Chef Lee Gustin refers to the menu at Blue Anchor Bistro as his greatest hits, a lineup of favorites from years of cooking. Pizza, sandwiches, mac and cheese, burgers and such dominate the list.

“I’m a burger and hot wings guy,” he explained.

But don’t be misled by the apparent simplicity of Gustin’s menu. The best selling item since the restaurant’s opening in downtown Mexico is the Maine lobster burger, a surf and turf combination draped in blueberry ketchup on a pretzel bun.

Among the pizza options are chicken alfredo, burnt ends and Napa – the latter loaded with fresh vegetables and seared chicken on a crust rubbed with pesto.

“My menu is a little different,” the chef said.

Gustin’s model is to bring elegant simplicity to smaller communities. Sauces are made from scratch, as is the pizza dough.

The chef used downtime during the pandemic to resurrect an old family beer bread recipe and transform it into crust. It’s not Chicago style deep dish, but the pizza carries some heft.

These are not assembly line pies. Gustin brings the same made-from-scratch mentality to the preparation of dishes, even the pizza.

“When you order it, that’s when we make the crust,” he pointed out.

Blue Anchor is not a hurried place. But there is a casual area upstairs where guests can relax or play games while waiting for a table. A liquor license is on the way and the dining room will open for Sunday brunch sometime in late June, once Gustin is certain all kinks are ironed out.

The menu includes vegan and gluten free dishes, as well.

This is his second edition of Blue Anchor. He opened in Warrenton two years ago. He says that having a blueprint, a ready collection of recipes and a building with a kitchen in place made the construction process easier.

Still, opening day was repeatedly pushed back. An order of equipment and supplies was damaged in transit and had to be returned. The global backlog in production and shipping caused a further delay.

Things tend to go awry when any business first opens, especially in an unusual year. Blue Anchor has been hampered by the labor shortage.

Jerry Foley serves as kitchen manager in Mexico. He has served with Gustin in the past. Even finding people to interview for other positions has been a problem. A job fair yielded 50 potential servers and other staff, but only a few appeared at the restaurant.

“Today has been better,” Gustin said on Wednesday. “We had 10 interviews scheduled and only one no show.”

Gustin was drawn to the weathered storefronts of downtown Mexico.

“We fell in love with the building,” he explained. “We didn’t have to do much construction.”

There is an event center attached and Gustin hopes to run some cooking classes. But that’s in the future.

What’s on his mind now is the second week of service.

“So far, so good,” Gustin said.