The best way to see the North End is just to stroll around the neighborhood's winding, narrow streets and enjoy the brick buildings, small shops, and countless restaurants. And the best way to see the grocers of the North End is in an Independent Edition post! In fact, there's no supermarket in the North End (although the Star Market at North Station is right on the border of the neighborhood), but there are several independent grocers. Let's start just to the west with a look at Beacon Hill, then we'll spend the rest of our time today in the North End.
The North End is well-known for being a historical neighborhood, and there's quite a bit of history right here at 160 Endicott Street. (158 Endicott, the brown building to the left in the above picture, was a First National in the early 1930s through the mid-1940s.) When I visited Bob's Grocery in 2022, the owner told me she was just the third owner in the store's 100-year history. It had opened as a grocery store for the first time in the 1920s, and by the 1970s, it became Bob's -- owned by someone named Bob, naturally. She had taken over the store in 1994.
Unfortunately, the store has recently been marked as closed on Google Maps, although it's listed as a temporary closure. I don't know what the circumstances are around that closure, but I got plenty of pictures here because I wasn't sure it would be around for much longer!
Bob himself made this wooden sign that still hangs outside the store. (Didn't get Bob's last name.) Inside, there are other handmade signs in the tiny, very old-school convenience store.
Check out the (original) brick wall! This probably isn't all that different from how the store would've originally been set up, except for, you know, the fluorescent lights, the ATM, the TV, the Coca-Cola cooler... okay, you know what I mean.
And I love the front desk with the register, again probably similar to how it looked for most of the store's life.
The North End is famed for its Italian community and Italian restaurants, but there aren't a lot of dedicated Italian grocers in the neighborhood. The Salumeria Italiana is one of them, just a block from where Paul Revere once lived. It's a gourmet market of around 1000 square feet, and it's definitely not a supermarket but there's a lot of wonderful food here -- including lots of cheese!
There's also a lot of fresh baked bread, some imported Italian groceries, and of course, lots of cured meats. Having been here since 1962, it's definitely an institution in the neighborhood.
Beacon Hill
Savenor's Market
Open: 1986 - June 2024
Dating back to 1986, the small Savenor's Market, a gourmet butcher and grocer, closed very recently in the West End (or perhaps this area is more accurately called Beacon Hill). The store specialized in hard-to-find meats, such as game meat.
There was also a small selection of groceries, produce, and seafood. Although this location has closed, another remains in Cambridge. Although I haven't been there, you can still tour it with this interactive tour on Google Maps.
Open: 1986 - June 2024
Owner: Ronald Savenor
Previous Tenants: unknown
Cooperative: none
Location: 160 Charles St, Boston, MA
Photographed: July 21, 2019
North End
Bob's Grocery Store
Opened: 1994 under current ownership
Opened: 1994 under current ownership
Owner: Hai Tran
Previous Tenants: unknown
Cooperative: none
Location: 160 Endicott St, Boston, MA
Photographed: May 20, 2022
I don't know what the story is here with the closure, but if I hear something, I'll update!
Salem Market
Opened: 2010 under current ownership
Owner: RJ Bilodariya
Previous Tenants: unknown
Cooperative: none
Location: 170 Salem St, Boston, MA
Photographed: May 20, 2022
A small convenience store just a couple blocks away. It looks like it could have been a grocery store for a long time, but the Salem Market in its current incarnation has only been here since 2010. I'm not completely sure whether it was a food store before that or not, but the Salem Spa was just next door. As I mentioned in Worcester, "spa" is an old-school Massachusetts word for small grocery store.
Going Bananas
Opened: ca. 2010 in this location; 1986 previously
Owner: Frank Scire
Previous Tenants: unknown
Cooperative: none
Location: 65 Salem St, Boston, MA
Photographed: May 20, 2022
This small specialty market is just two aisles, but it's got a lot to offer. Check out the inside on Google Maps. It was originally located just across the street.
Salumeria Italiana
Opened: 1962
Owner: Gaetano Martignetti
Previous Tenants: unknown
Cooperative: none
Location: 151 Richmond St, Boston, MA
Photographed: May 20, 2022
And that's all for the North End -- I hope you enjoyed it! Now, naturally, the North End is not the northernmost neighborhood in Boston. That'll be our next stop!
Comments
Post a Comment