This Is Framingham

I went by the site where Hurwitz’s kosher meat market used to be. It’s been repainted and looks like something is going on so I looked up to see if any work permits have been issued.
Although it is listed as 327, (that address is a residence so it must be a typo) they must mean 326 where Hurwitz’s used to be.  There is a recent permit issued for “Retail with food service” for a business called “Hot and Sweet Continental Deli and Meat Market”.
I’m glad something that I might want to use will move in there instead of an office or something.  I’m looking forward to checking this place when it’s open.

When I was a student at Framingham State this building was painted bright purple and called the “Psychedelic Emporium” (9 Main st.).  I never went in there (I really didn’t) but I know they sold bongs and other marijuana accessories- BUT, they had to call everything “tobacco” accessories.
I remember driving by with a classmate of mine who was a pot smoker and even he shook his head and said “that building must bring the property value down around here by thousands of dollars”. That’s a pretty strong statement for a non-homeowner-pot-smoking-college-student to say about this place.
I guess they got busted, someone must have asked for a bong and the person behind the counter didn’t say “we don’t have bongs, just “tobacco pipes” and instead said “oh sure, right this way, we have a great selection of bongs. What? What’d I say wrong?”.  I don’t know if that’s exactly how it went down but I heard it was something along that line.
I had to actually look up the permits for this address to remember the name of this place, for the life of me I couldn’t remember it.  I kept thinking it was something like “House of Bong” but of course I knew it couldn’t be that.  Anyway, I thought it was funny that the license type listed in the permit for this store was “JUNK - JUNK DEALER LICENSE”.
To the best of my knowledge this building hasn’t been used as anything since.  Maybe some stoners put a curse on the building but according to work permits looks like a couple of construction permits were filed last month so maybe something new will finally go in there.

I’d like to thank to Karen for pointing out the work being done on the building that was the old Rainbow Buffet, Super Buffet, Scioletti’s, Tony Roma’s etc.. I looked up the work permits and it looks like it will be another restaurant called “Asia Buffet”.  I’m glad something is hapening with this place.  I hope they really do some work on the exterior, this building has bothered me for a while.

According to the building permit I found on the town website, the old Honey Dew Donuts on 135 is going to be a drug store.  I think this will be interesting seeing that CVS is right downtown and a Walgreen’s will be moving in a little further down 135. 
I think those are really the only drugstores I see around outside of pharmacies in supermarkets (besides the occasional Osco Drug) and since it’s such a small building I wonder if this is a small business that will try to compete with the major chain drugstores. 
If it is, good luck little guy! : )

I was walking by the old train station last night and saw the lights on, I looked in the window and saw some guys working in there. I knocked on the window and one of the guys pointed to the front door so I met him there and asked him what kind of restaurant it would be and he said Brazilian.  It will be a Brazilian buffet and he said it should open in a month or so.
I was kind of disappointed because I was hoping for something different in the area, but to be fair, the guy was really nice and he didn’t have to stop what he was doing to answer my questions and I appreciated that.
I’ll give it a try when they open and I’m looking forward to check out how they’ve re-done the inside too.

 
I was thinking about how I haven’ been to Desmond O’Malley’s in about a year.  For some reason I always forget it’s even there. This morning I drove by and saw they were doing construction/renovation there and did a little investigating.
Looks like it will be unveiled sometime this month as the Metro 9 Steakhouse, still owned by Desmond O’Malley’s.
On their craigslist post, looking for wait staff, they describe themselves as an upscale steakhouse:

A fine dining experience awaits our patrons in an upscale, sophisticated setting located on Rte 9 in Framingham, MA. Metro 9 will serve affordable, high quality steaks, chops and fresh seafood ranging from $16 to $26. With our November 2006 opening, we are now seeking quality-minded individuals ready to provide the best dining experience in a professional manner to our customers.

Sounds interesting if the food and service is as good as it seems it should be.  Probably not a place I’d go to all the time but I’ll definitely check it out.

In Sad Plaza there are a few vacant stores in a row, one used to be a CVS and one used to be some sort of Pool place like Namco or something. 
In these doorways were big pieces of water-stained paper that half-hid the space behind it, which was in pitiful condition. 

Most depressing was that there was dead bird, that never found his way out, in the push-bar of a door.

Last weekend I happened to be by and noticed that all the stained paper was out of the doors and the dead bird was removed.  I don’t know what this means.  It could just be maintenence is finally being done on the building to be presentable or a store is actually moving in.  Either way it’s progress.

Then:

Now:

Then:

Now: