as follows:
- Dysart's restaurants: The dining room and takeout options are open in Hermon from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. and in Bangor from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Governor's restaurants: Takeout is available until 2 p.m. People are asked to call ahead to place an order, or do so online.
- Bangor Area Homeless Shelter: Meals will be served on a first come, first serve basis from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. People can come to the back of the parking lot to pick one up.
