Hey everybody, Bubba here! Since you’ve got a minute while you wait for your order to arrive, let’s take a stroll down memory lane. Don’t worry, I’ll only give you the cliff notes version of how Bubba, the owner, has spent the last 50 years in the restaurant business, and how Bubba’s Bar & Grille came to be (hope you ordered an appetizer, this could take awhile!).
First of all, Bubba hasn’t always been known as “Bubba”. He was Bobby when we cut his teeth in the industry as a kitchen-helper at Ragged Mountain Fish and Game Club in Potter Place. During the summers of 1962 – 1964 you could find Bobby scrubbing vegetables, and washing pots and pans for three meals a day, seven days a week. The summer of ’65 was spent as a counselor at Camp Belknap on Lake Winnepesaukee, and the summer of ’66 was split between driving a Good Humor Ice Cream Truck and attending summer school at Northeastern University (ouch!).
Bobby returned to the kitchen in the summer of 1976 at the Gray House Restaurant in New London, NH (now the Flying Goose Brew Pub). That’s when the 20 year run in the business began, with a short two year break from 1970-1972 when Bob served in the US Marine Corps. Bob worked as a short order cook, head cook, manager, and eventually became a restaurant owner. He sold that restaurant in 1995 to Tom and Vicky Mills.
It was in the early 90’s when the tag of “Bubba” appeared. After a week long trip to the south playing golf with a couple of buddies, he returned home as Bubba. Robert, Bob, and Bobby were all names of the past. Anyone who has been around for a few years (or decades) will remember Bubba as the food and beverage manager at King Ridge Ski Area. He then went on to work for a couple of major food purveyors as a salesperson and eventually district manager. After a 16 year gig in the sales game, it was time to get Bubba back in the kitchen.
In May of 2008 Bubba and his wife Robin were back in the restaurant business with the purchase of Millsy’s Boathouse from Tom and Vicky Mills. They spent a couple of weeks splashing around some paint, adding a few touch ups, creating a menu, and changing the sign out front. As they say, after that the rest is history. Bubba’s Bar & Grille has been rockin’ and rollin’ in Newbury Harbor ever since.
Whew! You’re probably starved after reading through all of that. Hopefully you’ve worked up enough of an appetite for a throwback Gray House Ice cream Sundae with Bubba’s homemade hot fudge! Thank you for joining us at Bubba’s. We genuinely hope that you’ll visit us again, because remember what we always say at Bubba’s…We’re havin’ a lot of fun!