An iconic restaurant in Aroostook County sold at a foreclosure auction this week.
Burger Boy, a Caribou diner that has been a staple in the community since 1968, sold Monday for $155,000, the Portland-based Keenan Auction Company said.
The auction company did not identify the buyer, citing privacy reasons.
Monday’s sale ends a monthslong saga on the future of Burger Boy, which has been in turmoil since the restaurant defaulted on its mortgage with First National Bank of Damariscotta earlier this year.
The foreclosure auction was originally scheduled for Oct. 7, but was delayed until Nov. 24. Burger Boy remained open into November.
But owner Dustin Mancos and the restaurant’s operating company owe the city of Caribou and the state of Maine thousands in unpaid taxes, records with the Southern Aroostook Registry of Deeds show.
The Maine Department of Labor has filed three separate tax liens against the J.F. Liquidating Corp. in recent months, the latest on Oct. 27, for unpaid unemployment taxes, interest and penalties totaling more than $12,000.
Mancos’ company also owes $2,731.78 in unpaid Maine sales and use taxes and at least $3,851.32 in Caribou property taxes, records show. His unpaid city taxes total nearly the same amount as the year prior, where a separate lien from the city has yet to be discharged.
And in September, Bangor District Court judge Jon A. Haddow ordered J.F. Liquidating Corp. and Mancos to pay $21.291.94 in debt, interest and attorney’s fees to Hampden-based wholesaler Dennis Food Service.
J.F. Liquidating Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Maine Bankruptcy Court in October, but the case was dismissed on Monday following a hearing.
In an attempt to save the restaurant, Mancos took to Facebook in October to ask for donations.
“My biggest fear isn’t just losing the building, it’s that Burger Boy could go to auction and be turned into something it’s not, and all of that community spirit would be lost too,” Mancos wrote. “This restaurant has soul. It’s a part of Caribou’s identity, and I want to keep it that way.”
Mancos, who was previously a Burger Boy employee, purchased the restaurant in 2020 and redesigned the interior with a comic-book aesthetic. He previously owned Winnie’s Restaurant in Presque Isle, and in 2021 opened B-52 Pizza in Limestone. Both have since closed.
Mancos did not respond to a request for comment.
Burger Boy has long been an Aroostook County mainstay, known for its classic sawtooth roof and futuristic Googie architecture. It served chicken and seafood, but was best known for its burgers, which Down East magazine named among the best in the state in 2017.