Popular Eateries, Lowell, 1960s

By Leo Racicot

Once our circle of friends got our driver’s licenses, it enabled us to socialize beyond the confines of school. A frequent gathering place was Skip’s Restaurant, out on Chelmsford Street. It was also a magnet for families wanting good, plain, American fare, or a stop-off for coffee for businessmen after work or on their lunch break. They’d sit lined up at the counter or go in The Ember’s, the restaurant’s bar. One waitress, a lady whose maternal demeanor earned her the nickname, “Ma”, would treat us to waitress wit and extra extra loving service. Anthony Kalil adored her, and her feeling for him was mutual. I can still see their jovial interactions and hug-a hug-a embraces.

Another hot spot was The Pizza Hut on Daniel Webster Highway. We’d carpool or meet there separately all the time. Pizza Huts and Papa Ginos were popular eateries in the 1960s. Ordering a couple of large pizzas to split between the group suited our high school budget, cheap and easy fun. I wonder if that particular Pizza Hut is still up there.

I also remember the Pewter Pot chain here in the Lowell area. Our mother would take Diane and me there for a treat. At times, a self-consciousness would fall over me, if I saw I was the only boy in the shop. I felt the same kind of misfit quality whenever Ma dragged me along with my sister to the YWCA downtown on John Street for their luncheons and afternoon teas. All women — and me. I wanted to crawl under the table and stay there!  David McKean and I hit Pewter Pot from time-to-time for muffin and a cup of coffee. They served the best muffins.  Only Jordan Marsh won out over Pewter Pot in the muffin category. After, we’d head in David’s brown Pinto up to Pheasant Lane Mall to look around Spencer Gifts, one of the first stores whose hippie and naughty “blue” jokes merchandise titillated kids our age. Spencer’s was still there the last time I was at the mall. The mall also boasted the first Ticketmaster outlet, which was tucked into a corner hall of Sears. We felt so grown-up buying concert tickets there. The very first concert I went to was Judy Collins when she appeared at Suffolk Downs in The Stars Come Out at Sunset concerts series. There was no bleacher seating so concert goers sat on the grass breathing in the remnants of the horse dung. But the smell didn’t matter. Looking up at beautiful Judy on the stage in her long, delicate prairie dress, her eyes closed dreamily as she sang, made me forget about the less-than-ideal venue.

Fun seekers looking for good food and good times liked to hit The Speare House on Pawtucket Boulevard. They served excellent seafood. I’m not very coordinated and never did get the hang of  the Greek line dancing our group of friends liked to join in on. Either I stopped going with them or they stopped inviting me along or or or….Next door to Speare House was the Peter Pan Drive-in. It made the best what were called Broasted Chicken and Broasted Potatoes. Until recently, when friends came up from Rhode Island for a visit and we went to Mama’s on Lakeview Avenue, I saw them on the menu, I hadn’t thought of broasted potatoes in decades.

And remember — people dining out in the 1960s didn’t look like the diners you see today; men wore suits, neckties, soft hats, greatcoats (in winter), ladies dressed to kill: hands cloaked in white gloves always, always, their coat lapels festooned with large corsages or a festive tussie-mussie a la Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot. And this, in McDonald’s!

Heading out Route 110 towards Littleton and Westford led diners to lots of different eateries. I once heard this stretch of road referred to as “Restaurant Row”. First up was The Old Oaken Bucket, named after a rather mawkish poem by Samuel Woodworth. It had a wonderful country- like interior, served nourishing American cooking. I’d sometimes sit there in our booth silently asking myself why I had to be in “this Old Farts place” but this never stopped me from  enjoying the good food and atmosphere.  Further up the road was Polly’s. Polly’s was famous for having a life-sized small-engine airplane on its roof. Marie would never stop in to eat there; she didn’t trust that “that airplane could come through the roof right onto out heads.”   Diane and I always looked excitedly forward to going to Kimball’s Farms in Littleton. They had the best ice cream we’d ever tasted. Myself, not caring for any kind of creature that flies, wasn’t crazy about the cloud of bees that would descend on my cone. Diane and I went back to Kimball’s on my 60th birthday and darned if those same bees weren’t still hovering over our treats. The Farms have vastly expanded to include Skee Ball, a shooting gallery, air hockey, bumper boats, mini go carts, many, many more amusements, and still the same delicious nonesuch ice cream. Other Lowell area ice cream parlors were: Glennie’s (two locations), Gary’s (on the road to Billerica), Heritage Farms (on Pawtucket Boulevard). And no summer was ever complete without a couple of trips to Burbeck’s on Pawtucket Street, across from the Merrimack Boat Club near the university’s South Campus. In fact, when I worked at O’Leary Library, a favorite walk for workers and students alike during breaks was to head over to Burbeck’s for a cone or ice cream float,

Domenic’s Italian Restaurant was a bit of a way up from Kimball’s and to this day, I’ve never found pizza and spaghetti sauce with the same taste Domenic’s had. The search continues and no one has to twist my arm to keep looking; Italian food is my #1 favorite.

In the other direction up Route 110 going towards Dracut and Methuen/Lawrence was Cathay Gardens on the right, The Windsor on the left, the former offered Chinese food,

the latter, homemade American. We ate at those a few times a year. If you continued on, you’d come to Bea Sandwiches. When my pal, Anthony Kalil, was a kid, he wondered if they served bumble bees between two pieces of bread, or on a sub roll. And of course, Lawrence had Bishop’s (Arabic fare), Cedar Crest (Italian) and downtown, Morin’s Bakery. I loved whenever Marie steered the car towards Lawrence, as did many families in those days.

Howdy’s, located at the junction of Thorndike and Dutton Streets, had the best burgers, big, juicy and delicious. Marie took us there a lot. In the summer, Anthony and I would get a burger to go, eating them as we walked along the railroad tracks towards home.

The one restaurant chain I really wish would come back is Friendly’s. Their meal deals, which usually included being able to add an ice cream sundae for only 99 cents, were definitely something to look forward to. There are still a few Friendly’s outlets scattered throughout New England but not in the Lowell area.

I’m sure I missed a few of the more popular eating places in Lowell In the 1960s. Can you think of more?!!

Friendly’s Restaurant

Judy Collins at Suffolk Downs

Kimball Farm 1965

Our mother outside The Glenview on Princeton Blvd.

Peter Pan

Pewter Pot Muffin House

Pizza Hut

Polly’s Restaurant

Skips Restaurant and the Embers

The Speare House