Ye Olde Beef and Ale Stow Ma

Hither in New England, we develop pretty strong attachments to the places that serve us what, and how, we like best … and boy, practice we miss them when they're gone. We are lucky enough to notwithstanding take many wonderful eateries from which to choose, from Kelly's Roast Beef to Louis' Lunch, and we appreciate them all. But we never let go of our past loves, and then let's step into the wayback auto and revisit a few of the at present-closed New England restaurants that live on in our memory.

7 Lost & Gone (But Not Forgotten) New England Restaurants

Everything about Hilltop Steak House in Saugus, MA, was as over-the-meridian every bit its sign.

Prints & Photographs Sectionalization John Margolies/Library of Congress

Hilltop Steak Firm | Saugus, MA

In the early decades of the automobile blast, Road 1 in Saugus, Massachusetts, was a bastion of kitschy restaurants, each of which wore its theme proudly and worked to out-do the others. From the Chinese palace Weylu'southward to the giant (and rather unhappy-looking) bull at Total of Bull Roast Beef, restaurants and other attractions — including a mini-golf game form that featured a l-pes-tall orange dinosaur — competed for attention as vigorously as reality show contestants.

But even among those middle-catching neighbors, Hilltop Steak Business firm stood out. There was no mistaking the type of experience that awaited after you drove past a pasture of fiberglass cows and turned in at the 68-foot-tall cactus sign. There were "Wanted" posters and bull horns on the walls. Dining rooms were named subsequently places like Kansas Urban center, Dodge City, and Sioux City. The rooms were big, the drinks were big, and the food was big (the standard-size sirloin was 18 ounces, but much larger cuts were available as well). And the profits? They were biggest of all. In its prime number, Hilltop Steakhouse was regularly listed among the busiest restaurants in the world.

Hilltop Steak House was founded in 1961 past a butcher named Frank Giuffrida, and it was popular from the showtime. Despite the eatery'south impressive size (at 20,000 square feet, it could accommodate up to 1,400 patrons), the porches were frequently lined with customers waiting to become in. In 1989, Hilltop grossed $lx million, serving more 2 million hungry diners. But by then the end was in sight: Giuffrida had sold the business the previous yr, and it did not fare well under afterwards owners. At that place was a push to open Hilltop locations across New England, but tastes were irresolute, and the auxiliary restaurants never quite succeeded in capturing the appeal of the original. The downturn in public favor that doomed the new locations somewhen caught up with the original likewise, and in 2013, the Saugus Hilltop Steak Business firm served its last meal and joined the ranks of at present-closed New England restaurants.

Pewter Pot Muffin House | Boston, MA

This Boston-based concatenation was the creation of Cambridge native V.J. Catania. At its early-1970s zenith, Pewter Pot Muffin Houses could be found from Harvard Foursquare to Cape Cod, most 40 of them in all. The lure? Muffins, of course — from standard varieties like blueberry and coffee cake to unusual creations similar almond tea and fruit cocktail (there were even "mystery muffins" for daring diners.)

The Pewter Pot was likewise known for good coffee — served in pewter pots — and hearty chowders, sandwiches, and breakfast foods. (Its clam chowder recipe continues to circulate online, still in demand after all these years).

The interior of almost locations had an old-Boston experience, with heavy wooden tables and night-beamed ceilings. The walls featured murals of a traveling muffin human being making his rounds.

Pewter Pot Muffin Firm did not have a long run. Catania opened his beginning eatery in 1963 (belying the menu's merits of "famous since 1831"), but x years later he had sold all the locations except the one in Falmouth. He repackaged it as the Hearth 'n Kettle and eventually expanding that brand to five Cape Cod locations. He would also later own 3 other New England classics: the Cape Codder Resort and Residences in Hyannis, the Dan'l Webster Inn in Sandwich, and the John Carver Inn in Plymouth.

Among the about famous of now-closed New England restaurants is Durgin-Park, a Faneuil Hall favorite for nearly two centuries before it shuttered in 2019.

