thePULSE
Maria Connors
It’s no secret that Worcester is a burgeoning food hub, with an endless list of options for dining on every scale. Included in this myriad are a variety of successful businesses native to the city, all of which have seen their products thrive both locally and outside of their hometown. This month we’ve chosen to highlight four local businesses that have come to be staples in the stomachs of Worcester residents, each with a distinctly different path to success.
Table Talk Pies
If you’re on the hunt for a dessert that can serve one person or a whole table, you may want to pay a visit to Table Talk Pies. Table Talk Pies have graced people’s pantries and tabletops since 1924, when two Greek immigrants who worked in a small bakery started the company. It was the grandfather of Harry
Kokkinis, the current president of Table Talk, who worked with his business partner to bake pies during the night and deliver them during the day until their business finally took off. Table Talk Pies hit some bumps in the road along the way, when the company was sold in 1965. It was run into the ground and officially closed in the mid-1980s. Kokkinis describes how his father finally bought back the building in 1986. He purchased the name and some new equipment and slowly but steadily began to rebuild their family’s company. Kokkinis himself took over the business in 2003, and credits new technology in food science with helping the company continue to succeed. By freezing their pies, Table Talk can ship their product all over the country. Most recently,
Kokkinis discloses excitedly, he found out their pies were sold at a 7/11 in Hawaii. Despite the far distances Table Talk Pies travel,
Kokkinis credits the city of Worcester as a pillar of the company’s success. He claims the city is a “great place to do business”, and that the two things that make their company great are a commitment to quality and “great employees that help achieve that quality.” In 2018, alone the company sold over 200 million 4-inch pies, their best-selling product being their apple pie closely followed by blueberry.
Kokkinis’ favorite? Of the smaller pies, he recommends their lemon pie, but if you’re looking for a pie to share with the table, pumpkin is the way to go.
Table Talk Pies, 120 Washington Street, (508) 798-8811.
Ed Hyder’s Mediterranean Marketplace
Smaller, local supermarkets can be a refreshing change from the endless aisles of grocery store chains. Ed Hyder’s Mediterranean Marketplace provides a delicious collection of Mediterranean staples to the Worcester community from their home on Pleasant Street, with the friendly atmosphere of a family-owned business. Gregory Hyder, the current co-owner, chronicled how it was his father who started in the store in 1975, on a much smaller scale than it runs now. Over the last 40 years, the store has switched locations when they outgrew the initial storefront, but has maintained its loyalty to the neighborhood of Pleasant Street and Park Avenue. They now boast a full kitchen and a grab-and-go area for when you’re craving food on the move, in addition to their array of groceries. Hyder expresses the diversity in the demographics of customers who frequent the store – college students, parents who want to put a healthy meal on the table, returnees who have been shopping for their staples for decades. There is truly something for everyone at Ed Hyder’s, but their kebabs and butternut squash hummus are best selling items. The head chef of the store, Nicholas Perroni, is always coming up with new creations to satisfy the stream of customers. Hyder also raves about the store’s salad bar, giving you the ability to create your own concoction of flavors. As a staple of Pleasant Street since the 1970s, Ed Hyder’s Mediterranean Marketplace provides not only delicious food, but also insight into the endurance of the Worcester community and businesses that have thrived here.
Ed Hyder’s Mediterranean Marketplace, 408 Pleasant St, (508) 755-0258.
Wormtown Brewery
“I like to say that it all began in an ice cream shop,” Katrina Shabo, director of marketing for Wormtown Brewery, jokes. Sure enough, the Massachusetts-famous business got its start in an ice cream store owned by one of the original founders of the company. In a 1,200 square foot storefront, current brew master Ben Roesch and his business partner began to brew the beers that would soon become a Worcester staple. Five years later they finally managed to move out of their cramped space and into their current location on Shrewsbury Street. Wormtown’s first priority has always been to supply beer to the people of Massachusetts, and only in 2017 did they begin selling their first drafts in Rhode Island. Shabo says that their priority is to have never “taken beer away from the people who have been waiting patiently for it”. Wormtown’s location in Worcester is of utmost importance to their business; as a small business, their first loyalty is to the city that supported them throughout their years of growth. Shabo expresses the company’s dedication to “local supporting local”, emphasizing the importance Wormtown places on supporting other small businesses as a small business themself. One of the benefits of having a small business is the sense of ownership employees develop for their craft – Shabo claims to have never seen a company where “so many employees are proud of what they do”. There is no doubt that the heart and passion poured into ever glass of beer from Wormtown Brewery contributed to the company becoming a staple product in the city Worcester.
Wormtown Brewery, 72 Shrewsbury St #4, (774) 239-1555.
Polar Beverages
Undeniably, the biggest name that has come out of Worcester is Polar Beverages, a family-owned and operated company that has become a household name in New England and beyond. Polar has been crafting, bottling and delivering their products since 1882, using natural flavors they believe will produce the highest quality drinks.
