Submitted by Doom-Hauer451 t3_11p79wk in WorcesterMA
Dang, I guess the late night restaurant scene in the Canal District is pretty much dead now? Wings over Worcester closing at 11pm on a Saturday??? Just tryna get something at this hour that’s a step above McDonald’s, luckily J&Js came through for us! I remember 15 years ago when I first moved here, that whole area was like Time Square at 1am lol.
I don’t know if irony is the right word for it? One would think the “revitalization” of the city wouldn’t include everything closing by 11 or 12 on a Saturday night? I remember back when the old Salty Dog Saloon was over there, and I lived right around the corner on Washington street. I guess the new demographics just aren’t night owls??? Weird.
>no idea why Worcester is so dead at night
As someone in the restaurant/bar industry let me answer- Covid.
People stopped going out late night for food and such. With the advent of Doordash, grubhub etc there's less staff for service and more dedicated to takeout orders. Closing early became the norm. The issue with Canal district and food is it's just not feasible to stay open when parking is either taken by the baseball park or bar customers. Restaurants aren't seeing the value of late night. Wings can't get drivers for delivery or anyone who wants to deal with the drunk and sometimes violent late night crowd.
It's not just Worcester, restaurants in Providence and Boston are seeing the shift too.
Is the Boynton still open until 2 like every night?
My demographic doesn’t even leave home in the first place. You guys went out all the time.
No one was coming out to eat at that hour so restaurants adjusted their hours.
Used to be. For the past year they've been closing the kitchen at 11. Used to be my after work go to spot. I believe Bully and Murphy's on Shrews still stay open late but that's about it.
I don’t know about the bar, but the kitchen closes at 11 I think.
I get that. I just figured with more people going back to concerts and stuff like that the night scene would be coming back. If they’re parking downtown to go to ball games and bars (of course baseball season hasn’t started yet either) shouldn’t the restaurants also be picking up some of that business? The only thing that makes sense is a shift in demand (not as many people want to go out late) or the difficulty of finding workers for the restaurant industry which has had a shortage for the last few years.
I guess I should be more specific. I’m 35, I still try to go out to eat late if it’s after a concert, going out drinking or something, and often I’m just up late on off days since I work overnight. By new demographic I meant newer people moving to Worcester in the last few years, specifically people living in some of the new places near downtown etc.
>) shouldn’t the restaurants also be picking up some of that
For maybe an hour before the game. During game parking is taken- bars/restaurants are empty.
In Worcester’s Boston’s food scene also closes incredibly early as well.
Yeah, that makes sense - they need more parking garages. What about after the game though? I remember that being one of the selling points about building the park in the first place.
Bars sure, who goes out to dinner at 10pm?
I don’t know about “dinner” dinner (I still get dinner that late after a movie sometimes) but late night takeout at least used to be a thing here. After parties, people getting out of the bars etc.
Statistically, stadiums do not increase a cities economy.
Exactly. I remember hearing this statistic 5 years ago when everyone was arguing about building it.
That was one of the big selling points, and it's just by and large not happening. Most fans are just going to the stadium, parking, going to the game, going back in their cars, and going home.
The Sundown's patio is a particularly good spot to watch hordes of WooSox fans beeline straight to their cars without hardly noticing the open bar they're walking by.
Thank your democratic globalist Cabal... restaurants will not be coming back. 70% of the food business is take out. Except for metropolitan areas that conduct business and spend on T&E, largely business expense account holders, which Wista is not among. You can forget about it. It is a crying shame, and if you run into that big pharma shill Governor Baker who destroyed small business in Massachusetts and restaurants more than any other, ask him if he can get you some good court seats to the "Final Four"
The pandemic ruined it. But it is slowly coming back.
Check out midnight munchies or olē taqueria!
we were alcoholics, they have twitch now
Kenmore is still good at 2am
We couldn’t even find takeout, it was like 12:30 lol
I was looking for Midnight Munchies lol. GPS said it was on Millbury street but it wasn’t there anymore, then we did a Google search and somewhere said it was at southwest cutoff. So we went there and didn’t see anything open but Parrot Pizza. Walked in and asked where Midnight Munchies was and the guy said “this is it, it’s the same place but we’re closing.” I was like WTF lol.
Haha sorry I was just naming defunct places I used to hit up after the bars closed. Midnight Munchies used to be a part of Tom’s International deli. Can’t beat 2am grinders.
Yeah, probably. I guess those 20 somethings I was standing next to today at the Saint Patrick’s parade who were 3 sheets to the wind are a dying breed lol. I figured at least with legal weed now we’d have more people up late with the munchies ordering out. I guess cooking at home is more of a trend with the next generation?
I partly blame the stadium for ending that.
They are building one right now. You should see what I’m taking about next time you drive by.
None of these restaurants seem to be trying to attract people to come from the games though.
When I moved to New England, I was astounded at how often places were closed. Even in Boston, there are certain weekdays where restaurants are just closed. Night time? Closed.
I wonder how things are in Boston now. Is it also a ghost town at night?
Are some places only doing Doordash or Uber Eats after a certain hour? I had a legit hard time finding anyplace even open. Personally I don’t prefer the extra fees and waiting at home for my food. We were just out and about anyway and wanted to stop somewhere on the way home.
Looks like they keep the kitchen open until 12:30 on Friday and Saturday, and you can stay until 1:30. That might be a recent change though.
So weird. I'd expect many of them to just leave, but after a point why wouldn't some people stop to eat for an hour just to avoid the rush of traffic from people leaving? Are they getting cheaper food in the stadium?
I'm especially surprised by Wings Over changing their hours since they were mostly a takeout establishment to begin with. Do college students not stay up unreasonably late anymore? I'm sure that was the bulk of their late-night business. The one in Lowell is open until 12:30/1:00, and even the one in Springfield is open until at least midnight.
Most people in college
Most people in college aren't spending enough to sustain a business.
Tell that to the Boynton
The Boynton is next to the college and a large majority of its business is families and middle aged people. Most restaurants on Park Ave and adjacent will tell you that the colleges provide very little business to the restaurants. Pizza places and fast food will tell ya differently but its cuz theyre cheap and deliver. With the stricter liquor laws, underage drinking isn't happening in the bars anymore. Leitrims is the last "college bar" in the city and they're struggling. They just aren't a sustainable demographic in the industry.
Sithlordbelichick t1_jbwgd8g wrote
Yeah no idea why Worcester is so dead at night second largest city in New England but plenty of other cities that are considerably smaller are way more lively