The *new* Chicken Bone
October 30th, 2006
I was alerted by the good reverend Bob that the Chicken Bone Saloon was now just “The Chicken Bone” and seems to have changed owners as well as the format from biker bar to family restaurant.
As long as the food is still good, I don’t see a problem with this, although I’m curious to know the story behind the change over.Â
I love the chicken playing a flaming guitar on the sign, if nothing else, that’s a good enough reason to like the new Chicken Bone.
I haven’t been in yet since the new owners took over but on their site they show some pictures that show they made changes inside.
The Chicken Bone is one of the few non-Brazilian restaurants in downtown, nothing against Brazilian restaurants but it’s nice to have a little variety so I’m grateful that the new ownership didn’t decide to pick up and leave downtown.
Also, next door used to be a building that my uncle had his auto part store in (after he moved it from the corner of Waverly and Concord). They knocked this building down about a month (or more?) ago and I have been trying to find out what will be going there.Â
Last time I was in the chicken bone they said it was supposed to be a health clinic but I read that a health clinic is going in on Union Ave.Â
I REALLY hope they’re not putting two health clinics downtown. I want downtown to be a cool place but no one is going to want to come here if all the stores are turned into health clinics or places of worship, offices, etc… I think downtown needs vacant stores/restaurants being turned into new stores/restaurants.
Whatever happened with the plan for the town members to enlist the Waltham town planners in helping Downtown Framingham start to restore and renovate itself like Waltham did about a decade or so ago. Waltham Center is the Bomb! Great restaurants and now great and funky shops moving in. Downtown Framingham has so much potential and quite honestly too much Brazil in it to make it a destination for anyone other than a Brazilian or a wayward homeless person who is there for the various drug/alcohol related places.
Comment by h — October 30, 2006 @ 5:48 pm
Downtown especially needs retail on the GROUND FLOOR level. If there’s a need for things like insurance offices, law office and medical centers in the area, they either need to be on side streets off the main commercial shopping streets or they should be on 2nd floors. You want something that appeals to pedestrians in every shop window in the main commercial streets.
There’s a good reason that most shopping malls don’t have health offices, legal offices and so on on their main corridors. It doesn’t make for a good shopping experience.
Newbury Street in Boston doesn’t have lots of street-level law, medical and insurance offices either. If you want to create a great shopping/entertainment destination corridor, it’s unlikely to happen by chance. Someone has to PLAN for the types of businesses you want to attract, and understand that other kinds of perfectly useful and legitimate businesses that benefit a community aren’t necessarily the best additions to the ground floor of your prime retail corridor.
Comment by Sharon — November 1, 2006 @ 12:29 pm
amen!
Comment by michelle — November 1, 2006 @ 1:40 pm
I’ve been using Moody Street as the example of what downtown could become since I moved here in 95. Downtown is on the right, but extremely slow, track with the Dennison Lofts and if the Arcade could ever get started. Maybe a StoneCold Creamery or some other type of place that people might want to drive to from up north (of rt 9) would also help spur this. Once there are some more people of means (not to slight anyone there now) living in Dennison and the Arcade, we might be able to see more stores/shops/restaurants other than money transfers/central american travel/rent-a-center/brazillian barbeque places. The social services that popped up downtown (perhaps due to cheap rents) might not be able to expand due to the cost of rents. There seems to be plenty of storefronts still available. Don’t mention parking issues as Moody Street parking is probably worse (try pariking there on a saturday everning) Once there are some places to visit downtown, it will be fun to park on the fringe near the Hosp and walk to where you want to go. While you are walking you might discover another place worth visiting.
Comment by Rich — November 3, 2006 @ 7:24 pm