The Ribbon Has Been Cut Making the China Dine-ah Too Officially, errrrrr, Official!

Friday morning at the China Dine-ah Too was an occasion I was invited to by Christine from Bar Harbor Savings Bank, right across the street from the restaurant. I'm glad she did because I would have been sad had I missed the opportunity to share the event with my pal, Norm Elvin, and his staff....

The story of this place on Route 3, which serves take out food (like lobster rolls, fried chicken baskets, fried clams, seafood, burgers and those sorts of things), is an interesting one.

Norm realized that, with the original China Dine-ah located a couple miles up Route 202, Lakeview Drive, he was missing all of the Route 3 summer traffic headed to the Belfast and Bar Harbor. He remedied that by buying an old property which formerly housed a video store, coffee shop, driving school and, who knows what else. He thought it would be a great place to plant a big sign for the China Dine-ah. Then he got to thinking about the rather large property and the decrepit building which stood on it and decided that, in addition to a sign, he'd rebuild the building and open a take-out restaurant at the location.

That's a long story synopsized. In reality, it took over a year of hard work by contractors, led by Norm's right hand man, Harry Langis. Harry is quite a talented builder who was key in designing and building the original Dine-ah.

Fast forward to late June of this year. The Dine-ah Too opened without fanfare or hoopla while the new team, led by some of the China Dine-ah's team, worked out the kinks. While they still may be having some early growing pains, they are putting out a fantastic product!

Now you have a choice when you're headed down Route 3 through China. Fast food at the China Dine-ah Too, which has some inside seating and a HUGE deck. Or the original Dine-ah where you can sit down with family and friends for a relaxing home cooked style meal with cocktails and a full menu. Either way, you'll get a quality meal at a fair price!

Photos below were taken by Mark and Deanna Walker.