Foodie’s Diary: Bojack’s Broiler Pit, Lewiston

Bojack’s is a Lewiston landmark, a restaurant recommended by locals for decades. I admit, I didn’t get it at first.

Was it the variations of meat, bread and potatoes served over a long series of courses? Was it that one of these courses was, inexplicably, a large plate of spaghetti? Was it the slice of candied apple as red as the restaurant’s door painted with a dancing devil?

That door opens to a smoky bar where, maybe after a few stiff drinks, one descends hungrily to the basement dining room where one dependably finds some of the best meat around. A companion recently used the words “meat candy” to describe the French onion soup. Bojack’s reputation crosses many divides, drawing hungry outdoorsmen, business executives and couples seeking a candlelit dinner.

Over the years I came to understand the significance of bite-size steak to Lewiston culture, and the fact that Bojack’s, family owned and founded in 1951, helped craft its popularity. For outsiders: bite size is tender pieces of fried meat. One popular dish is the Half and Half, five pieces of bite size and five shrimp boiled to perfection in lemon water and served with drawn butter and homemade cocktail sauce ($19.95). Other choices include charbroiled pork chops ($12.95) served with applesauce; and a 16 oz. New York center cut steak ($25.95). All dinners are served with French onion soup or salad, spaghetti, hot bread; and a choice of baked potato, onion rings and French fries. If that isn’t enough, appetizers include mushrooms stuffed with Krab, shrimp, cheeses and spices ($10).

It’s pure Americana dining, a leftover from a time when drinks were called cocktails (announced by the vintage neon side outside) and rice pilaf (served only on weekends) was exotic.

Bojack’s Broiler Pit, 311 Main St., Lewiston, (208) 746-9532