Aimee Seavey

Durgin-Park | Boston, MA

New England has seen some long-serving restaurants, just there aren't many that tin can say they lasted near two centuries. Durgin-Park, a staple in Boston's Faneuil Hall since 1827, closed its doors on January 12, 2019. At the fourth dimension of its closing, it was the second-oldest eatery in Boston (behind Union Oyster House, 1826) and the fifth-oldest in the country.

Durgin-Park's roots actually go dorsum even further, since information technology grew out of a food hall that opened before long after Faneuil Hall's construction in 1742. John Durgin and Eldridge Park took that over in 1827 (a third partner, John Chandler, came aboard in 1840, only by then information technology was apparently too late to add his name). Following the 1877 deaths of Durgin and Park, Chandler and his heirs ran the eatery until 1945. Two more owners saw the eating house through its next 60 years, until information technology was finally sold in 2007 to Ark Restaurants, whose other holdings include Bryant Park Grill in New York Urban center and Sequoia in Washington, D.C.

During its long run, Durgin-Park flirted with expansion, operating satellite locations at Copley Place and Logan Airport for a time. Only information technology was difficult to match the unique charm of the original, whose hallmarks included long waits, 20-seat communal tables, and sassy­/surly waitstaff. The card highlighted the restaurant'southward deep roots, serving upwardly traditional New England boiled dinners and pot roast, likewise every bit steamed lobster, chowders, and baked prime rib. And for dessert, yous couldn't get wrong with Durgin-Park's Indian pudding.

Green Ridge Turkey Farm | Nashua, NH

In 1931, George and Grace Kimball purchased 200 acres of land in Nashua, New Hampshire, and turned the holding into a turkey farm. It fronted onto Daniel Webster Highway, so that's where they put their farm stand up — and concern was expert. By 1938, the Kimballs had added turkey sandwiches and water ice cream to its offerings, and afterwards those were met with high need, they opened a restaurant in 1940, serving their own turkeys and other fare.

But on Nov 27, 1950, merely 4 days afterward Thanksgiving, a massive fire leveled the restaurant. Not having adequate insurance to rebuild, the Kimballs opted to sell. In March 1951, Howard Flanders and his family became the new owners of Green Ridge Turkey Farm, and a rebuilt restaurant reopened the post-obit year. Victor and Anna Charpentier purchased the farm and restaurant in 1954, and they ran information technology until Victor died in 1966. At that betoken, ownership passed to Victor's nephew, Luc Charpentier, who ran the restaurant until it closed in the mid-1990s.

Throughout its run, seafood remained a popular bill of fare item and pies were the get-to desserts, just the star of the prove never changed. Every day was Thanksgiving at Dark-green Ridge Turkey Farm, and the roast turkey with stuffing and potatoes and cranberry sauce is what put information technology on the map. (Well, that and the giant turkey that disregarded it all from the eating place'southward iconic highway sign.)

Today, a mammoth Barnes & Noble bookstore occupies the space where the restaurant one time stood.

Brigham'south | Massachusetts

Founded by Massachusetts native Edward Brigham in 1914, Brigham'due south opened in the Boston suburb of Newton as a single shop, with the proprietor selling the ice cream and candy he made in the dorsum room. It was a hit from the start, and before long the shop's popularity soared to the point that on some busy days the police had to be chosen on for crowd control. Amid Brigham's claims to fame was popularizing — or possibly even creating — "jimmies" as an ice cream topping.

Brigham's quickly outgrew its mom-and-pop roots. Dedicated production facilities were established, and more than than 20 new Brigham'south locations opened in the 1930s and 1940s. So when Star Marketplace bought Brigham's in 1961, information technology sparked a flurry of expansion that added another twoscore restaurants to the mix. At its pinnacle, Brigham'due south had 100 restaurants across Massachusetts. The nutrient was fine (think burgers, tuna melts, and BLTs), just the ice foam was always the draw. They made a mean lime rickey too.

