Popular seafood restaurant in Saco is on the market

SACO — If you’re looking for Denise Gelinas in the summer, chances are you know where to find her.

Gelinas is the third generation of owners at Huot’s Seafood Restaurant, a seasonal business in the seaside community of Camp Ellis. Huot’s opened in 1935 and remains a popular place with both locals and tourists, and is known for its clam cakes, chowders and seafood dinners.

Gelinas, now 54, has worked in the restaurant since she was 10 years old. And like most any other seasonal business owner in Maine, works long hours in the summer months.

“I love what I do,” she said. “It’s been a long haul, but I still enjoy it."

Gelinas and her family recently put the restaurant on the market. According to an online listing, the property at 29 Eastern Ave. is nearly three quarters of an acre and includes the restaurant building and parking area. It’s footsteps from the Saco Jetty and the asking price is $2.2 million.

Gelinas said she will still be working this summer at the restaurant as usual, and plans to do the same next year if they don’t find a mutually agreeable offer with a buyer.

Gelinas said she’s been in the business a long time, and her children are not interested in the businesses – one is a pharmacist and the other is going to school to become a nurse. After 40 years, it might be time to try something else, said Gelinas. She’s not sure what the next chapter holds or even when it will begin, but she decided it wouldn’t be a bad idea to see what opportunities are out there.

Publisher Liz Gotthelf can be reached at [email protected].