“We are a community and we’ve helped each other. We take care of each other,” says Raina Tessler, Events Coordinator at Newton Center’s Union Street Restaurant. Local Newton Center restaurants and businesses have been working together — since March of 2020, when Governor Baker issued an order closing all indoor non-essential businesses and services — by pooling resources, transporting staff, and sharing information. Fortunately for Union Street, it has a large patio, and when the Commonwealth allowed outdoor dining on June 8, 2020, the restaurant was ready to serve a hungry, socially distanced crowd. At the same time, Raina itemized the challenges facing most restaurants: propane heat lamps are hard to find and expensive to run (although Union Street has since invested in gas lines); staff is hard to find; the prices of food and supplies continue to rise; and the rent is high. But, she said, in 2021 Union Street had “a great summer because people were looking for normalcy and they found it on the patio.” Union Street has three indoor dining options: the main floor with tables and bar for dining from 11:00-1:00, a large upstairs room for special functions and entertainment, and a lower level for private groups. And with the return to “more normal,” the past holiday season was their best in several years.
Similarly, Dunn Gaherins, a thirty-two-year-old restaurant and pub on Elliott Street in Newton Upper Falls, has continued to serve devoted customers, first on long take-out lines and then in a parking-lot-turned-patio with heat lamps, and now exclusively inside the 200-year-old building. “Pubs are always a gathering place,” owner Seana Gaherin said on a recent cold Saturday afternoon, where small groups of people were having a late lunch at tables and at the bar. Standing between the tables and the bar area, near Irish road signs, Seana expressed gratitude for Dunn Gaherin’s “loyal clientele.” Governor Baker’s March, 2020 order came just as Seana was putting finishing touches on her annual St. Patrick Day’s corned beef, and it marked the beginning of Dunn Gaherin’s take-out phase. “Our customers went to such an extent to keep us in business during Covid,” she recalled.
Seana credits Greg Reibman, President of the Charles River Regional Chamber, for innovations that helped Newton and other local restaurants survive Covid. Among his initiatives, Mr. Reibman reached out to State Senator Cynthia Creem to secure state funding for the Nourishing Newton (and Wellesley) program, which compensated local restaurants for supplying food for food pantries. Recently, Senator Creem succeeded in a third-year grant of $90,000 – which brings the three-year total of grants to $500,000, feeding hungry people and saving restaurants, their owners and staff. Mr. Reibman began the Dining Collaborative, which brought together 82 restaurant owners — 50 from Newton — via Zoom, at first every week and now bi-weekly, to identify best producers and practices. “People needed to be close and get support from colleagues,” Mr. Reibman said. He has been in constant touch with City Hall, trying to expedite emergency measures to allow outdoor dining and working through a myriad bureaucratic issues. Both Seana Gaherin and Greg Reibman credit Mayor Ruthanne Fuller for her assistance, while acknowledging there are still challenges in assuring that outdoor dining may begin again on April 1st. He noted that Newton’s Licensing Commission reduced Package Store license fees by 50% during the height of Covid, and restaurant owners could apply for the Paycheck Protection Program through the federal Covid Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES ACT) to pay staff and, as Greg Reibman said, “keep the lights on.”
Newer to Newton’s restaurant scene, but carrying on a long-standing neighborhood tradition, is Cafe Martin West Street, formerly the West Street Tavern, on West Street in Nonantum. Its new owner, Adrienne Martin – a West Newton native – worked there in its earlier iteration. Cafe Martin West Street opened in February 2022 when Covid restrictions were no longer in effect and people were returning to indoor dining. Adrienne Martin’s late husband, John, was a much beloved NESN (New England Sports Network) cameraman, who died in 2018 after a two-year battle with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, known as Lou Gehrig’s disease). During the course of his illness, the local sports community visited their home frequently, naming it Cafe Martin. When he died, Adrienne wanted to recreate something of that feeling: “We saw how much community meant. My vision was for a place for community to gather. I hoped to find a place like West Street, and there it was.”
Supporting the “local” tradition, Adrienne buys fish from local Nonantum sources: Steamers supplies fish for fish and chips; DePasquales is the sausage suppler for the Trilogy of Love appetizer; Flourhouse Bakery makes the English muffins for the Cafe Burger. The kitchen serves from 11:00-10:00 p.m. daily and “until late” on Friday and Saturday. Cafe Martin West Street also has a shaded patio, which Adrienne hopes to open in May, as she doesn’t have heat lamps. Continuing her commitment to all things local, Adrienne hosts works from area artists which change monthly. A Newton North graduate, Adrienne held her class reunion at Cafe Martin West Street. In addition to its neighborhood regulars, Cafe Martin West Street continues to play host to area sports figures.
Youngest entrant on Newton’s restaurant scene is Newtonville’s Donut Villa — not just for donuts, although they exist in a wide profusion of designs and flavors. Donut Villa, which opened in September, 2022, occupies the space previously held by Brewer’s Coalition. Owner Erin Bashllari also owns the Donut Villa Diners in Malden and in Cambridge. In addition to donuts (made from 45-year old recipes), Donut Villa serves a variety of diner fare and alcohol. Donut Villa is open from 8:00-3:00 Mondays and Tuesdays, until 9:00 Wednesday-Saturday, and until 8:00 p.m. on Sundays. Mr. Bashllari wishes he opened the patio in September because of the mild autumn temperatures, but he has a tent with heaters ready for an early spring opening. As Spring progresses, he expects there will be more late-evening customers coming for dinner. He expects to be open seven days a week. At the moment, Donut Villa attracts a wide range of age groups including Newton North High School student who drop in for donuts on their way home. In fact, there have been two Newton North post-performance cast parties at Donut Villa.
Anil Adyanthaya, a member of the Newton Board of License Committee since 2018, said outdoor dining has been really popular, reflected in the many licensee requests for outdoor permits. ”Restaurants want to recoup their losses,” he explained, adding, “Why would we want to stop doing it? We should move to make it permanent.” Commissioner Adyanthaya noted that the commission allowed delayed payment of licensing fees to help restaurant owners.
Having worked to help resolve some of the bureaucratic challenges and promote Newton restaurants, Mayor Ruthanne Fuller commented, “Our restaurants are essential to Newton’s villages, serving as economic drivers and social connectors. Outdoor dining has been wonderful for restaurants, our commercial centers and for diners. From City Hall, we’ll do everything we can to continue to have diners spilling outside onto our sidewalks and into parklets. Let’s all dine local to support our restauranteurs as they maneuver in a challenging environment of COVID-19, supply chain disruptions, escalating costs and staffing shortages.”
According to Ellen Ishkanian, Newton Director of Community Communications, of Newton’s 84 All Alcohol restaurant licenses, six closed in 2022, as did one Wine and Malt restaurant licensee and one Wine and Malt package store. In 2022, there were five new alcohol restaurants licenses and five Wine and Malt package licenses.
During 2021, the Watertown Licensing Commission waived licensing fees to help restaurants and package good stores. Because of an increase in population, Watertown has added new licenses, which have been distributed.
Waltham developed the model for outdoor dining by closing large sections of Moody Street to vehicular traffic, thereby allowing local restaurants to create dining patios on the sidewalks along their establishment. Last year, Moody Street was a festive sea of colorful umbrella’s, plants, outdoor furniture, and a pleasant promenade leading from one restaurant to the next. For diners who drove to restaurants, there were public parking lots behind both sides of Moody Street.