The Crowley Brothers founded the company by selling Irish “Ball Brook” Whiskey from a horse drawn cart and soon expanded to club soda and ginger ale as well. The Prohibition Era halted the distribution of alcohol. As a result, the Crowley Brothers invested more into the sale of carbonated beverages. Polar Beverages has come a long way since these humble beginnings over a century ago, seeing steady growth over the course of the 20th century despite national economic decline and two world wars. Over the years, Polar has expanded their variety of drinks and flavors, all while remaining conscience of the nutritional components of their drinks. Polar Seltzers are vegan, gluten free and sodium free, but they aren’t all the company has to offer – Seltzerade, Sparkling Frost, Polar Dry and even Polar’s own line of mixers, delicious as a stand-alone drink or in a cocktail, are popular options. Polar is no stranger to innovative drink flavors, designing each flavor to be drinkable 24/7 while also including some ‘experimental’ flavors to spice up their selection. Polar’s summer and winter lines are full of flavors meant to emulate the seasons, popular aromas and flavors Polar believes are worth sharing. The company is dedicated to making seltzers in a no-frills kind of way – they believe seltzers are free of any sweetener, sodium and juices, using just highly concentrated essential oils to achieve the aroma and subtle flavor Polar Seltzer is known for. Because none of the nutritional properties of the flavors enter the seltzer, all seltzers are calorie-free. Despite the colossal success of their business, there is no doubt that Polar Beverages practices the same care and dedication to the quality and innovation of their products as the small-town, family-owned business they started out as.
Polar Beverages is helping Worcester residents celebrate our city by sponsoring Polar Park, soon to be the home of the Worcester Red Sox, or WooSox – formerly the Pawtucket Red Sox. Polar Park is scheduled to open in 2021, and broke ground in the Canal District in early June. The ballpark will be able to be used year-round, has a capacity of 10,000 and will be able to host at least 125 events per year. It will coincide with the redesign of Kelley Square to accommodate for the surplus of vehicular and pedestrian traffic. Polar Beverages are proud to sponsor this project and reinvest back into the city that they first found success in.
Polar Beverages, 1001 Southbridge Street, (508) 753-4300.
Worcester would not be the city or the community it is without these businesses, all of which in return credit their hometown with their success. Big or small, local businesses help sustain Worcester’s economy and have allowed it to grow into the food hub that it is today!
Fun Fact: Two of our iconic Worcester foods have given us the crossover of the decade! Wormtown Brewery’s Pumpkin Pie Ale is made with none other than Table Talk Pie’s pumpkin pie. At a rate of one pie per barrel, you can enjoy two of your favorite Worcester staples in a single drink.
Worcester Diners
There is nothing quite as quintessentially Worcester as a morning spent tucked away in a booth at one of the city’s many diners, colored with all of the classic charm and calories that make up the experience. Perhaps the most well known of all Worcester diners is the aptly named Miss Worcester Diner, located on Southbridge Street, a historic diner built in 1948 that boasts an extensive French toast menu. Shrewsbury Street’s Boulevard Diner is another fan favorite, a barrel-roof diner built in 1936 that seeks to satisfy it’s patrons cravings 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Dinky’s Dogs and Cones joined forces with Blue Belle Diner in 1992, creating Dinky’s Blue Belle Diner located on Clinton Street in Shrewsbury. Offering customers only diner classics but an extensive homemade dessert menu and a full bar, Dinky’s Blue Belle is proud to serve an array of delicious foods packaged in a classic diner aesthetic. All three of these diners were originally manufactured by the Worcester Lunch Car Company, a manufacturer of diners based in Worcester, Massachusetts that operated from 1906 to 1957. Many of the surviving ‘lunch wagons’, as they were known as prior to 1925, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Hot Dogs in the City
If you’re looking for the comfort food of an at-home barbeque with the excitement of going out to eat, you might want to try one of the iconic hot dog restaurants of the greater Worcester area. Coney Island Hot Dogs is a good place to start and a hard place to miss – located on Southbridge Street in Worcester, Coney Island’s bold exterior matches the robust flavors and friendly atmosphere of the family-owned business. Hot Dog Annie’s in Leicester is another popular choice – while it’s a little off the beaten path compared to Coney Island’s location, their simple, straightforward menu offers old-school customers the classic taste they crave. Visitors are encouraged to try the house brand of Root Beer and Cream Soda, as well as their iconic barbeque sauce. If you’re looking for a more casual experience – although one can wonder how a hot dog restaurant can become more casual – keep your eyes peeled for The Dogfather, a hot dog food truck owned and operated in Worcester. One of their trucks takes residency on Holden Street, but they have two other trucks that can be booked for events at schools, workplaces, private events and fundraisers. There’s something about the summer that makes hot dogs all the more satisfying to eat, and we recommend checking out some of the local spots if you don’t feel like cooking up your own!
Woo Screams for Ice Cream
Ice cream is a must-have all year round, but proves itself to be the perfect outing during the summer for any occasion – spending time with friends, a first date, a family outing, or some good old-fashioned alone time! Wooberry Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt is a popular spot located on Highland Street, and serves a mouth-watering array of ice creams, frozen yogurts, smoothies, coffees and espresso. Wooberry’s convenient location in the city makes them an easy stop if you’re already out for dinner or running errands and need a sweet pick-me-up. If you’re looking to combine your ice cream outing with a trip to the beach, try Madulka’s Ice Cream on Lake Quinsigamond. Madulka’s proudly advertises that you can “drive, swim or boat” to their location, and their array of cones, sundaes and frappes sound like the perfect addition to a sun-soaked day by the water. Gibby’s ice cream of Gibson’s Dairy Farm, located at 50 Sunderland Road, is a more rural option for getting your ice cream fix – a family owned dairy farm for over 90 years, Gibby’s not only offers over 60 flavors of fresh, home-made ice cream and 20 flavors of soft serve, but still delivers fresh milk to homes and businesses in the Worcester area. No matter what kind of experience you’re looking for, at least one – if not all three – of these ice cream shops are sure to give your summer the sweet taste it deserves!
