ROCKLAND, Maine — The Home Kitchen Cafe, a restaurant where lines of customers are often seen waiting to enjoy an early or midday meal, will be closing on Oct. 18, the owners announced Saturday.
James Hatch and Susan Schiro announced the news on the restaurant’s Facebook page.
“After 18 unforgettable years, we’ve made the difficult decision to close Home Kitchen Cafe & Bakery and begin a new chapter in retirement,” they said.
“This place has always been about more than food. It’s been about doing things the right way, every single day. From scratch cooking to genuine hospitality, we set a standard for ourselves and worked hard to live up to it. This is not a post we ever thought we would make, but in today’s world, maintaining our level of quality has become increasingly challenging. Like many in our industry, we’ve faced a growing struggle to find and keep the skilled, dedicated team needed to consistently deliver the experience our customers expect and deserve. Rather than compromise what Home Kitchen Cafe stands for, we feel it’s the right time to step away,” the couple said.
“To our incredible employees, past and present, you are the heart of this story. Your commitment, resilience, and pride in your work carried us through every busy morning and every demanding season. Quite simply, we would not have made it this far without you.
“And to our loyal customers and community, thank you for your unwavering support over the years. You filled our dining room, shared your lives with us, and made this journey deeply meaningful.
“We leave with gratitude, pride, and a lifetime of memories, confident that what was built here, in Rockland’s North End, will always be something unique and special.
“Please stop by in the next two weeks as the Cafe and Bakery will remain open through Oct. 18,” the restaurant owners stated.
In July 2024, the couple announced they were hoping to sell the business and building and real estate at 650 Main St. in the heart of Rockland overlooking the harbor. Hatch and Schiro said they would only sell if they found new owners who would uphold their values and traditions.
The restaurant was born during the Great Recession and weathered the COVID-19 pandemic.
The couple opened the business in February 2009. They initially leased the property from the Fish family but purchased the property in May 2011. The cafe underwent major renovations in late 2012 and reopened in February 2013.
In a 2013 interview when they reopened, the couple noted that everyone said they were crazy to open a restaurant in 2009, the worst of economic times. That opening occurred during the Great Recession.
“But we had a vision,” Hatch said in that interview.
That vision has led to Home Kitchen being a popular spot for locals and tourists to enjoy breakfast and lunch.
In that 2013 interview, the couple said they carefully planned going into the restaurant business. Hatch and Schiro operated a graphics business for 16 years. During that time, however, the plans were developed for that ultimate goal.
Hatch said the first job he had was as a teen working at a Mexican restaurant in Damariscotta where he worked his way up from dishwasher to head cook.
“This is the culmination of everything we have done in business,” he said. “People have said we were an overnight success but it has taken 22 years.”
Schiro — a Bangor native — said the experience of running their graphics business, which they sold a few years before opening Home Kitchen, helped them operate Home Kitchen Cafe in terms of finances and customer service. The year before they opened the restaurant, the couple hired another person to work at their graphics business to do the work that Hatch did in producing the screen print design T-shirts so that he could transition to the restaurant.
Hatch said his favorite item on the menu is huevos rancheros. He said the success of that offering and the rest of the menu is that all the ingredients are made fresh at the restaurant including the corn tortillas. Those homemade corn tortillas also are used in his fish tacos.
“Everything is made from scratch,” Hatch said.
This story appears through a media partnership with Midcoast Villager.