Tasty Sandwich Shop
Encyclopedia
The Tasty Sandwich Shop, sometimes referred to as "The Tasty", was located near the joining of John F. Kennedy Street and Massachusetts Avenue, at the center of Harvard Square
, in Cambridge, Massachusetts
, in the Read Block building, the site of the home of colonial poet Anne Bradstreet
. It was closed in 1997 after eighty-one years and was later replaced by the chain stores Abercrombie & Fitch Co. and Pacific Sunwear
.
the hours of midnight and 4am.
A large map, studded with pins, covered the back wall of the diner and claimed to pinpoint the origins of postcards from customers over the years. In keeping with the informal atmosphere of the diner - where the cooks, including chef Charlie Coney, were sometimes compared to bartenders and frequently chatted with customers - many of these pins were in geographically implausible locations.
and its late opening hours, numerous students from Harvard University
, and had become one of the few places where students and residents, and residents from different social and economic classes, mixed informally. According to one historian, "you could sit next to a professor on your left, and a homeless person on your right." http://artfilmdesign.com/mp3/artfilmdesign-2005-10-04.mp3
Some notable regulars at the Tasty included Matt Damon
and Ben Affleck
(Ben actually preferred Leo's Sandwich Shop up JFK St from the Tasty, but Matt was a Tasty man); Livingston Taylor
(brother of James, who occasionally joined Livingston for breakfast); news anchor Soledad O'Brien
; actor Avery Brooks
, jazz musician Joshua Redman
; and comic Jackie Flynn. Others seen at one time or another in the Tasty include Pete Seeger, Chevy Chase, Rosalyn Carter, Lou Reed, Judd Nelson, Steven Wright, Al Gore, Paul Simon, Joshua Van Raalte, Senator Paul Sarbanes, and Actor Donal Logue
. It was also used in a scene from Love Story Harvard's Erich Segals story of a privileged Harvard Law School student (Ryan O'Neal) and his plain brown wrapper girlfriend (Ali McGraw). It is the subject of a 2005 documentary, Touching History, by director Federico Muchnik.
franchises, which enabled the bank to charge significantly higher rents to tenants who provided greater security. Opposition to the end of the Tasty's tenancy was voiced by a number of groups, included the Harvard Square Defense Fund; brothers Tom and Ray Magliozzi, also known as Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers on their radio talk show, Car Talk, broadcast weekly on National Public Radio; according to Muchnik, the Tasty became a cause celebre
and a symbol of the transitions the neighborhood was undergoing.
Although the Cambridge Saving Bank often referred to "our community" when speaking about their effort to change the Square in such a fashion, none of the involved executives at the bank actually lived in Cambridge at the time. Despite having brought considerable evidence attesting to the historical value of the diner and the important social role it played in Harvard Square, the supporters of the Tasty did not prevail; however, the Cambridge City Council required that the distinctive entrance to the Tasty be preserved, giving it "landmark" status, and it remains unmodified today. The attention paid to the closing of the Tasty by the Cambridge City Council in the Winter of 1997 occasioned a rebuke from the Harvard Square Business Association, who criticized the council for becoming involved in a private, contractual matter. http://www.rwinters.com/journal/ccj1-2.htm
For a time, an Abercrombie & Fitch store operated in the building on the site formerly occupied by the Tasty. This store was eventually succeeded by a branch office of Citizens Bank, and the actual space in which the Tasty once operated is now occupied by a row of Citizens Bank ATMs. As Muchnik remarks, "if you look at the bank in the Read Block today, you have one door too many" - the extraneous door, a second entrance to the small ATM lobby, being that of the former diner.
The end of the Tasty's tenure in the Square is considered a side effect of gentrification
; the small, confined space of the Tasty, its prices (far lower than any other restaurant in the Square at the time of its closing) and friendly, "neighborhood" atmosphere attracted patrons from all socio-economic strata and contrasted, in many ways, with the more upscale stores and restaurants emerging—and transforming—the Harvard Square community.
Harvard Square
Harvard Square is a large triangular area in the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street, and John F. Kennedy Street. It is the historic center of Cambridge...
