From the road, Stone’s Café and Bakery looks like one of those tumble-down joints where you’d least expect to get a good meal much less a sweet slice of pie or cake.  Yet on my first visit there nearly 15 years ago, its charms were immediate.   Then again I’m an easy mark for family-style diner fare that’s well prepared as heartily old-fashioned as Mother Goose and pretty cheap too.  I would go there regularly for breakfast or lunch, even though it’s a  20-minute drive from Portland.  At breakfast, the sausage gravy over biscuits, the corned beef hash, blueberry pancakes, great home fries and wonderful biscuits made it worth the trek. And when they had their special Saturday night dinners we’d all pile in and stuff ourselves silly with prime rib, pot roast, lasagna, fried fish or whatever the cook’s fancy was that night.  That was pre-2006 when it was known as Stone’s Grove Café and owned by the Mason family for many years.  Before that it was owned by the Sweetsirs (“Fran’s”), another local family.  It’s been around like forever! But beyond its ownership succession this was the quintessential neighborhood constant where families grew up on those wonderfully wholesome meals.

The modest building that houses Stone’s Cafe and Bakery

Then in 2006 the Masons sold the restaurant to Chris Cole who kept the place afloat if only for the community’s enjoyment.  I was going there less often then, yet it was still a local gem but not quite as good as in its glory days pre-2006.  Cole sold it in 2013 as a sort of lease back and then it really went downhill.   It closed in 2015.

I don’t go to that area often but I happened to be on Route 115 aka Walnut Hill Road in  North Yarmouth near the intersection of Route 9 and I passed by the old Stone’s Café.  I did a double take while driving when I saw a big white sign plastered across the building that read: “Under Original Ownership, Bakery, Biscuit, Lunch and Sunday Brunch.”  There were also picnic tables out front and hokey Halloween decorations.  I did a U-Turn and doubled back to pull into the driveway.  It was on a Monday when the restaurant is closed but I vowed to return later in the week to assess this new iteration.

Stone’s is very much back in business; on weekends it can get crowded to get there early

I did that on Thursday and headed out at seven in the morning for a Stone’s Café breakfast circa 2016. I found out, however, that it reopened nearly a year ago when Chris Cole bought it back to the delight of her clientele and neighborhood chums.

Nothing has changed and it sits in a time warp with its booths, counters and tables all in the same place (an in the same condition). There’s a display case with their homemade pies and cakes, the partially open kitchen in the back where  the cooks sling the  hash (and those wonderful biscuits) and the space is not unlike Becky’s Diner.  The difference here it’s in the rural climes of  North Yarmouth,  and just like Becky’s, which attracts a mix of fishermen and white-collar types, Stone’s caters likewise to locals as well as area swells.  There’s always a doctor or lawyer in the house wolfing down flapjacks or huge omelets, mingling with tradesmen, farmers, local workers, homemakers, children and so forth.

There was no need for me to look at the menu when I saw the day’s breakfast special in pink letters on the blackboard—the same place where the blackboard always was announcing dishes of the day: sausage gravy over biscuits with eggs and homefries.

The breakfast crowd at Stone’s; lower left, a closeup of the sausage gravy over biscuits

In short order my breakfast arrived.   OMG what a sight.  Two perfectly fried eggs sunny side up hosting a pile of perfect looking, crusty home fries; the sausage gravy and biscuit was in its own dish nestled in the oval restaurant china plate.  Just by looking at it I knew it would be a revelation.  Big chunks of sausage slathered with a thick (but not like wallpaper paste) and well spiced béchamel that had this rich mahogany tone.  The verdict is: This was one of the best sausage gravy dishes I’ve had anywhere in Maine.  My only qualm was that I thought it should have been set on the plate alongside everything else so you could mix it all together.

Sausage gravy over biscuits with eggs and homefries

Owner Chris Cole doesn’t have immediate plans to resume weekly dinner service and the restaurant is only open six days a week from 7:00 AM to 2:00 PM, 1:00PM on Sundays. Certainly that’s enough time to enjoy the simple pleasures that Stone’s Café does so well.

Stone’s Café and Bakery, 424 Walnut Hill Rd. (Route 115), North Yarmouth, ME 207-829-4000 

Rating: A wonderful neighborhood hot spot for fresh local home-style food.  See this homemade video that shows it all: https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=stones%20cafe%20%26%20bakery

Ambiance: Very friendly, great service

Tables: At the counter, booths and tables

Parking: onsite

$$$: modest