The owner of one chain of Maine family restaurants has just taken over a smaller group of eateries in the eastern part of the state.
Bud Hall, the longtime owner of Anglers Restaurant, has just retired and sold his longtime family business to Jason Clay, a seasoned restaurateur who also owns and manages Governor’s Restaurant & Bakery.
Anglers has locations in Searsport and Newport. It closed a third one in Hampden in 2023.
In an interview, Clay said that he respects the Halls’ legacy and hopes to carry on the success of the two locations that opened between 2000 and 2002. He does not plan to convert them into new locations of Governor’s, which has branches in Ellsworth, Bangor, Old Town, Presque Isle, Waterville and Lewiston.
“Anglers are a very well-established brand in the markets they serve. They have a very loyal customer following, and they’re very strong performers, so our goal is to not mess that up,” Clay said. “Turning those into Governor’s would be more time and effort than we really would want to spend on that, especially with such a strong brand and a great team already in place.”
Clay noted that the former Hampden location was not a part of his purchase. He declined to share the purchase price. Both of the current locations briefly closed this week during the transition, but they are now reopened.
Hall announced his retirement and the transition Sunday on Facebook.
“I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for your unwavering support over the past 25 years,” Hall said. “As I embark on this new chapter in my life — retirement — I will be passing on the reins to Mr. Jason Clay. I sincerely hope you will extend the same love and support to him that you have shown to me and my family, ensuring that Anglers thrives for the next 25 years.”
Clay bought the Governor’s chain from former owner Randy Wadleigh in 2023 after spending two decades working for it.
He expects most changes at Anglers to be behind the scenes, including consolidation of vendors and technology updates. He plans to retain all its employees.
“One of the reasons this is so attractive to us is there are a lot of similarities in our menu, but there’s some diversity, too,” Clay said.
While both restaurants are “iconic Maine brand[s],” he said they also have notable differences, such as Anglers not serving breakfast while Governor’s does, and the scale of two locations versus five.
“Our goal, as a company, is to take care of people. We’re excited for this new chapter and growth,” Clay said. “Our hope is to continue to grow as a company, and down the road, that might mean some other opportunities pop up. We’re excited for what might happen in the future.”
