The founder of a new chain of bakery shops in eastern Maine says customer demand is the primary driver to his business’ rapid expansion.
Since Jonathan Beal began baking five years ago, eastern Maine’s appetite for his Sweet Cheeks cakes and pastries has led Beal and his partner, Michael Roy, to start a bakery on Verona Island, open a second location in Ellsworth, add two vending-only kiosks and this month open a retro-themed diner in Bucksport.
They now have almost 60 employees, start each workday before midnight and produce thousands of pastries annually — but people still want more, he said.
“We have expanded quickly, but mostly it’s just been because we’ve gone with our intuition and our gut on what we’ve done and what people have wanted.” Beal said recently in the renovated bar space connected to the diner on Route 1, formerly the family restaurant Glenn’s Place.
Sweet Cheeks Diner is their first full sit-down venture with table service and joins an almost all-new restaurant scene in Bucksport. It’s consistently selling out and seeing long lines, another example of the area’s strong demand for local dining options.
Beal, who grew up on Beals Island in Washington County, got into baking by exploring old family recipes during the pandemic. Some are now staples at the bakery, including a historic pie crust and a chocolate cake from a church cookbook that’s at least 125 years old.
Beal’s coworkers were overwhelmed with the baked goods he brought into the corporate office where he previously worked, so the couple started making delivery trips to family and friends in Jonesport, stopping along the way at local shops.
“We realized there was a market for it, and it was fun,” he said. “So I decided to throw caution to the wind.”
Sweet Cheeks opened its first location on Verona Island in 2021; in their first days, the couple sold out in “no time,” spent the whole night baking and by 10 the next morning were closed after selling out again.
Demand kept growing, so in 2023 they added 24/7 vending machines to keep up supply in the wintertime without needing staff. More vending-only locations were added in Holden and Newport as customers asked for them. An Ellsworth location that opened earlier this year offers a drive-through, counter service and inside seating along with a vending machine room.
To supply the expanding businesses, they’ve brought on dozens of employees, including one dedicated to baking 300 chocolate cakes each weekend and another to decorating them; the company has churned out 9,000 eclairs alone this year.
In their increasingly rare moments of free time, Beal and Roy enjoy going to breakfast. Verona customers also often asked for a place to sit down, leading to the idea of opening a diner.
“We love breakfast,” Beal said. “That was our initial goal, was really bringing good breakfast to Bucksport.”
They bought and updated the former Glenn’s Place family restaurant along Route 1 with a 1950s theme, working to create a memorable experience with an old jukebox, records decorating the walls and poodle skirt outfits for staff.
Along with a full diner menu for breakfast and dinner, bakery items are available along with other desserts only served at the diner, such as sundaes.
More than 2,000 parties of customers came in during the early weeks; within six days, owners decided to pause lunch service temporarily as they adjust to the demand.
“The outpouring of support from our communities is just beyond overwhelming,” Beal said.
The couple credits some of it to their community involvement through offering high school scholarships, charity benefits and support for the Bucksport Little League.
Food has also always brought people together, Beal said, and sharing the couple’s own story on social media has connected them with their customers.
“The driving force is that you’ll sit and watch somebody take a bite of something we’ve made, and you can see they just light up and go to a place that’s happy. That’s cool,” Roy said. “That’s it right there.”
The diner is still ironing out rough spots and adjusting to challenges from the high level of demand, according to Beal, asking for patience when wait times are longer or menu items run out. The owners hope to add more special events and to expand hours as they settle in to their newest space.
“When you serve that many people, that’s going to happen, and so it’s a lesson for us to learn, too,” he said. “The biggest challenge has been just that, navigating the overwhelming amount of people coming.”
