James Place
February 12th, 2007
Over the weekend we finally got to James Place at 69 Waverly Street.
The inside is painted with bright cheery colors and they display artwork from students at Woodrow Wilson Middle School. They have regular sodas and also a variety of soda from the Mercury Brewing Company of Ipswich that make interesting flavors like coconut, watermelon and kiwi-berry.
James Place advertises selling hot dogs and ice cream but they also sell Cuban sandwiches and chocolates. The hot dog menu has a list of names after different dog breeds. I believe they have just one kind of hotdog but with different toppings, they have an extensive variety though. I got “the mutt” which is ketchup, mustard, onions and relish. It was pretty good, no surprises or disappointments.
Ethan got the Cuban sandwich which is sliced ham and pulled pork that the owner told us he marinates for 12 hours and then cooks for another few hours and makes it every 2 to 3 days. The sandwich also has cheese, pickles & mustard and is then put in a heated sandwich press. Ethan said it was really good and said the bread was great too.
After that we split a very creamy Toll House cookie ice cream. All the ice cream there is from Christina’s homemade ice cream of Cambridge.
The owner is such a nice a guy, we ended up talking to him for a few minutes as we were paying. He is actually excited to be in Framingham and likes using local products like the ice cream and sodas and cares to recycle.  He will also be adding more products as the summer approaches.
I only wish that this place was a half mile west so it would actually be in downtown since we really need something like this downtown but it’s close enough and it’s great to have a fun small business run by a sincerely nice guy in town.
This place is a true find! And a great local business. I went there today for the grilled Cuban sandwich — delicious!! I talked with James’ sister, who was working there today. Apparently he is from Martinique, but has a lot of friends from Cuba so makes those great sandwiches. She got a little confused at first and started to make the BBQ pulled pork, but was quickly redirected. I also had the Mama Zuma habanero chips, spicy and delicious. Thanks for pointing out this place, we never would have discovered it.
Comment by Jeff — February 14, 2007 @ 1:30 am
James’ Place has a small writeup in today’s (Feb 14th) Metrowest Daily News.
Comment by Jeff — February 14, 2007 @ 7:45 pm
With my nephews up for a rare visit I thought it would be a nice treat to go out for some hotdogs and icecream after a couple strings of bowling at Fairlane. On the way to Rt. 9 we stopped to check the closing time of James’ and we were pleased to see 7:00 posted in marker and construction paper on the door. Unfortunately, when we arrived at 6:15 the door was locked and the person inside wouldn’t even turn around to tell us she closed. She stared at the wall away from the door we were standing at with 2 young boys and a 1 1/2 year old praying we would disappear. After we packed everyone back into the car we vowed never to return. Big disappointment.
Comment by Don — February 18, 2007 @ 3:18 pm
Wow, that is dissapointing to say the least. I can’t imagine why a new business would not honor their posted hours and even ignore customers, not a smart move. I want this place to do well but they really have to fix that issue, that’s not right. Thanks for letting us know.
Comment by michelle — February 18, 2007 @ 4:03 pm
I’ve been to James Place a few times. great cuban sandwiches. I tried to talk the owner into coming up with a new sandwich, a reuben that is pressed like his cuban. Suggested name: “The cuban reuben” We’ll see.
Comment by harris — April 29, 2007 @ 6:14 pm
Esto es lo que necesitabamos en framingham, un lugar con los deliciosos Cuban Sandwiches . Me gusta la variedad de icecream. Me gustaria ver mas variedad de comida en el menu. La musica de fondo es bien agradable a mis oidos. Es un lugar perfecto para llevar la familia.
Comment by Orlando Vazaquez — May 5, 2007 @ 12:46 pm
I AND MY FRIENDS WILL HAVE TO CHECK JAMES PLACE OUT. NOTICE IT COMING BACK TO FRAMINGHAM FROM NATICK LAST FRIDAY NITE. AND WILL HAVE TO CHECK THE HOURS THAT IT IS OPEN. DEE
Comment by DEE SHEEHAN — July 16, 2007 @ 5:20 am
Hate to break this news folks, but word up:
James will be closing his establishment at the end of August.
I visited for the first time last week on one of the hottest days of summer and, aside from the three 10-year olds in tow, we were the only customers for our entire stay.
I asked James how business was and he replied “slow”, and then proceeded to say that he’d be shuttering the place on 9/1 because of the dearth of customers.
I asked why he thought people weren’t coming and his reasoning was pure “bad location” — it’s tough to get to this side of Framingham at anytime of the day. This I can attest to, having suffered through 4PM traffic coming from NW Framingham. I also surmise that his signage, though nice and adequate, doesn’t allow drivers on 135 to actually see his place until you’re right on top of it.
This is all to bad for that small section of Downtown which was seeing a small resurgence, what with the Simply Bicycles, Edible Arrangements, the pizza place, etc. Even with the newspaper publicity and genuinely excellent product, James could’n’t make a go of it.
If you’re out there James, I wish you well and hope you set up shop somewhere else in Framingham and continue to sell Cristinas ice cream — truly premium stuff.
Comment by Matt — August 1, 2007 @ 7:55 pm
James is truly a great man, as stated above. He is turning the place into a beauty salon/massage parlor (He told me he is also a licensed massage therapist). I feel bad for the man because he has a lease on the building and has to do something with it. I admire his entreprenureal (sp.?) spirit but I’m not sure how well a beauty salon/massage parlor will do there, either. We’ll see, but best of luck to him!
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