Two friends meet for dinner at Dog Bar Jim, a coffee shop on Union Street in Brunswick that recently opened for dinner service four nights a week. Luna Soley / The Times Record
Dinner at Dog Bar Jim this past Saturday offered consolation — with a kick. Shreds of ginger black vinegar chicken and silky cubes of maple-glazed kabocha squash vied for the next spoonful atop an unsuspecting bowl of congee — a traditional Chinese rice porridge. It had the texture of oatmeal but tasted like it had been reappropriated for royalty. At $15 and filling enough to save half for breakfast the next morning, it was unlikely to be anyone’s “Golden Demise.”
There’s no set change after the cramped coffee shop on Brunswick’s Union Street closes up at 1 p.m. to now reopen at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday to serve dinner — same antique shop-turned-diner décor, same flag above the well-worn stoop declaring simply, “Yup.” But there are subtle changes when the coffee shop makes the evening switch to Dog Bar Jim’s “Golden Demise” in the form of a liquor license, a walk-in plunked behind the porch out back and chef Sam Agreda, who has worked in restaurants for over a decade and knows how to be “crafty with the limited space.”
“Hong Kong Breakfast” (smoked Sichuan char six pork, matcha mochi waffles, hash browns, Chinese sausage, grilled tomatoes and an egg – $18), left, and congee (ginger black vinegar chicken, maple-glazed kabocha squash, wood ear mushroom pate and chili crisp – $15) from the Saturday Pan-Asian menu at Dog Bar Jim’s “Golden Demise.” Luna Soley / The Times Record
Owner Ben Gatchell says his rationale for opening the dinner spot was twofold. Part one: “filling a niche of food that we all wanted to eat.” Part two: generating more revenue to raise his employees’ pay.
“Having my coworkers at the coffee shop be as free of mind of finances as we can provides the peace of mind to truly focus on the work at hand, which is service,” Gatchell said. “Which we take very seriously.”
On a recent night, the only marked departure from the daytime operation was the smell. There was still the reassuring feeling that with so many conversations to eavesdrop on, nobody in their right mind would pick yours. But an add-on of Chinese sausage was smoking like a tiki torch between grass-green matcha mochi waffles on the “Hong Kong Breakfast” plate, and there wasn’t a frothy, milk-soaked dishcloth to be found on the bar.
“Can we still order coffee?” one woman asked. Barista by day, server by night Raphael Foye assured her that he would get her a cup.
“I’m from Nashville and it reminds me of pop-ups there but a little more upscale, and it also hits this next level of umami flavor,” customer Jessica Cimon said. She had made the drive from Auburn to meet a friend, who at that moment was asking for a to-go box for the rather grisly remains of her hot-and-sour pot pie.
Gatchell, who named the coffee shop after his father-in-law’s car mechanic in the foothills of California, has the rare talent of lending his flourish to something ordinary and making it iconic. A straw dispenser isn’t just a straw dispenser at Dog Bar Jim, it’s “The Straw Dispenser.” The receipt from the cash register, allowed to unspool wantonly onto the floor, makes the daily transactions of coffee and bagels seem like high drama. Gatchell said the idea for a full-blown restaurant came after he and the crew started serving burgers “on a nondescript Friday in a nondescript month in the early spring of ’23.” Late November in Brunswick — when they opened for Mexican, Korean and Pan-Asian nights — can also be pretty drab. But like the congee, humility plus daring make the dish.
“It’s my favorite place I’ve ever worked,” Foye said. “It’s the kind of place that I hung out, and now I work here.”
Dog Bar Jim’s Golden Demise is open from 4:30-8 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday at 90 Union St. in Brunswick. Dishes $6-$22.
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