WESTBROOK – It’s no longer Turkey Day every day on the rotary in Westbrook. Thanksgiving’s Bakery and Eatery shut its doors last week after about four years of serving up rotisserie turkey and a variety of baked goods.
The eatery and bakery was owned and run by the Piattoni family – Jack, Chris and Kyle, according to its website.
Jack Piattoni this week declined to provide many specifics about the closing other than to say that “it just didn’t work.”
He said one factor was the restaurant’s location at 9 Cumberland St., on a busy intersection where Cumberland intersects with Main Street and traffic runs just one way.
Piattoni said it was difficult for cars rushing by to stop. He also felt that too many potential customers bypassed that intersection to take a faster route through town.
“It’s a tough location,” he said.
The Piattoni family had run Wilfred’s Restaurant in Gorham, N.H., for 31 years before coming to Westbrook in 2006.
Jack Piattoni said they had a dream of relocating to Maine, where they had some property in Sebago.
Thanksgiving’s billed itself as having “Turkey Day everyday.” The eatery served homemade soups, salads and special sandwiches and also whoopie pies and other baked goods.
But Piattoni now wonders if the “menu was too narrow.”
The restaurant was open every day for most of the year and it was a strain working 12-hour days, seven days a week, Piattoni said.
Frank Coyne, the owner of the building where the restaurant is located, said the building is now up for lease.
Keith Luke, director of economic and community development for the city, said he was surprised to learn Thanksgiving’s had closed. He said he has eaten there every couple of weeks or so in the two years he’s been with the city, and the restaurant seemed to have a steady lunch business.
Luke said he doesn’t expect the location will remain vacant long because restaurants seem to be thriving in Westbrook.
“The good news is that over the past three years, food service vacancies have been a rarity,” he said.
When one closes, another quickly takes its place, Luke said. He cited the former Freaky Bean Coffee Company store at 855 Main St. as an example. It became another coffee shop when Freaky Bean closed last year and then became The French Press Eatery last November. That business just expanded its hours and menu.
Last week, Thanksgiving’s Bakery and Eatery in Westbrook closed. The Cumberland Street building is now for lease.
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