, in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, in the Read Block building, the site of the home of colonial poet Anne Bradstreet
Anne Bradstreet
Anne Dudley Bradstreet was New England's first published poet. Her work met with a positive reception in both the Old World and the New World.-Biography:...
. It was closed in 1997 after eighty-one years and was later replaced by the chain stores Abercrombie & Fitch Co. and Pacific Sunwear
Pacific Sunwear
Pacific Sunwear of California, Inc. is a US based retail clothing brand rooted in the youth oriented culture and fashion vibe of California. The company sells lifestyle apparel, along with footwear and accessories designed for teens and young adults. As of late 2011, the company operated over 800...
.
Description
The Tasty was a tiny one-room diner and lunch counter, its customer area no more than seven feet wide and thirty feet deep, where one could order a hamburger or hot dog and eat it at a narrow counter made of yellow linoleum. A Harvard Business School student once deemed it "the most profitable restaurant in new England per sq ft" , at 210 sq ft (19.5 m²), that was easy. The Tasty had 16 stools. On busy nights it would be crammed with 60-80 people (from actual head counts) at a time, all craving the double cheeseburgers and fries . On these nights between 300-400 of these burgers were served betweenthe hours of midnight and 4am.
A large map, studded with pins, covered the back wall of the diner and claimed to pinpoint the origins of postcards from customers over the years. In keeping with the informal atmosphere of the diner - where the cooks, including chef Charlie Coney, were sometimes compared to bartenders and frequently chatted with customers - many of these pins were in geographically implausible locations.
Customers
By the end of its existence it attracted both long-time residents and, by virtue both of its proximity to Harvard YardHarvard Yard
Harvard Yard is a grassy area of about , adjacent to Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that constitutes the oldest part and the center of the campus of Harvard University...
and its late opening hours, numerous students from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, and had become one of the few places where students and residents, and residents from different social and economic classes, mixed informally. According to one historian, "you could sit next to a professor on your left, and a homeless person on your right." http://artfilmdesign.com/mp3/artfilmdesign-2005-10-04.mp3
Some notable regulars at the Tasty included Matt Damon
Matt Damon
Matthew Paige "Matt" Damon is an American actor, screenwriter, and philanthropist whose career was launched following the success of the film Good Will Hunting , from a screenplay he co-wrote with friend Ben Affleck...
and Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck
Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt , better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith's films such as Mallrats and Chasing Amy...
(Ben actually preferred Leo's Sandwich Shop up JFK St from the Tasty, but Matt was a Tasty man); Livingston Taylor
Livingston Taylor
Livingston Taylor is an American singer-songwriter, born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He attended the Westtown School in Pennsylvania...
(brother of James, who occasionally joined Livingston for breakfast); news anchor Soledad O'Brien
Soledad O'Brien
María de la Soledad Teresa O'Brien is an American Broadcast journalist. She is currently the host of the "In America" documentary unit on CNN, and is best known for anchoring the CNN marquee morning newscast American Morning from July 2003 to April 2007, with Miles O'Brien...
; actor Avery Brooks
Avery Brooks
Avery Franklin Brooks is an American actor, television director, jazz musician, opera singer and college professor. Brooks is perhaps best known for his television roles as Benjamin Sisko on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and as Hawk on Spenser: For Hire and its spinoff A Man Called Hawk, and in the...
, jazz musician Joshua Redman
Joshua Redman
Joshua Redman is an American jazz saxophonist and composer who records for Nonesuch Records. He won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition in 1991.-Biography:...
; and comic Jackie Flynn. Others seen at one time or another in the Tasty include Pete Seeger, Chevy Chase, Rosalyn Carter, Lou Reed, Judd Nelson, Steven Wright, Al Gore, Paul Simon, Joshua Van Raalte, Senator Paul Sarbanes, and Actor Donal Logue
Donal Logue
Donal Francis Logue is an Canadian actor perhaps most famous for his role as Sean Finnerty in Grounded for Life.-Personal life:...
