Once a week Graham picks a downtown eatery and alerts MOB members of the location via Facebook or Twitter on the morning of MOB Lunch day. Pegged as a way to breathe life into downtown Bangor, Graham came up with the idea when he passed a boarded up Giacomo's in February. Frustrated that small restaurants and cafes were dying off in downtown (Giacomo's is re-opening in May) Graham decided to do something about it.
Bangor Lunch MOB's Facebook page currently has over 630 members -- all who are privy to the weekly lunch pick. Today it was Montes Gourmet Cafe on Columbia Street. Knowing the MOB would eventually land in their cafe, Carmen and Arturo Montes started getting ready for it early. They had signs made and each customer got a nifty sticker to wear proudly.
Lunch MOBbers (Left) Jennifer Freese of Brewer Family Medicine, Jenn Sonnenberg of Epic Sports, and Michelle Rosenthal from the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.
"Carmen Montes said that they hadn't seen many of their regulars today and instead saw a lot of new faces," Graham said. About 25 people headed over to Montes today for lunch. The hope is that the MOB will bring in new customers in -- not scare them away. Bagel Central hosted the Lunch MOB last Wednesday and the place seemed eerily quiet.
Whether you are familiar with the restaurants in downtown Bangor or not, The Lunch MOB is a great way to support local small businesses. Graham has some ideas for the Lunch MOB come summertime but wouldn't divulge. Members will have to wait for the temperature to heat up to find out.
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2 comments:
this was the best lunch i've had in some time! thank you montes and the lunch mob!!
just a quick note on last weeks lunch mob... the 'eery quite' could have been due to the stabbing accross the street the day before. downtown seemed pretty dead in general on wed.
I had a great lunch at Montes yeterday and absolutely LOVED the idea of the stickers! Thanks! Lunch mobbin' it is the way to go! If you're not, you SHOULD be!
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