Business & Tech

Nearby Non-Boston Restaurant News

A look at restaurant news from communities north of Boston.

There's no reason for Somerville residents to leave town when they want eat out. But sometimes they do. 

Here's some recent restaurant news from nearby non-Boston communities.

ARLINGTON

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

'Wings Over' Possibly Coming to East Arlington: Wings Over, the franchise known for its airplane-inspired orders, such as the B-17 Bomber (60 wings), could be coming to East Arlington. Robert Savin, who already owns a handful of Wings Over franchises, is looking to open “Wings Over Arlington” at what is now The Wing Place and what was WhattaWing! not too long ago. The requested location is at 218 Massachusetts Ave., just a few doors down from the Capitol Theatre.

MEDFORD

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

Medford Reduces Seating Requirement in Liquor License Ordinance: More restaurants are now eligible for liquor licenses in Medford, but a new ordinance hasn't caused of flood of applications. The ordinance change, approved by Gov. Deval Patrick last month, reduces the required number of seats at a restaurant seeking a full liquor license from 99 to 50.

WAKEFIELD

 The restaurant, located at 33 Tuttle Street (near the train station) will feature stations for patrons to try a wide variety of dishes, from clam chowder and lobster sliders to rack of lamb, roasted tenderloin and, oysters on the half shell, and the Laurie’s 9:09 Crabcake, among other dishes, all of which can be sampled for $24.99. The restaurant will serve its regular menu Tuesday through Saturday from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. and Sundays from noon until midnight.

READING

Portland Pie Co. May be Coming to Reading: A company that started as a maker of gourmet pizza pies with flavored pizza dough is considering opening a restaurant on Haven Street, its first in the Commonwealth. Portland Pie Co., which opened in Portland, Maine, in 1997, has expanded its menu with appetizers, salads and sandwiches and full liquor service in five locations, according to its website: in Maine, in Portland, Scarborough and Westbrook and in New Hampshire, in Manchester and Nashua.

WOBURN

Mr. Charlie's Could be on the Move: The City Council opened three public hearings regarding North Woburn projects, but all will need more discussion.In August, some North Woburn residents were upset to learn that a a CVS could be built on the current site of Mr. Charlie's ice cream shop, while that eatery would move across the street into the the old Dunkin' Donuts spot in the shopping plaza.

NORTH READING

Owner of Mario's Opening New Restaurant in Beverly: Freeda's Pizza and Calzones, coming this November to the North Beverly Plaza, isn't your typical mom and pop pizza shop. Sure, the Guevara family has been operating Mario's Pizza in North Reading for 30 years. And, yes, mom and pop, in this case, Alfina and Romeo, are the president and vice president of the company. But operations director Al Guevara says Freeda's, named after his mother, Alfina, whose nickname was Freeda when she grew up in Sicily, isn't the average. 

Liquor License Passed for Joe Fish in North Reading: Owners of Joe Fish in North Andover Jim Demetri and Jim Dietz went before the selectmen Monday night to have their liquor license approved for the new Joe Fish restaurant that will be located in the old Piccadilly Pub space. The liquor license was approved unanimously. Both Demetri and Dietz co-own Joe Fish and the Loft in North Andover and plan to open another Joe Fish on Main Street in North Reading. The restaurant will have 150 seats and 20 bar seats, according to Demetri.

WILMINGTON

Wilmington Native Fulfills Dream With Food Network Episode: Having seen countless episodes, Paul Malvone has always been a fan of  on the Food Network. It’s safe to say, however, that Monday, Oct. 8 will always remain his favorite episode. Malvone and Boston Burger Company, his popular Somerville restaurant, were the focus of the opening segment on the newest edition of the popular show hosted by celebrity chef Guy Fieri.

BURLINGTON

Red Mango Frozen Yogurt Coming to Burlington: Red Mango , the Number-1 Zagat rated frozen yogurt and smoothie chain in America, is expanding throughout Massachusetts. Joining more than 200 Red Mango stores across North America, Red Mango has awarded a franchise agreement for a new location in Burlington. Franchise owners Carrie and John Butera signed a development agreement to open a self-serve location next spring in the Burlington Mall. 

Ground Broken for Burlington's Wegman's: Local and state officials, along with many local residents, came to the future Wegman's location on 3rd Avenue last week for a groundbreaking event. Though no shovels were actually put in the ground, the event was a celebration of the beginning in the next stage of the site's development. The Wegman's is planned to open in the spring of 2014.

Lindt Chocolates Re-Opens in Burlington: Good news for chocolate lovers. Swiss chocolatier Lindt celebrated the grand re-opening of it's Burlington location in the Burlington Mall. According to Lindt, the store will feature a vast array of premium chocolate offerings and Lindt "Chocolate Advisors" will be on hand to educate and guide customers through the store.

LEXINGTON

Upper Crust Pizzeria Files for Bankruptcy Protection: The Upper Crust Pizzeria chain, including a Lexington location, has filed for bankruptcy protection after defaulting on millions of dollars in loans, according to the Boston Globe. The embattled gourmet pizza chain was ordered by the Federal Labor officials to pay overtime to employees, and has been accused of improper use of assests for personal use by executives, and recently shut down some locations, including the Waltham restaurant.

Yoga and Juice Join in Lexington’s Newest Business: With the opening of Lexington Center’s newest business, the town is actually getting two in the place of one. Lexington Power Yoga opened Oct. 1, at 1762 Massachusetts Ave., Suite 204, with an associated organic juicing enterprise called Simply Pure Juice. Customers will be able to order juices online or in the studio, and pick their order up at the Lexington Center studio on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, when they’ll also have juice available or retail sale. The pulp from the juices will be baked into green and carrot muffins also available or sale.

ANDOVER

Raagini Indian Bistro to Open Monday: Raagini Indian Bistro, Shawsheen Plaza, opened Monday, Nov. 5, according to owner and manager Jaspreet Singh. The restaurant is located next to Rite Aid in the unit formerly occupied by Cardsmart. Singh's extended family owns a number of restaurants including Jewel of India in Newburyport and Passage to India in Salem , MA. Singh, himself, has worked at the former  for 8 years.

Fisichelli's Open for Business: Continuing a near century-long business in Andover, Fisichelli's opened their doors to Andover customers on Oct. 6 and owner Nina Fisichelli Gaffny said the community has found out. "We've had a great response," said Gaffny. "I'm glad to be here." The bakery is located at 46 Main St. at the former Chic Consignment Closet, which is now located next door.

NORTH ANDOVER

New Menu Items Help Pack Jimmy's Famous Pizza:  Jimmy’s Famous Pizza has been a favorite in North Andover for decades. Just head on over to their Facebook page and you’ll see that on a recent Friday night, it was impossible to even get a seat. “I need more seating in here!” joked Nick Papantonakis, partial owner of Jimmy’s. “We seat 60 people and people were waiting outside for half an hour just to get a seat, it’s amazing,” he said. Perhaps the new menu items have something to do with the surge of business.

CHELMSFORD

Tango Grill to Close on Oct. 5: Tango Grill owner Aric Becker sold the location to Kate Kelly of the Sugar Cupcake Shoppe, who bakes her cupcakes in Chelmsford before transporting them to her current location on Littleton Road in Westford. While he hopes to re-open a non-Argentinian restaurant at former restaurant location he was once at in Concord, it will be an emotional send off when he turns off the lights on Chelmsford Street for one last time.



Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here