By Evan Walsh
Contributing Writer
WESTBOROUGH – Jon Cohen found a word to meet the moment: “verklempt.” The Yiddish word means to be so overcome with emotion that you are speechless. Cohen spent much of the afternoon on the verge of tears, he admitted.
But who could blame him? On June 27, Cohen celebrated a momentous occasion in the company of friends, employees, and patrons – though everyone felt like family. His business, Harry’s Restaurant, celebrated its 80th anniversary.
“It’s a family place. It’s a garden-variety, family, mom-and-pop business with the warmth of a mom-and-pop business. We know people by name, we know what they eat. That’s what it is,” Cohen told the Fifty Plus Advocate. “I’m overwhelmed. Tears in my eyes. If my father could only see it.”
Harry Cohen, the man who opened Harry’s in 1946, was surely watching from above. After years of brushing walls with paint for a living, he switched careers and opted to brush bread with mustard, opening Harry’s Famous Hot Pastrami near White City in Shrewsbury. In 1969, the restaurant moved to its current digs along Route 9 in Westborough, shifting to “Harry’s Restaurant and Dairy Bar.”
Jon Cohen took the reins in 1985, though it’s managed independently by Jeanine Sander and Suzanne Ryan. The spot maintains its broad appeal – offering seafood, burgers, milkshakes, soups, and salads – and its kitschy decor, with cartoon mollusks and drawings of anthropomorphic menu items hung around the restaurant.
Over decades, locals have come for the onion rings and stayed for the community feel.
“It’s a gathering place for all ages, it’s a community with wonderful employees and wonderful patrons who love the food and want to be here. We want to see you be successful for many, many, many years to come. It’s so popular that celebrities stop here,” said Karen Chapman, the CEO of the Corridor 9/495 Regional Chamber of MetroWest. “We love Harry’s. The community loves Harry’s.”
For Select Board member Mark Silverberg – and many like-minded Central Massachusetts residents – Harry’s is more than a restaurant. It’s home.
“If you stayed with pastrami, you would’ve had me. … “If they just stuck to fried clams, I would’ve been here too,” Silverberg joked. “When my kids were younger and my wife used to work late, I used to always come down here and I would order the shepherd’s pie. I’d order it because it reminded me of my grandmother’s shepherd’s pie.”
“For so many of us, coming to Harry’s is like coming home,” he said.
State Representative Kate Donaghue, State Representative Hannah Kane, and a number of other well-wishers attended the 80th anniversary celebration, which featured a ribbon-cutting and a sample of Harry’s menu afterward.
Sander and Ryan thanked everyone for their support.
“We want to thank our customers, friends, neighbors, and community members. Your support over the years has meant everything to us. Many of you have been coming here for generations, celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, family gatherings, and plenty of other moments. Your loyalty and friendship have made Harry’s more than a restaurant,” they said in a statement.
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