Posts Tagged ‘food history’
The Window Shop
Compiled by Deb Mandel, 2022 Years 1939 – 1972 Locations 37 Church St. (May 2, 1939-Nov. 1939) 102 Mt. Auburn St. (Nov. 1939-1947) 56 Brattle St. (1947-1972) History A small group of philanthropic-minded Cambridge women opened The Window Shop on the second floor of 37 Church St. in Harvard Square in 1939. One of these women…
Read MoreS & S Restaurant
Compiled by Deb Mandel, 2022 Years 1919 – present Location Current Location 1334 Cambridge St., 1935- Previous Locations 1919- 1932- 1298 Cambridge St., 1932- 1935- 1307 Cambridge St. Website: http://www.sandsrestaurant.com/ 1334 Cambridge St. Inman Square History In the decade preceding Cambridge Electric Light Company’s illumination of Cambridge Street, and when trolley tracks ran from here…
Read MoreFrank’s Steak House
Compiled by Deb Mandel, 2022. Above photo by Marion Severynse, 2023. Years 1938 – present Location 2310 Mass Ave., North Cambridge Website: http://www.frankssteakhouse.com/ History Frank’s is Boston’s oldest established steak house. In 1938, it operated across the street, then put down roots in 1940 in its current spot. What’s amusing is that no one’s really…
Read MoreCourthouse Seafood (Restaurant & Fish Market)
Years 1912 – 2024 (market); 1987-present (restaurant) Location 498 Cambridge St., East Cambridge Website: https://www.courthouseseafood.com/ History Just a gavel’s throw from the Cambridge Court House used to stand Cambridge’s oldest operating fish market. In the equally-inconspicuous storefront next door, is the restaurant, which opened in 1987 and continues to serve up everything from fish chowder to…
Read MoreEliodora ‘Josefina’ Yanguas Perez opened Harvard Square’s first European-style café
Today there are at least 20 cafés in Cambridge where patrons can enjoy espresso drinks. In 1959, there was exactly one. That was the year Spanish immigrant Josefina Yanguas opened Café Pamplona on Bow Street.
Read MoreChanging Tides in Cambridge Industry
By the early 20th century, Cambridge was an industrial center with a broad array of factories. People from all over the country and the world came to work here. Why?
Read MoreSelf-Guided Tour: The Work of Revolution in Cambridge
Introduction For many, the first image that comes to mind when thinking of Cambridge during the Revolutionary Era is that of General George Washington taking command of the Continental Army on Cambridge Common in July of 1775, under what would come to be known as the Washington Elm. Although we now know that this tale…
Read MoreS&S Restaurant is still serving up the comfort after more than a century in Inman Square
by Deb Mandel, 2022 In the decade preceding Cambridge Electric Light’s illumination of Cambridge Street, when trolley tracks ran from Inman to Porter Square, a little delicatessen began welcoming hungry patrons. From its opening in November 1919, Rebecca “Ma” Edelstein greeted guests with “es and es,” Yiddish for “eat and eat” – the phrase that lent the…
Read MoreJoyce Chen started with a 250-seat restaurant, went to 350 and only grew her empire from there
I recently began working as a volunteer for History Cambridge, updating the 2011 Culinary Cambridge website written by Rain Robertson. Digging through the Cambridge Public Library’s Historic Cambridge Newspaper Collection has been a great opportunity to revisit some of my favorite restaurants. My best experience so far has been speaking with Stephen Chen, son of Joyce Chen, to review information and enrich the restaurant’s history with photographs and personal stories. In honor of May being Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we salute Joyce Chen, her restaurants and her family legacy.
Read MoreGrendel’s Den: 50 years of Stories to Tell
By Daniel Berger-Jones, Company Leader, President, Cambridge Historical Tours, Inc., 2021 Grendel’s Den is one of the most iconically Cantabrigian bars there is. Founded in 1971 by Herb and Sue Kuelzer, it’s now on its second generation of family ownership in the hands of their daughter Kari. And at 50 years old, the bar is…
Read More