Woolwich’s Montsweag Roadhouse for sale

Mon, 07/25/2016 - 4:15pm

Montsweag Roadhouse on Route One in Woolwich is for sale.

The landmark restaurant is listed with SVN The Urbanek Group, a member of the New England Commercial Property Exchange NECPE. A description of the property on the NECPE website is advertising the 7,200-square-foot building and 4.1 plus-or-minus-acre property for $845,000.

Reached for comment Monday, Chris Johnston who co-owns the restaurant with ex-wife Jenny Steiner-Johnston, said the time was right to sell the business. They have co-owned it since 2006.

“Our son is headed off to play college football in Ohio and our daughter will be graduating soon, as well,” he wrote in response to an email from the newspaper.

“It's been 10 years and we've been very fortunate. The community embraced the Roadhouse from the very start. It's been a lot of work and a lot of hours, but we're very grateful for our consistent, regular customers. We've also been fortunate to have great staff over the years. Some of them are still here from the very beginning, others have moved on to other careers and started families, but we are still close with them and consider them a part of our family,” Johnston continued.

“We've thought about this for a while and realized that it was time for a new owner to take over and continue the evolution of this restaurant in this community. We know there is room for growth here, but decided that rather than re-investing ourselves, we should make it possible for ‘new blood’ to come in.

“I think we've created a place that people feel comfortable in. We see many of our loyal customers more than once or twice per week. I think that says as much about our staff and the environment as it does the consistent food,” he added. The restaurant employees an average of 20 to 25 people.

After Johnston and Steiner-Johnston purchased the property, they renamed the restaurant and made a number of renovations. Live entertainment was added on the weekends and the lunch and dinner menu expanded to include a variety of popular pub foods. The bar selections include a number of microbrews from local breweries.

Outside, the building looks much the same as it did in the 1970s and 80s when it operated under the name, The Montsweag Farm Restaurant. A date on the side of the building indicates it was built in 1939.