DiMillo's Floating Restaurant

DiMillo's Floating Restaurant. . , In 1982, Tony set out to realize his most ambitious dream of all to build a floating restaurant next to his marina-by converting a used car ferry into a facility that could serve 600 people at a time., To help finance the project, Tony sent out 250 letters to his friends offering to sell "planks" in his floating restaurant for $1,000 apiece. In 30 days, he raised $250,000. The rest, as they say, is history., Today, DiMillo's Floating restaurant is the busiest restaurant in Maine, serving hundreds of thousands of customers annually. The marina has become a destination for elegant megayachts from around the world. , , Perhaps Tony's crowning achievement is the promenade you see behind you, finished in the Spring of 1998. Designed by Tony, it is for you to enjoy. It is his gift to you, the public, for helping make his fabulous dreams come true. , At the time, the Portland waterfront was not the dynamic port that it is today. Few tourists ventured down here. When Long Wharf, the area behind you, was offered for sale in 1978, it was a dilapidated, burned-out coal pier. , Tony risked everything to buy it., People told him he was throwing his money away. The press referred to Long Wharf as a "white elephant.", Like all true visionaries, Tony was thinking big. He believed in the future of the waterfront and he believed in his dreams. He also had the courage to "risk it all" to make his dreams come true., In 1979, he began the slow process of rehabilitating the pier and built the marina you see today. Before long, the marina was full. The Old Port was also beginning to blossom into a major retail center. , Tony Dimillo , A Tribute to His Vision, All his life, Tony DiMillo has done two things very well, pursued his dreams and told it like it is. He is famous for both., A Portland native, he and his wife, Arlene, are the parents of nine children. Early on, Tony founded several successful restaurants in Portland, starting with Anthony's on Fore Street, which he opened in 1954 and was made famous by his slogan "The clams you eat here today slept last night in Casco Bay." The restaurant was very successful, but Tony had dreams of something bigger., Perhaps it was the influence of his birth sign, Pisces, or his ability to see a business opportunity long before most others do-but before long Tony knew that being near the water was not good enough He had to be on the water. Literally.