Published in the August 18, 2016 edition
THE NEWLY ENLARGED Horseshoe Grille Patio will be put to good use for the restaurant’s 90th anniversary celebration. (Bob Turosz Photo)
By BOB TUROSZ
NORTH READING — The Horseshoe Grille on Route 28 has been a North Reading landmark and community institution for so long that it’s impossible to imagine Main St. without it.
And there’s a good reason for that. Because the Horseshoe is about to observe its 90th anniversary, a milestone that few local businesses live to see, much less under the same extended family ownership.
The business started in 1926 as an apple cider stand in the midst of Prohibition under the ownership of D.P. Murphy, who ran it into the 1930’s. Tradition has it the building was originally constructed on Haverhill St. but was dismantled and moved to Route 28 because that road was getting far more traffic.
When Prohibition ended, the business became a pouring establishment. Murphy sold the business to his nephew John Twomey who had emigrated from Ireland and who ran the business until 1955. When Twomey was looking to sell the business and retire, none of his four children – four daughters and a son – were interested, so he called his favorite niece and nephew, Veronica and Pat Lee Sr. who were married and living in New York, who became the new owners.
FOR 90 YEARS, the Horseshoe Grille and the North Reading community have supported each other and both have changed with the times. (Bob Turosz Photo)
In 1960, Pat Lee Sr. tore the old Main St. structure down and built the Horseshoe building that longtime residents of a certain age still remember, and which stood until 2004, when his son Pat Lee Jr., the current owner, demolished it and built the present–day Horseshoe Grille.
Pat Jr. explains that when Prohibition ended licenses liquor licenses in North Reading were given to clubs only – there were no full liquor licenses were given out, primarily because North Reading, with a population under 2,000, was mostly a vacation community because of Martins Pond. This situation prevailed until 1960, when the town began to offer full liquor licenses. But every two years the town had the option to vote to be “wet” or “dry.”
“So every two years the town could vote whether we could remain in business. But I remember the tension in the house when I was growing up and the importance of election day. I remember my mother going down in her car and bringing people at Martins Pond who didn’t own cars to the voting booth and making sure they got their vote in,” Lee said.
At some point – Lee doesn’t remember exactly when – the law changed and the liquor licenses came to be issued by Selectmen in a more business–like and predictable manner and the biennial anxiety lifted from the Lee household.
Over the years, the business name changed several times. From simply The Horseshoe for the cider stand in 1926, to The Horseshoe Club when Prohibition ended to the Horseshoe Lounge when Pat Lee Sr. bought it and received a full liquor license. In 1990 the operation began to stress the restaurant portion of the business and became the Horseshoe Cafe until 2004,when the new building opened as the Horseshoe Grille.
Each name change represented a reimagining of the business concept, which Lee credits as the reason the Horseshoe is about to enter its tenth decade.
“How does a family stay in business for 90 years? Because we’re stubborn Irishmen,” Lee jokes. “But seriously, there’s one key reason – because the family in its appropriate generations weren’t afraid to take a risk and change with the community. Going from a cider stand to taking advantage of the end of Prohibition, to my father’s decision to tear down the old building and replace it with all the modern amenities like air conditioning and a dance floor. That took courage.”
Similarly, when North Reading changed in the late 1990s and 2000s with bigger and newer homes, Pat and his wife Kathi knew the community would need a polished, casual restaurant concept because of the changing demographics. And so the Horseshoe Grille, with its award–winning barbecue and well–rounded, varied menu, was born.
“God bless the old Horseshoe, it served us well. But by the late 80s, its time had come,” he said. The new Horseshoe is twice the size of the old building, with a center fireplace and a lounge area separate from the dining room and a patio that has just recently been enlarged.
The 90th anniversary will be celebrated with a special invitation–only anniversary celebration on Monday, Aug. 29, from 5 to 9 p.m. There will be entertainment throughout, food stations, a cash bar and a live and silent auction to benefit the Jimmy Fund and the Mass. Restaurant Associations’ Educational Fund.
Lee will serve as the MRA’s Chairman of the Board next year. “We’re an industry that’s growing, but also an industry that’s running short of staffing. It’s important for us to educate young people and provide scholarships for continuing education.”
He credits the business’s longevity keeping in tune with the community and its changing needs. “It’s worked well for us. You can’t be everything to everyone, that doesn’t work very well. The key is to find out what they’re looking for and what you can do well, and to marry the two. That serves the business well and allows it to be strong and healthy.”
For 90 years the Horseshoe has survived, changed and flourished more or less in synch with the North Reading community. That’s why there’s a 90th anniversary celebration being held on Aug. 29. And there’s no doubt that’s why there’s likely to be a 100th anniversary in 2026.
See you there.