Post-obit a return to private ownership in 1982, Brigham'due south capitalized on its near popular offering and began selling packaged ice foam in supermarkets. When hard times descended in the 2000s, the visitor was split into ii entities, with the restaurant concern being sold to Deal Metrics, and the retail ice foam business, along with the Brigham's name and trademark flavors, beingness sold to Hood, which continues to distribute them to stores under the Brigham'south proper noun. The final Brigham's-branded eating house, located in Arlington, Massachusetts, retired the proper name in 2015.

Chadwick'southward | Lexington, MA

Located on the town line betwixt Lexington and Waltham, Massachusetts, Chadwick's was all-time known for its water ice cream sundaes, and most famously the "BellyBuster": 20 (some say 30!) scoops of ice cream, carried to the table on a silver platter by multiple busboys, who would pretend to struggle with the weight. Supposedly, the BellyBuster was gratis to anyone who could swallow it all in ane go.

Equally memorable were the Chadwick's birthday celebrations — and since the whole thing worked on the honor system, it was pretty much always someone's altogether. Actress Amy Poehler worked at Chadwick's as a teenager in the late 1980s, as did her future Saturday Nighttime Alive castmate Rachel Dratch. In a 2013 essay in The New Yorker, Poehler described the scene:

Chadwick's was one of those fake quondam-timey restaurants. The menus were written in swoopy cursive. The staff wore Styrofoam boaters and ruffled white shirts with bow ties…. Every time a client was celebrating a altogether, an employee had to bang a drum that hung from the ceiling, and play the kazoo, and encourage the entire restaurant to join him or her in a sing-along. Other employees would band cowbells and blow noisemakers. I would stand up on a chair and loudly announce, "Ladies and gentlemen, we are and then happy to have you at Chadwick'southward today, simply nosotros are especially happy to have Kevin! Because it's Kevin'due south birthday today! So, at the sound of the pulsate, please join me in singing Kevin a very happy birthday!"

Décor included a large-wheeled 19th-century-style bicycle that hung on the wall, and for a while, a Superman cape could be found hanging in the phone booth in the dorsum. But alas, all good things must come to an cease. Despite its popularity, Chadwick'due south closed in 1998. There is now a daycare center where it once stood, at the corner of Waltham Street and Concord Avenue.

Jordan Marsh Bakery | Boston, MA

Founded in Boston past Eben Hashemite kingdom of jordan and Benjamin Marsh in 1851, Hashemite kingdom of jordan Marsh & Visitor was a pioneering department store that expanded throughout New England and beyond, becoming a popular anchor store equally mall shopping took off in the 1950s and 1960s. At its peak, the Jordan Marsh flagship store at Downtown Crossing was Boston'due south largest shop, with one.7 one thousand thousand square feet of retail space. Here, shoppers could not only find a wide range of clothing and items from "around the globe," merely also exist treated to fashion shows, concerts, holiday exhibits, fine art shows, and a bakery that soon became famous for its blueberry muffins.

Located on the ground floor, the Jordan Marsh Food Shop and Bakery would have shoppers following their noses toward those signature muffins and other baked goods; once there, they could also browse gourmet snacks and gift baskets. For many shoppers — and especially for any weary kids and spouses who accompanied them — the bakery was an essential part of a long solar day of shopping at Boston's destination shop.

In the mid-1990s, amongst flagging sales, Hashemite kingdom of jordan Marsh airtight its doors for practiced, with the remaining stores being rebranded as Macy'due south. Only the man who had been behind those delicious muffins for more than 30 years, baker John Pupek, wasn't ready to let go. So he opened his own shop, the Hashemite kingdom of jordan Marsh Muffin Co., in Brockton, Massachusetts, in 1998. Later on a half-dozen-year run, Pupek retired on Christmas Eve of 2004. Luckily, the recipe has been preserved for those who would like to make those classic Jordan Marsh blueberry muffins at dwelling.

Which now-closed New England restaurants do you miss virtually?

This post was first published in 2020 and has been updated.

See More than:

One Terminal Sense of taste of Durgin-Park

Gone-Merely-Not-Forgotten New England Amusement Parks

Markdown Memories | Filene'southward Basement

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Source: https://newengland.com/today/travel/new-england/closed-new-england-restaurants/

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