SCARBOROUGH — The popular restaurant “Blast From the Past Too” in Scarborough permanently closed on Dec. 18. The diner followed the original restaurant in Waterboro, which closed in 2020.

The owners are “going to retire part-time and start enjoying our time before we get any older,” according to a message on the restaurant’s website.

Blast From the Past was a modular diner built in Ormond Beach, Florida, by Valiant Diners. The restaurant was shipped to Waterboro in three parts and assembled in only two days. The restaurant opened on July 8, 2004, and served the community for the following 16 years.

A second diner, Blast From the Past Too, opened in Scarborough in October 2013.

The business was unique for offering a “fifties style diner restaurant” experience, according to the website. Inside the metallic-looking exterior, the diner contained 50s memorabilia and a jukebox with music from the 50s and 60s.

The menu included classic diner fare such as pancakes, eggs, bacon, cheeseburgers, milkshakes, Maine lobster rolls, and more.

In warmer months the restaurant offered a car show with up to 100 antique cars on display.

“It has been our pleasure to serve the community for the last nine years,” the owners wrote on the restaurant’s website.

The building has now been leased to El Rodeo, who will do renovations and open sometime this year.

“We would like to express our sincere appreciation to all our customers and employees for their loyalty and dedication throughout the years,” the owners wrote online. “We have been blessed with so many great employees over the years. Although we are excited about our next chapter, we are sorry that we will miss all our employees and customers. To our employees, we wish them all the best in their new destinations and future endeavors.”