Finally CVS’s
March 5th, 2007
The giant CVS at the corner of route 9 and Temple street used to be Finally Michael’s, a restaurant that had great food and pretty classy interior.
I only went there a few times but from what I remember it was somewhat of a special occasion place.
One of the best bar mitzvahs I ever went to was there in 1987. My Hebrew-schoolmate, Mitch had a chess themed reception with giant styrofoam chess pieces, huge (or what seemed to be huge) dance floor and an unlimited make-your-own Shirley Temple bar. Shirley Temple’s (or simply “Shirley’s”) were just one of many benefits of going to bar/bat mitzvahs. In fact, that is one way I would remember a bar mitzvah, by shirley quality. If you had to wait a while for a waiter to come around and tell them you want one and to put extra grenadine and/or extra cherries in it (as most kids did) and it came out with just a drop of grenadine and one cherry that wasn’t as good a time as say, the help-yourself-as much-as-you-want-as-long-as-you-want smorgasbord like Mitch’s bash.
We were out of our minds with sugar and took over the dining room, the dance floor and at certain times the parking lot just to cool off. I can tell you everyone did indeed Wang Chung that night to the wee hours of probably 11pm.
Also, my sister and I had our High School graduation dinner here, although I think Mitch’s Bar Mitzvah out shined it by far. I debated posting this picture on here but, it’s one of the few photos from graduation day taken inside Finally Michael’s.
This is me, my aunt and my sister Elaine in the dining room with bookshelves.Â
Please, PLEASE keep in mind that (besides being a little chunky) this was 1992, I had a lot of mousse in my hair and it was 90-something degrees that day but for the sake of this post I thought it’d be nice to share the interior of the building.
My little sister also authorized this picture from our table.
Finally Michael’s was a great place. My sister had her Bat Mitzvah there, and it was a frequent “special occasion” dinner destination for our family. Including High School graduation dinners.
(And for those curious, I’m not the Mitch with the Bar Mitzvah mentioned above. Mine was at the Maridor in 1980 – where Walgreens is now. How did all the nice restaurants turn into pharmacies?)
Comment by Mitch Cohen — March 5, 2007 @ 4:55 am
Finally Michael’s was a great place. It went down hill after they got rid of the salad bar though. Framingham used to have two of the greatest salad bars . . . Finally Michael’s and Victoria Station.
Comment by Michael — March 6, 2007 @ 5:05 am
Wow, great pictures Michelle. I can’t remember if I was at Mitch’s bar mitzvah, but it’s certainly possible. I always wondered if anyone ever read the books on all the bookshelves.
The Mitch Cohen who commented above reminds of the old Yen’s Wok, which was successful with the comedy club in the basement. Liquor license violations doomed them….and all the restaurants after them. Duca’s III, Marconi’s, and I guarantee (you heard it here first on This is Framingham) Samba is going to go the way of all those before it.
Comment by scott — March 6, 2007 @ 10:04 pm
Yen’s Wok was a good place. I used to go there a lot when it first opened.
That spot really does seem to be really bad luck for a restaurant. I’ve never seen one survive too long there.
Comment by Michael — March 7, 2007 @ 3:24 pm
I do miss those nonchain restaurants.
Well, I think that Marconi’s could have survived, but the service was awful! We went there twice and had terrible service both times. One time a customer complained about it and the manager got into a shouting match with him about it in the middle of the dining room and told him to leave if he didn’t like it. Our service was so bad that they ended up having to comp. most of the bill.
Comment by Karen — March 8, 2007 @ 1:18 pm
THANK YOU!!! I’ve been trying for 3 hours to remember the name of that restaurant. I’m going down to the Top of the Hill restaurant tomorrow, which I know is gone, but I do so like Kelley’s roast beef, so it might be worth it. I’m still trying to get used to all the drastic changes that have happened to Framingham. The 400 is just awful now. And it’s funny, Southborough seems largely untouched by the ravaging hands of change … except for that Chinese place that sat on the corner on Route 9, across from the reservoir.
Comment by Charles Copeland — July 19, 2010 @ 9:31 pm