Stepping into the Fireside Cafe in Caribou is a bit like entering a rustic time capsule.
From the wood-paneled walls to the cast iron decorations to the mismatched chairs and tables that dot its dining room, it leaves the impression that it’s been there for years.
“I want you to feel like you’re at your grandma’s house,” co-owner Chrystal Burns said.
Burns and co-owner Kate McCartney started renovating the former Maine Bean & Tea building at 46 Fort St. less than two months ago. Now, the pair are a final inspection away from opening a restaurant they say will lean into “local flair,” offering affordable meals made from ingredients sourced from Aroostook County farms, putting their own stamp on the popular farm-to-table movement.
“Everything is going to be fresh, as locally sourced as possible, and healthy,” McCartney said. “That’s our menu. We want food that looks good, tastes good and is affordable.”
McCartney, who also owns and runs the Old Iron Inn Bed and Breakfast in Caribou, is the self-proclaimed “muffin queen” of Aroostook County. Burns, who said she has been a professional chef for 15 years, makes “famous breakfast burritos.” The combination is a menu with plenty of variety.
The cafe will offer baked goods, sandwiches on homemade bread and hearty “blue plate specials” from meatloaf to pot roast, among other items. Most meals will cost just $10.99.
“I hear a lot of people [say], ‘We can’t afford good food. We have to buy fast food because it’s cheaper.’ I want to have that option for them,” Burns said. “Everybody’s welcome. Come as you are and you get good food for a good price.”
McCartney and Burns are also launching a “grab, swap and go” subscription service targeted at providing breakfast and lunch to those who work early mornings — such as truck drivers or farmers.
The service will cost $45 a week. It offers a breakfast option, such as a breakfast burrito or sandwich, and a lunch that includes a sandwich, a soup or other side along with a fresh cookie, muffin or roll.
“You give me an empty lunchbox, I will give you a full one,” Burns said. “Inside the lunchbox has your name, your allergies, your preferences and texture issues you may have. You always get what you want and you get a nice, hearty lunch quickly and affordably.”
Subscription signups will initially be capped at 45 people, Burns said, and they are “almost there.”
“We’ve gotten a huge response from the people who start the 6 a.m. shift up at the hospital,” McCartney said. “These are all busy people, and they’re all really sick and tired of yucky convenience food.”
The cafe held a soft opening in early October and hopes to open officially to the public soon. Enthusiasm is so high, its owners said, that they’ve had to lock the door during the day because people keep coming in to try to order.
The restaurant will be open from 4 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the weekends, when it will serve brunch specials.
“The locals are just so thrilled,” McCartney said. “Everywhere we go they come up to us and they have these big bright eyes and they say, ‘You’re the ones opening the restaurant. When are you going to be open?’
“They’re just so happy,” Burns said. “And we love to make people happy through food.”
