Familiar West Acton locations getting some fresh dining options
As Acton mulls still more redevelopment, town leaders and business owners alike say the additions are all good news.
Two once beloved dining destinations have something new on the menu.
Eva’s Little Kitchen started welcoming customers in the former Reasons to be Cheerful ice cream parlor in mid-August. And Chipotle Mexican Grill opened August 28 on land that once hosted the Papa Razzi trattoria.
More shops are opening soon at the Papa Razzi site. As Acton mulls still more redevelopment — and as residents enjoy new options — town leaders and business owners alike say the additions are all good news.
“I’m gonna go to every single one of these,” Select Board member Mary Hartman said as the panel approved licenses for Eva’s, Chipotle, and a Starbucks location at the Papa Razzi plaza. “We need things like this.”
Praise for Eva’s
Reasons to be Cheerful closed last year. Eva’s already had a bakery/cafe in Bedford. The menu at the original spot and the new Acton branch includes baked goods, coffee, sandwiches, and more.
In a social media post, staff said the response at the new location “has been overwhelming in the best way.”
Lindsey Warren sat on a porch swing outside the West Acton Eva’s and said her family had already visited several times to sample the new shop’s “unique” menu. Her sons, who bustled around her, are fans of the grilled cheese sandwiches.
Though they’re glad that Eva’s filled the Reasons to be Cheerful space, they noted West Acton is now without a similar ice cream spot.
Accompanied by his 10-month-old puppy, Honey, Adam McGowan sipped a coffee from nearby Saltbox Kitchen at an outdoor table while his wife ordered from Eva’s.
“We’re happy for more options,” he said.
Papa Razzi closed in 2023. Crews razed the Elm Street site last summer and spent much of the past year building a new commercial strip.
Starbucks is set to open next to Chipotle on September 15, Daniel Brennan of DPB Design Consultants said at the restaurant’s licensing meeting.
Sally’s Apizza is also coming to the Papa Razzi plaza but has not yet secured a common victualler’s license. Citizens Bank will round out the new strip when it moves its Acton Center location to Elm Street on October 20.
Acton caps the number of chain businesses such as Starbucks, Chipotle, Sally’s, and Citizens that can operate in Acton Center, Thoreau Depot, and West Acton Junction.
However, the Papa Razzi parcel and the nearby MCI-Acton prison property are exempt.
By the numbers
Chipotle
Seats: 41 interior, 14 seasonal patio
Hours: 10:45 a.m.-11 p.m.
Starbucks
Seats: 43 interior, 20 seasonal patio
Hours: 5 a.m.-8:30 p.m. weekdays, 5:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m. weekends
Eva’s Little Kitchen
Seats: 33 interior, 12-14 seasonal patio
Hours: 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
Source: Consultant presentations to the Acton Select Board
Old sites, new life
Multiple town panels are weighing the prison site’s redevelopment. On Elm Street, the former Best Western hotel at 740 Elm Street just wrapped its two-year stint as a state emergency shelter and might also be redeveloped.
Concordians Megan and Mark Pesce opened the town’s newest Dunkin’ location last year at the site of the former Asian Gourmet restaurant next to the Papa Razzi land. They didn’t know what would replace Papa Razzi when they bought the property.
“While Starbucks opening next door isn’t ideal,” Megan Pesce told The Acton Bridge in an email, “we[‘re] very excited about the businesses bringing more customers to the area.”
Traffic concerns
Some worry about increased traffic as businesses draw new visitors.
Now-former fire Chief Thomas Judge said the department doesn’t see a lot of crashes at the nearby intersection of Route 2 and Baker Avenue Extension. “But when we do,” he said, “they’re usually dramatic.”
A 2023 memo from Acton police Inspector Ron Holsinger said the junction does have “above-average crash statistics” and said the spot is Acton’s only Route 2 intersection without a signalized pedestrian crosswalk.
Though some concerns persist, Acton police Capt. Brian Goldman noted this summer that the Papa Razzi site went through the town’s permitting process, and he said CPD isn’t anticipating an issue with new openings.
Despite a lack of signage for potential customers who don’t know how to get into the parking lot, Mark Pesce said business was ramping up at the Elm Street Dunkin’. He estimates roughly 100 people will work at the Papa Razzi plaza once all four stores open, and he sees that as another plus.
“Employees are great for our business,” he said.
Sallying forth
Some business leaders have called on the town to ease chain restrictions in its commercial centers.
McGowan sees value in the rules, but he’s also excited for Sally’s Apizza and its signature New Haven-style pies. McGowan is from Connecticut, where Sally’s got its start in 1938. The brand now has six restaurants, with six more on the way — including a Acton location.
“We’re very much looking forward to Sally’s,” McGowan said.
Be it Chipotle or, soon, Starbucks, Sally’s, and Citizens, the Papa Razzi site is bustling again. The old Reasons to be Cheerful got some new paint and an interior refit for Eva’s. Moments after the Select Board gave Eva’s its blessing, Chair Mark Howell previewed what some Concordians may be feeling.
“We’re going to have a lot of new places to eat,” he said.
Where now, Cheerful cow?
When Reasons to be Cheerful ice cream shop operated out of 110 Commonwealth Avenue, people came for the cold confections — and the charismatic cow.
Owner Phil Rosenfield told The Acton Bridge last year that the cow was full-size and bolted to the floor for safety.
“We call it our founder,” he said then. “When kids come in, they gravitate toward it.”
Now the cow has been put out to pasture — it’s “safe and sound with us and our family at home in Wayland,” Rosenfield told The Bridge in a text last week.
And the bovine, whose name has been forgotten, Rosenfield said, is still turning heads.
“People that come by are at first astounded by the presence of a cow.”
And that’s no bull.
— Christine M. Quirk
