Photo Credit : Aimee Seavey Durgin-Park | Boston, MA Among the most famous of now-closed New England restaurants is Durgin-Park, a Faneuil Hall favorite for nearly two centuries before it shuttered in 2019. He would also later own three other New England classics: the Cape Codder Resort and Residences in Hyannis, the Dan’l Webster Inn in Sandwich, and the John Carver Inn in Plymouth. He repackaged it as the Hearth ‘n Kettle and eventually expanding that brand to five Cape Cod locations. Catania opened his first restaurant in 1963 (belying the menu’s claim of “famous since 1831”), but 10 years later he had sold all the locations except the one in Falmouth. Pewter Pot Muffin House did not have a long run. The walls featured murals of a traveling muffin man making his rounds. The interior of most locations had an old-Boston feel, with heavy wooden tables and dark-beamed ceilings. (Its clam chowder recipe continues to circulate online, still in demand after all these years). The Pewter Pot was also known for good coffee - served in pewter pots - and hearty chowders, sandwiches, and breakfast foods. The lure? Muffins, of course - from standard varieties like blueberry and coffee cake to unusual creations like almond tea and fruit cocktail (there were even “mystery muffins” for daring diners.) At its early-1970s zenith, Pewter Pot Muffin Houses could be found from Harvard Square to Cape Cod, about 40 of them in all. This Boston-based chain was the creation of Cambridge native V.J. The downturn in public favor that doomed the new locations eventually caught up with the original as well, and in 2013, the Saugus Hilltop Steak House served its last meal and joined the ranks of now-closed New England restaurants. There was a push to open Hilltop locations across New England, but tastes were changing, and the auxiliary restaurants never quite succeeded in capturing the appeal of the original. But by then the end was in sight: Giuffrida had sold the business the previous year, and it did not fare well under later owners. In 1989, Hilltop grossed $60 million, serving more than 2 million hungry diners. Despite the restaurant’s impressive size (at 20,000 square feet, it could accommodate up to 1,400 patrons), the porches were often lined with customers waiting to get in. Hilltop Steak House was founded in 1961 by a butcher named Frank Giuffrida, and it was popular from the start. In its prime, Hilltop Steakhouse was regularly listed among the busiest restaurants in the world. And the profits? They were biggest of all. The rooms were big, the drinks were big, and the food was big (the standard-size sirloin was 18 ounces, but much larger cuts were available as well). Dining rooms were named after places like Kansas City, Dodge City, and Sioux City. There were “Wanted” posters and bull horns on the walls. There was no mistaking the type of experience that awaited after you drove past a pasture of fiberglass cows and turned in at the 68-foot-tall cactus sign. But even among those eye-catching neighbors, Hilltop Steak House stood out.
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