Media references
The Tasty was often referred to in the press as a "local landmark" http://www.dwellings.com/DW/pages/cambdesc.html,http://www.bostonphoenix.com/alt1/archive/books/reviews/04-97/BRADSTREET.html or "institution" http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:NSUwqnCCRLoJ:www.bostonmagazine.com/bestof/DFL.php%3Fyear%3D2004%26cat_id%3D2022+site:www.bostonmagazine.com+tasty+diner&hl=en&client=safari,http://www.boston.com/travel/boston/articles/2004/07/25/where_cambridge_meets/, and was immortalized in film during a scene in Good Will HuntingGood Will Hunting
Good Will Hunting is a 1997 drama film directed by Gus Van Sant and starring Matt Damon, Robin Williams, Ben Affleck, Minnie Driver, and Stellan Skarsgård...
. It was also used in a scene from Love Story Harvard's Erich Segals story of a privileged Harvard Law School student (Ryan O'Neal) and his plain brown wrapper girlfriend (Ali McGraw). It is the subject of a 2005 documentary, Touching History, by director Federico Muchnik.
Closure
Despite a struggle by its owner, Peter Haddad, the Tasty's tenancy ended in November 1997. Its landlord, the Cambridge Savings bank, took advantage of the increasing attractiveness of the Harvard Square neighborhood to chain storeChain store
Chain stores are retail outlets that share a brand and central management, and usually have standardized business methods and practices. These characteristics also apply to chain restaurants and some service-oriented chain businesses. In retail, dining and many service categories, chain businesses...
franchises, which enabled the bank to charge significantly higher rents to tenants who provided greater security. Opposition to the end of the Tasty's tenancy was voiced by a number of groups, included the Harvard Square Defense Fund; brothers Tom and Ray Magliozzi, also known as Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers on their radio talk show, Car Talk, broadcast weekly on National Public Radio; according to Muchnik, the Tasty became a cause celebre
Cause célèbre
A is an issue or incident arousing widespread controversy, outside campaigning and heated public debate. The term is particularly used in connection with celebrated legal cases. It is a French phrase in common English use...
and a symbol of the transitions the neighborhood was undergoing.
Although the Cambridge Saving Bank often referred to "our community" when speaking about their effort to change the Square in such a fashion, none of the involved executives at the bank actually lived in Cambridge at the time. Despite having brought considerable evidence attesting to the historical value of the diner and the important social role it played in Harvard Square, the supporters of the Tasty did not prevail; however, the Cambridge City Council required that the distinctive entrance to the Tasty be preserved, giving it "landmark" status, and it remains unmodified today. The attention paid to the closing of the Tasty by the Cambridge City Council in the Winter of 1997 occasioned a rebuke from the Harvard Square Business Association, who criticized the council for becoming involved in a private, contractual matter. http://www.rwinters.com/journal/ccj1-2.htm
For a time, an Abercrombie & Fitch store operated in the building on the site formerly occupied by the Tasty. This store was eventually succeeded by a branch office of Citizens Bank, and the actual space in which the Tasty once operated is now occupied by a row of Citizens Bank ATMs. As Muchnik remarks, "if you look at the bank in the Read Block today, you have one door too many" - the extraneous door, a second entrance to the small ATM lobby, being that of the former diner.
The end of the Tasty's tenure in the Square is considered a side effect of gentrification
Gentrification
Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...
; the small, confined space of the Tasty, its prices (far lower than any other restaurant in the Square at the time of its closing) and friendly, "neighborhood" atmosphere attracted patrons from all socio-economic strata and contrasted, in many ways, with the more upscale stores and restaurants emerging—and transforming—the Harvard Square community.
External links
- Harvard CrimsonHarvard CrimsonThe Harvard Crimson are the athletic teams of Harvard University. The school's teams compete in NCAA Division I. As of 2006, there were 41 Division I intercollegiate varsity sports teams for women and men at Harvard, more than at any other NCAA Division I college in the country...
article on the diner's closing, "Demise of a Diner." - Crimson article: "A Night in Cambridge, a day at the Tasty".
- Satirical cartoon on the Tasty's demise
- Interview with Federico Muchnik, director of the documentary film, Touching History (2005, 30 min) which premiered at the New England Film and Video Festival on Friday, October 7, 2005
- CreateSpace entry for Touching History; Harvard Square, The Bank, and the Tasty Diner