Above: A historic Southborough store is sporting a new look, and an eater that opened during the pandemic is making headlines for its upscale fast food. (photos by Beth Melo)
A few weeks ago, two Southborough businesses made headlines (and not the bad kind). I’m finally sharing those stories.
The Metrowest Daily News informed readers about the historic convenience on the southside of town, Fitzgerald’s General Store.
More unusually, a Washington Post travel reporter wrote about how impressed she was by the pit-stop she made in Southborough at Nan’s Kitchen & Market.
Natalie B. Compton wrote of Nan’s:
When did pit-stop meals get posh?
The old Wendy’s is just off Interstate 495, about 30 miles west of Boston. It still has the squat exterior of a ’90s-era fast-food restaurant, with curved eaves above big windows overlooking a wraparound drive-through. But you won’t find square burgers and Frostys inside.
At Nan’s Kitchen & Market, customers eat Nashville hot chicken sandwiches on pillowy rolls dressed with smoky mayonnaise and shaved cabbage slaw. . .
It felt designed for travelers like me, someone who will subsist on Cheez-Its and pistachios in a pinch but would rather seek out a meal from a local place with a story behind it. (read more)
If you haven’t checked out the restaurant yet, you can find their details here. (Its worth noting that this Wednesday would be an especially good time, since it is when they are supporting the Friends of the Southborough Youth Commission’s March Munchie Madness fundraiser.)
As for the Fitzgerald’s story, it focused on the long, interesting history of the store. It turns out, this blog one of the sources for the story, thanks to a historic places post by my predecessor.
In 2010, Susan Fitzgerald wrote:
Talk about longevity. The building that is today home to Fitzgerald’s General Store was built in the 1850’s as a general store for the villages of Cordaville and Southville. More than 150 years later, ownership and names have changed, but the building still serves the same basic purpose.
The MWDN post from February highlights:
Today’s version of Fitzgerald’s General Store is a typical convenience store — a great place to grab a lottery ticket, a gallon of milk and maybe a loaf of bread.
But the 110 Southville Road store has a long history — it’s been in place since the 1850s. It used to house the town’s post office, and its second-floor meeting hall was home to the first Catholic congregation in Southborough.
The story was accompanied by a photo that alerted me that the building’s facade was being resided with a very different look. (See my photo right with inset of the 2010 photo.) It prompted me to swing by to check out the new look, including an interior which has also been refreshed with new flooring.
The story also prompted me to seek an update from the Public Health Department — since the last time I wrote about Fitzgerald’s in 2022, it wasn’t good news for the store.*
According to Health Director Dr. Heather Alker, since my coverage, the store has addressed issues and been complying with the Board of Health’s list of required steps to return to and remain in good standing.
*A couple of years ago, the Health Department’s efforts were greatly expanded to reflect the state’s expectations. As part of that, they partnered with local towns to share a Food Inspector. Southborough businesses started to be inspected more regularly and with higher standards.
As a result, some issues were raised at Fitzgerald’s (which, at the time, had a fresh prepared foods section) and the store was temporarily closed for safety violations.
A dramatic change due to new management. Fitzy’s looks fantastic now