Favorite restaurants that are no longer there (Boston, Lynn: apartment, live)

[VerBoston]

I remember going to the Magic Pan in the Burlington Mall; it was French themed and the crepes were really good; I was a teenager at the time and it was really "fancy" to me.

I think Ponderosa was another one; also in Burlington. It was a steak house, similar to York Steak House and it was across the street from the Mall where Newbury Comics is.

I miss the Andover Jade too; great Chinese food; its now a Marshall's store.

How about the old Coffe Connection in Harvard Square - I could never imagine a better cup of Joe. Starbucks eventually bought them; what a shame.

And many have mentioned Bailey's; what about Brighams ? Are they still around as a restaurant ? I haven't seen one in years.

[goyguy]

I go back to when Brigham's had stores in every shopping district or mall around. You could spot the red white and blue "bunting" from a block away. All the ones in conspicuous locations (Harvard Square, Boylston & Tremont, etc) have disappeared. But they still exist here and there. Recent sightings have been in Arlington Hts and in Wollaston (Quincy.) And I hear the one in Mattapan Square remains in business too. However, I don't believe any of those three - maybe any of the ones left - have a grill any more. The stores just sell ice cream and candy.

Matter of fact, it's gotten so that lunch counters in general are hard to find any more. Everybody's in too much of a hurry to sit around in a public place and chat while they eat. Their food goes into a bag which goes back to the office. Either that, or the mid-day break is spent in a mall's "food court" with the meal dished onto a plastic tray and eaten at a table seating two or four persons. Communal public dining is endangered if not extinct.

One of the other "dinosaurs" of this species was Harvard Do-Nut, which was actually in Central Square. It had kept a loyal clientele for its diner section and a widespread fan club for its amazing variety of moist plump muffins (like peanut butter and mint!) But the owner wanted to retire, and Starbucks made an offer he couldn't refuse.

You can still get a strong sense of how places like Harvard Do-Nut and the "old" Brigham's - and Dunkin's - were by stopping in to Twin Donut in Allston's Union Square or Verna's in North Cambridge. That's where people can still buy food and coffee freshly made, then park at a table and *** away without fear of being ordered to leave after 20-30 minutes.

[CityGirl52]

When you go on to the Brigham's site, it talks about the history of the stores/ice cream. Look under "The Scoop on Brigham's" it's pretty interesting...

www.brighams.com

We were at the North Shore Mall in Peabody walking thru the food court and we spotted a Brigham's there recently. Well, we were in our glory, so we HAD to stop and order one of their vanilla sundae's on the spot. It's still great, no matter where they're located in my book. Too bad there weren't more of them around like the old days!

There used to be a Brigham's on High Street in the Financial District that was a little gold mine, and believe me it wasn't the updated newer decor Brigham's, trust me, it was this little hole in the wall; but SO many of us frequented it, because it was so convenient & reliable! Tons and tons of us that worked in that whole area would stop in for breakfast/lunch and in the nice weather there would be a long and I mean long line out the door to get a cone! I doubt very much if it's still there, I'd be surprised if it was though. Does any one know if it's still there? It was in back of the Verizon 185 Franklin Street building, around the corner from Congress Street.

Goyguy, I remember Harvard Donut very well. I went to high school in Cambridge and we used to stop there on the way to school early in the morning, all the time, we used to always get written up for being late and that's the reason why! It had the best coffee & donuts back then. Yes, you don't see lunch counters any more, those days are over I guess, it's sad just the same. There used to be this place in southern NH called the Honey-Bee Donut Shop & it was right across from a Dunkin Donuts and SO many people would stop in for breakfast and donuts to the Honey-Bee that the line would be out the door, it was that good. There were still the regulars going there right up until the owner Phil closed the doors in May 2007. He just couldn't do it any more, it was the saddest thing. Chronicle even did a story on it because the owner wrote a series of books about it all. He did well when Dunkin's was put across the street from him too, but he just couldn't do it after so many years of the competition, eventually he even died and so many people think it just did him in, in the end....The Honey Bee regulars became characters in Englehardt's "Motorcycle Man" series of semi-autographical books. In fact, one of the regulars in the book is a good friend of mine's husband!

[paradiddle]

Been gone for awhile and I'd thought I'd jump in again.

I was an original Burlington Mall rat and remember a lot of different places. I worked at Jordan's and Filene's restaraunts. Remember the Brigham's in there. Magic Pan I liked. Bonanza ehhhh, I remember they charged for each butter pattie. There has been so much change in that area including the Middlesex Tpk that it baffles me. I can't get used to the 2nd floor.

How about Pewter Pot? I loved the chowder and we would hang out many nights there. One in Lexington and Burlington.

'No-Name' ..... had some great times there after work in Allston on Saturday. We would ride our motorcycles over and bring some beer (BYOB). You could choose to wait in line with your cooler or go around and sit at the diners bar. This spot put us in the front of the cooks making the fish chowder. It was very comical to watch these guys as they would argue in greek and swing the big metal spoons at each other.

