An iconic northern Maine restaurant is set for an Oct. 7 foreclosure auction.
Burger Boy, a Caribou diner designed with a 1950s retro aesthetic, defaulted on its mortgage with First National Bank of Damariscotta earlier this year.
The property at 234 Sweden St. — restaurant equipment included — will be auctioned off by Portland-based Keenan Auction Company, which is also conducting the foreclosure auction of Presque Isle’s Rathbun Lumber in September.
Burger Boy first opened in 1968 and has changed ownership twice in the last 15 years. It was last purchased by Presque Isle resident Dustin Mancos in 2020. Mancos previously owned Winnie’s Restaurant in Presque Isle, and in 2021 opened B-52 Pizza in Limestone. Both have since closed.
Tax records show that Mancos’ company, J. F. Liquidating Corp., which operates as Burger Boy, owes the state of Maine and city of Caribou thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes.
The Maine Department of Labor has filed tax liens against the corporation twice in recent months, the latest on July 28, for unpaid unemployment taxes, interest and penalties totaling $7,138.79.
Mancos’ company also owes $2,731.78 in unpaid Maine sales and use taxes and at least $3,851.32 in Caribou property taxes, records show. His unpaid city taxes total nearly the same amount as the year prior, where a separate lien from the city has yet to be discharged.
J. F. Liquidating Corp. is not in good standing with the Maine Bureau of Corporations, Elections, and Commissions after failing to file its annual report this year, according to records with the Department of the Secretary of State, which oversees the bureau.
Burger Boy has long been an Aroostook County mainstay, known for its classic sawtooth roof and futuristic Googie architecture. It served chicken and seafood, but was best known for its burgers, which Down East magazine named among the best in the state in 2017.
