Flashback Friday: Bugaboo Creek vs. Red Lobster [Poll]

Flashback Friday has returned with another Bangor restaurant showdown from days gone by.

In the inaugural Flashback FRI poll last week, Miller's Restaurant proved as people's favorite most-missed eatery, claiming 54.8% of the vote vs. Pilots Grill Restaurant.

Neither of this week's restaurants were in the area for anywhere near as long as Miller's or Pilots Grill, but that doesn't mean they weren't a popular location.

Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse was a fixture by the Bangor Mall for 22 years, best known for its animatronic animals that would speak to you as you ate. (Which may or may not have scared the holy you-know-what out of me as a child). Bugaboo Creek closed its doors in June 2016 and the building has remained empty ever since.

For a short time, Red Lobster's and Bugaboo Creek's existence had a brief crossover, only a stone's throw apart. Located at the former-site of The 99 Restaurant and the current site of Las Palapas, also near in the mall area, Red Lobster closed it's Bangor doors in 1998.

"Red Lobster bails out of state best known for its red lobsters" read an aptly titled AP article from the time, saying, "The state with a red lobster on its license plate is now the only one in the Lower 48 without a Red Lobster."

In fact, at the time of its closing, Maine joined Alaska as the only other state without the nation's largest seafood chain. But it makes sense, right? Of all states, Maine didn't really have a need for a chain restaurant serving up largely seafood when you can access the best freshly caught seafood in America right here in the ole Pine Tree State during the summer months.

Which place was your favorite when it called Bangor home?