Johnny DiMillo With His Daughter Haley This Afternoon. Haley, who lives on Munjoy Hill, Replaced Her Grandmother Arlene, at the Front Desk When Arlene Retired in 2016

“It was the strongest and most expensive storm ever,” said Johnny DiMillo, 55, one of three owner-managers of the iconic restaurant on the Portland waterfront this afternoon.  And the amiable son of the founder of the car ferry turned waterfront restaurant knows. That’s because he has worked there since he was fifteen (15) years old.

The biggest hurdle was the high tide at noon time – 12:05 on Saturday, January 13th.  “The water level was parallel with the parking lot.  If it had been another 1/2 foot, the parking lot would have been under water,” Johnny said.  The most dangerous time was between 11:00 am – 1:00 pm that day.  Repairs on the marina and the building itself began around 3:00 pm that same Saturday.  And they were ongoing today as drilling could be heard near the bar area as Johnny and I talked in mid-afternoon today.

Two of the eight  pilings in the adjacent marina had to be repaired  “Any time you have to have marine repairs, it’s expensive,” Johnny said.  The aluminium emergency ramp broke down during the storm and required repairs.  For now it is patched up, but the contractor is workig on a permanent plan.  And the flex connector for the sprikler system broke during the surge and needs to be replaced.  There are other small cosmetic repairs that need to be made, but nothing that keeps the restaurant from serving  its loyal customers,  Amazingly, the power never went out during the storm.
But the restaurant was moving like I’d never seen it move before,” said Johnny. “These local contractors made DiMillos a priority.  We are very thankful and grateful to them\..”

Back in 1980, Tony DiMillo purchased the former car ferry for his family’s waterfront business.  In 1982, the doors to DiMillo’s Floatting Restaurant were opened.  It was one of the larget floating restaurants in the country.  Her overall length is 206 feet, with a beam of 65 feet.  She weighs 701 tons and boasts a 1500 horsepower steam engine.  The former car ferry seats up to 600 guests in the first and seond deck dining rooms as well as the port side lounge and the three customer decks.  Back in 1941 it was commissioned “The New York” and ran as a car ferry betwen New Castle, Delaware and Pennsville, New Jersey.