06/07/2026
28 years ago, I sat with my yellow lab, Roxie, surrounded by everything I had in the world jammed into the tiny apartment above 111 Maine Street. I didn't sleep that night, or for several weeks after that. The next day, June 8th 1998 at 1pm, Paul Hitz, founder of the Bohemian Coffee House closed and locked the front door of the shop. We sat in my living room upstairs and signed papers and I handed him a check. A few employees left before the ink was dry, they were not going to be hired anyway, I had spent a couple of Sundays having coffee with a friend to check things out, nobody knew it was even for sale, some good ones stayed, a couple for years. Lots have changed since and we’ve survived more than I could have ever imagined. Some were Y2K, 911, base closure, bird flu, swine flu, Covid, one economic crisis after another, lots of changes to our beloved town, having to move from 111. Our roaster retired. The loss of good team members, some more tragic than others, the loss of customers who were more like family, I still miss most of them but our lives carry on. We made a bazillion gallons of gelato and now have a full deli menu. I’m very proud of my team, we’ve won best coffee yearly since 1997 best waitstaff for several years and even best deli a few. You know me, I ramble and you’ve been punished enough.
Thank you all for a wonderful twenty-eight years! Here’s to many more!
You know we love our customers just like family, so SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN! lol
Thank you again-
Peter M. Robbins
Current Steward,
Bohemian Coffee House and Deli
