Chef Micheal Lin and his wife, Melissa Lin, began operating Lin’s Takeout Kitchen, located at Orono’s American Legion House, back on Jan. 5. The location operates as a means to bring a sense of community to the forefront by providing delicious Asian and American cuisine to local customers, veterans and companies alike.
As a seasoned chef and manager with over two decades of experience in the Greater Bangor area, Micheal has always wanted to share his cooking with the community around him. After much encouragement from family and friends, Micheal decided to look around for a location to make his dream a reality.
The Lins’ eventually decided to rent out the Legion building’s kitchen, which is spread out and quiet enough for Micheal to work well in. Renting the kitchen would also help in providing revenue to the Legion, as a means to give back support to their community. The Legion building is also a significant location for one of their family members.
“My dad is a Vietnam veteran, and has been a member here since the 80s,” says Melissa Lin, “When we were in the process of looking for a place to open, he had suggested that we talk to the members and see if they be willing to, because the state already classified it as a commercial kitchen.”
The Lins’ were able to secure a location at the Legion, and after six months of preparation, the restaurant held a soft opening with friends and family. The Orono’s American Legion gave Micheal as much space as possible for the takeout restaurant to be successful.
The restaurant operates exclusively through a takeout system, where customers can place orders through phone or through the company’s website. Customers then stop by the Legion building and call the number posted on the door to confirm their location. Customers then receive their order through curb side pick up in a simple and effective manner. Legion members have the opportunity to come in and eat lunch free of charge.
The menu, which can be found on the company’s website, has a wide selection of Asian dinners as well as offering some American cuisine as well. Customers can choose from chicken dishes as well as beef and seafood offerings accompanied by rice and noodles. There are also vegetarian choices available, as well as soups, chowders and fried chinese donuts for dessert.
The menu is rather diverse with an option for just about anyone, with many of the dishes offered being ones that Micheal has cooked for his family over the years.
The highlights of the menu include the beef chow fun and noodles with east asian mushrooms, as well as Lin’s Chicken tenders with sweet and spicy peanut sauce. The peanut sauce in particular goes well with the offerings of chicken, vegetable or roast pork egg rolls as recommended by Micheal and Melissa Lin.
Customers also have the option of ordering large party platters for private parties or other sizable groups of people. Such options include breakfast and brunch, chicken lo mein with cauliflower, chicken tenders with beef and broccoli or pulled pork with coleslaw. Last Friday alone, Micheal cooked 20 chicken sandwiches, nine platters of tortellini salads and 210 chinese biscuits which had been sent out to the Sam’s Club location in Bangor.
Every item on the menus is also served with no artificial ingredients or taste enhancers such as MSG, making the food as fresh as possible. The restaurant has seen numerous calls from customers with high praise of the food’s quality.
“I got a call from the other day on Monday when we drove down the interstate, a lady called ‘Can I place an order for Thursday? I heard so many good things about your place! I have to try it’,” Micheal says.
Lin’s Takeout Restaurant prides itself on community hospitality, delicious food and the flexibility of ordering food to be enjoyed at home. Micheal and Melissa Lin are proud to serve a variety of foods to veterans as well as residents in the Greater Bangor area.
The location is open on Thursday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. as well as Friday and Saturday from noon to 8 p.m. For more information, you can visit their website https://www.lins.kitchen/