[lrfox]

Brighams still has a good number of locations-- including one at 109 High St. in the Financial District.

here's a map with each of those locations:
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie...,1.235962&z=10

[CityGirl52]

Irfox:

OH so the Brigham's IS still in the Financial District then? Well, that's good to know. I feel like going down there some day soon just to sit at their lunch counter for old times sake, I think I will, now it's on the agenda!

Paradiddle:

I remember all the Pewter Pots! They were EVERY WHERE there were stores! When I was a teenager I worked at the Pewter Pot on Arch Street for a few weeks and the manager there knew I waitressed before by the way I flew around that place placing orders. A friend of mine & I got stuck in the Pewter Pot in Canton at Cobbs Corner over the Blizzard of 78 for a good 3 days. They were the ONLY restaurant in that whole area that would let us cook whatever we wanted & could find. KFC were a disgrace with the way they treated people, I will NEVER EVER set foot in a KFC for as long as I live after what we all went thru down there during that blizzard.

Okay, just my two cents, as usual I have to keep it short & simple again! .

[Byron Cameron]

Originally Posted by goyguy

"After shopping, won't you try a great big Bailey's sundae?" Now those were ice cream parlors! And Bailey's poor relation, Brigham's, used to be great for a quick cone or sandwich but has also vanished.

No one else remembers Aku-Aku in Kenmore Square and by Alewife? C'mon, admit it!

And how about Joyce Chen's: the "small eating place" near MIT, the not much larger eating place on Rindge Ave, then the spectacular restaurant downtown in the transportation building with the huge dragon on the wall and the indoor stream complete with arched footbridge? Opening that grandiose place is what drove the business into bankruptcy as Joyce herself lay dying from Alzheimer's. A crying shame.

People keep asking online whether there's still a Valle's Steak House in existence. It's like believing the ivory-billed woodpecker really isn't extinct: somebody knows somebody who swears they saw a Valle's near a highway in Connecticut but they can't remember where. Deal with it. They're gone.

Tandoor House used to be the best Indian restaurant in Central Square (Cambridge.) But I guess that wasn't enough - or maybe it was, and the owners retired rich.

Anybody else recall Bel Canto? They made the best calzones ever, baked from whole wheat dough and overstuffed with fresh meats and/or cheeses and/or veggies. From a hole-in-the-wall storefront between Harvard and Central Squares, they expanded into the former Acropolis restaurant next door and eventually opened in at least two other locations - then were bought out by the Pizzeria Regina folks and shut down not long thereafter.

The Genji and Roka Japanese restaurants, there before sushi was cool...

Bob the Chef's, closed last year after an attempt to yuppify it as a "Southern bistro" was less than successful...ditto (in food category) for Dixie Kitchen by Berklee...

Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips! Chain restaurant, but so good.

The Bay Tower Room downtown for "occasion" dinners...

Ruggles Pizza - those cheddar-topped pies were scrumptious, all right!

Montilio's bakeries...

Division Sixteen, next to the Back Bay firehouse on Boylston St, served the BEST omelettes and could mix a mean drink too.

The Fishery in Central Square (1993-2000, RIP)...

How about places that are still around but have seen better days? Green St Grill loses something every time it moves farther towards upscale from its origins as a funky dive with a jukebox and unbelievable Caribbean cuisine. None of my friends nor I have been in since John Clifford sold the place. "Grill" has been dropped from the name, and the appeal of dishes like $18 mac-n-cheese escapes me. Legal Seafoods is in no way as good as it was back in the days before they could be found in every mall in eastern Mass. and all the way down the East Coast to Florida. No one argues that the Hilltop Steak House hasn't gone downhill. No Name is completely unworthy of a visit since they moved out of the warehouse and quit serving Coke in the old-fashioned curved green glass bottles...And so on and on and on...

In happier news: After being raised from the dead in January of '07, Verna's in North Cambridge keeps turning out their incomparable honey-dipped donuts and thumbing their nose at Dunkin Donuts store #3825 a mere two blocks up Mass. Ave. Go Verna's!!!

I remember Aku Aku and Bel Canos and Ken's at Copley square...cool hangout for Emerson College students

[Beachcomber4]

Originally Posted by crazyworld

If anyone is familiar with Quincy...anyone remember Eddie's Diner. Now that was the place to go in the middle of the night. The food was bad but the sights were great! It is now a bank.

Wow, talk about a memory jogger. That was back in my college days. Eddie's for greasy breakfast to ward off a hangover on the way home from JJ Foley's. How about the Hojo's at the South Shore Plaza. Nat was the late night waitress.

[Peter Creedon]

While its still around, but closed more than half of its stores; is Bickfords. I remember the one in Hanover, which I think is gone now, anyone from around the Hanover,MA area could verify this.

[Beachcomber4]

The Bickford's in Hanover was where everyone went from my hometown for pancakes after First Communion. It's now a Bank of America. The one at the Braintree rotary is closed as well.