BOWDOINHAM — Bowdoinham has a new pub to replace its only restaurant, which shuttered last year.

Its name, Three Robbers Pub, pays homage to the town’s history. It comes with the story of how three masked men robbed Bowdoinham’s bank one night back in 1866. 

The thieves crept into the home of the bank’s cashier and clubbed him with the butt of a pistol, bound and gagged him. They took him to the bank and forced him to open the safe. They escaped with $73,461, most in bank notes and bonds. Except for a few hundred dollars in bonds found in a gutter in Portland, the money was never recovered. Three men were convicted for the robbery the following year.

The building housing the new pub is a piece of Bowdoinham history, too. Located in the village and only steps from the town landing and Mailly Waterfront Park on the Cathance River, it was home to The Town Landing restaurant and store for many years and has also served as a post office and hardware store.

Lynn Spiro ran the restaurant and store for 14 years but handed the reins over to Regina “Gina” Bartholomew in July 2017. The Town Landing, Bowdoinham’s only restaurant, closed in September 2018 due to “unforeseen circumstances,” according to the announcement on its Facebook page. A for sale sign went up in the window and the building’s future was uncertain.

Businessman Scott McIntire bought the building a few months later, remodeled the interior and chose the name. He had brought new life to an old brick building on Main Street in Richmond several years ago when he opened The Old Goat pub.

Now the Three Robbers Pub headed by co-owners Sam Hilling, originally from Scotland, and Greg Bernier of Harpswell. The duo bought the business from McIntire, who still owns the building.

Hilling has bartended for many years and Bernier has served as an executive chef. Bernier attended culinary school at Southern Maine Community College in Portland. The two worked several years together at Sea Dogs. They have their own fans who followed them to Bowdoinham.

Bernier has put together the menu and Hilling chooses the beer and wine. 

Bernier makes most everything in-house, including dressings, sauces, his red wine vinegar pickles and fried pickled asparagus. He gets salad greens from Blue Bell Farm in Bowdoinham and tomatoes come from Backyard Farms based in Madison.

Burgers range from poutine and Mediterranean to mushroom swiss and buffalo burgers. 

There are also subs, including the sausage bomb, steak and cheese and fried and grilled haddock. 

“For the beer we try to do mostly Maine brews,” Hilling said. “We have Cushnoc from Augusta. We just brought on Bath Brewing. We have Boothbay Harbor Brewing, Masons out of Brewer and we even have some Sea Dog beer as well as Rock Harbor from Rockland.”

Three Robbers Pub is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and until 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. It is closed on Sundays because an ordinance prevents it from serving liquor. The pub hopes to gather 250 signatures from Bowdoinham voters to put it to a townwide vote and if residents give the OK, Three Robbers will be open Sundays as offer mixed drinks.

“It’s great to have a place in Bowdoinham to have a beer,” said Matthew Ahlers. He gave the burgers and the French dip sandwich good reviews.

A town full of carpenters and tradesmen, it’s nice to have a place to eat at lunchtime.

His sister, Georgia Ahlers said it’s nice to meet community members she doesn’t know there. She’s lived in Bowdoinham her whole life and used to work at The Town Landing.

“I think it’s exciting,” she said. “I think it’s been a long time coming to have a watering hole in Bowdoinham.”

Three Robbers Pub is open for business at 12 Main St., in Bowdoinham. (Darcie Moore / The Times Record)dmoore@timesrecord.com