What helps distinguish Billy's from all the other seafood restaurants in Maine?
We offer extremely fresh seafood. I have several purveyors I buy from, and we buy in big volume, so that helps. We get orders in every day, all to our "pars" or specifications. Buying good seafood can be very competitive.

Is it true that the portion sizes are pretty big, too?
Well, yeah, that's another secret to our success. We menu lobsters at 1 1/4 pounds and offer double servings and even larger lobsters, too. We also offer everything from a cheese sandwich to a platter of mixed fried seafood.

What are Billy's customers like? Mostly summer tourists?
No, not really. We attract both tourists and locals. It sort of changes throughout the year, but we're always busy.

In the summer we get a lot of large parties. Ten to 12 is normal, but they can get up to even 30 or more. There are lots of kids, too. They know they can walk in and sit right down. In the fall customers start to get a little older, and we start to see more regulars. The regulars just have to have their chowder.

What's the most drastic chowder pursuit you've ever seen?
We close for a few weeks every winter, and once when we were putting a new floor in and cleaning during the closed time, a customer came in through the dining room. We had all the kitchen equipment and tables and chairs all stacked up in there, and you couldn't really get through. But somehow he climbed over everything and stuck his head in the kitchen and said: "Hey, are you guys open? I want some chowder."

Dick, can you tell us a bit about how you acquired Billy's Chowder house? It was a classic seafood restaurant on the harbor, right?
Yes. It was a landmark built in the '50s, built with a fish market and the whole thing. I was working as executive chef at a resort that wasn't doing very well, but I didn't want to leave Maine. So I decided the best thing was to try to start a place of my own. Billy's had just been sold when I heard about it. But then the guy pulled out, and I was able to pull a deal together in six weeks. That was back in July of 1989. After that we really tricked it out with tanks and lots of new equipment. And Dave has been with me now nine years.

How soon before Billy's started feeling growing pains?
Not long at all. There wasn't enough room there for takeout or enough storage, and I was turning 50 people away a day. There was a place down the road that came available, so I worked out another deal. That's how we started Billy's 2 Go.

What are some of the differences between the two restaurants, and how do they complement each other?
It's not full service, so customers don't pay any gratuity. The menu is more limited, but we installed a pizza oven and started making pizzas, which became a big hit, too.

We also use the space as a sort of warehouse, after putting in lots of storage units. So now we're able buy for all three restaurants in volume. And that obviously helps our pricing a lot.

And how does Varano's Italian Restaurant fit into the picture?
I always wanted an Italian restaurant. It was a dream for a long time. In 1999 a nice family restaurant down the road came up for sale. And so we went for that, too.

We put in two 12-foot stone hearth ovens for baking pizza and stocked a great wine cellar. And we started serving very, very good Italian food in a more elegant setting. We make our own gnocchi and homemade manicotti and feature special wine dinners. So Varano's isn't really competition for Billy's but another dining alternative.