Visit to Skip’s Restaurant on Sunday morning
Denise and I took a short ride to Chelmsford, Mass. to have breakfast at Skip’s. After learning through a T.V. news report that the long-time owners were planning on closing the restaurant and selling to a local developer, I wanted to get some good photos into the archive. Sunday was a bright and sunny day and perfect for early morning light shining on the front of the building. We had a great breakfast, they bake their own muffins which is always a plus. I talked briefly with owner George Burliss and asked him to clarify some of the dates. The place started out in 1930 as Kidd’s Diner and around 1946-47 the Burliss and Gefteas families bought it and renamed it Skip’s Diner. He was pretty busy so that was all the info I could get before our breakfast arrived. So I am going to plan another trip in the near future to hopefully get the more complete history of this local landmark. If you plan on being in the northern suburbs of Boston in the next couple of months, I suggest a visit to Skip’s before it closes! This place is going to be missed!!!
Don’s Diner in Plainville, Mass. to have expanded hours!
I got an email from my friend Phyllis Perreault, owner of Don’s Diner in Plainville. She wanted to let me know that they sold their industrial catering business and that her son Perry is now concentrating his efforts on the diner. The diner had been only operating in recent times on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Well now it looks like the only day they won’t be open is Mondays. Here is the text of her email about the new hours…
Hi Larry,
I thought you’d like to know our new hours….our son Perry is opening the diner weekdays starting this Tuesday May 13th……….. I think I told you that we sold the industrial catering end of the diner…hopefully our 72 years reputation and the poor economy will bring people back to the diner atmosphere.
The new hours are:
Tuesday-Friday…………………………….6am to 2:30pm breakfast and lunch
Saturday……………………………………..7am to 2:00pm “ “
Sunday ………………………………………7am to 1:00pm breakfast only
Just to let everyone know, Don’s Diner is located on Route 1A in Plainville, Mass. and it is a 1950’s vintage Mountain View Diner. The interior is fairly close to factory condition (with newer booths) but the exterior does not look like my photo from May, 1981 (above). The family updated the exterior with a mansard roof and vinyl siding within the last 20 years. This is the 3rd incarnation of Don’s Diner, the 1st was a small Worcester Lunch Car, the 2nd was a 1946 vintage Worcester (now in Bolton Landing, NY) and this one is the former Minuteman Diner originally in Attleboro on U.S. Route 1.
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