Service With Smiles – For 57 Years
PHOTOs/RICK SAIA
From left, Brian Richard, Michael Richard (also below), and their grandfather, John Evangelista. The Parkway underwent $200,000 in renovations in 2011, raising booths off the floor and adding a sports-themed bar.
In a city where the classic American diner car is part of its history, the Parkway Restaurant and Bar — formerly the Parkway Diner — has retained a link to that past while it embraces the present.
Today, the Shrewsbury Street eatery is in its third generation of ownership, 57 years since John Evangelista and his three brothers bought the diner, which includes the 24-seat diner car and an adjoining dining and function room. Today, his grandsons, brothers Michael and John Richard, are in charge and have pulled it into the 21st century, most notably adding a bar that takes up about one-third of the dining room and drawing in sports fans. The bar, which is surrounded by wall-mounted sports memorabilia, was ready in time for the Boston Bruins' run to the Stanley Cup in 2011.
Evangelista and his siblings bought the diner and two adjoining buildings on Worcester's East Side for $33,000 in 1956, back when Elvis Presley was achieving stardom and the neighborhood was dominated by Italian-Americans. “We didn't know anything about the restaurant business at all,” said Evangelista, who turns 84 this month and still works at the Parkway three days a week: Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The family had to come up with an $8,000 down payment to make the deal happen, he said.
Yet the purchase fulfilled a promise from John's oldest brother, Larry, to his younger siblings after their mother passed away. John was 9 years old at the time. Larry said, “I'm gonna build you guys a castle,” Evangelista recalled, and “this was the castle that my brother built for us.”
Today, the grandsons run the castle (as they have since 2006) and it has survived many changes in the neighborhood, one that includes many restaurants that can satisfy just about every palate and budget, stretching the length of Shrewsbury Street from Route 9 to Union Station.
A Changed Neighborhood
Today, “competition is a lot harder,” Michael Richard, 28, said. “At nighttime, especially. Back when (the founders were) running it, I think my grandfather said there were four restaurants on the street.”
The current state of Shrewsbury Street as the city's “restaurant row” forces each establishment to carve out its own niche. That led the brothers to renovate the back dining room in 2011 with the addition of the bar, as well as booths that sit a few inches above the floor. (A $200,000 investment, according to their grandfather) We “spruced the place up a little bit,” said John, 32.
As for the menu, some of the items that were cooked and served in 1956, such as veal cacciatore and meatballs with sauce, remain. But the Richards' work renovations have also carried over into what the Parkway serves with the additions of such items as bar appetizers.
“We try to do a little bit of everything,” said John, who said the Parkway does a good bar business, especially with the sports crowd.
The Parkway's mission since its debut has been to provide a “friendly and unique” dining experience and atmosphere — no matter who walks through the door. That includes the poor and homeless.
“I never turned anybody away,” said John Evangelista. “A person comes in, I don't care whether you like them or not ... they'll only be here a half an hour. Kill 'em with kindness.”
A look at online reviews gives the Parkway high marks for its service, as well as the food, notably the meatball omelet. Here's what one customer said in her 5-star review on TripAdvisor.com: “A giant Italian meatball is broken up with some extra 'gravy' (tomato sauce), covered with cheese (any kind you want) and folded into an omelet. Awesomeness!”
Even today, when most people his age would be settled into a life of quiet retirement, Evangelista can't stay away from the business. “I love the business. I love what I do. I love people,” he said. Looking back on the Parkway's early days, he recalled he and his siblings sometimes worked 16 hours a day, six or seven days a week. “I don't know how our wives stayed with us.”
Since the mid-1950s, many members of Evangelista's family have assumed at least part-time roles at the Parkway. Today, the Richards' brother, Brian, and three sisters help out.
Evangelista, who said his grandsons will take over the business upon his death, have carried on the tradition well.
“I think they're doing a marvelous job. They give it 100 percent.”
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