[PlateOfShrimp]

First Hilltop Steakhouse then Durgin-Park. Hillbilly Ranch and Inn Square Men’s Bar (Ladies Invited) long gone.

Nothing lasts forever.

[MGG]

Santoros in Saugus closed too. If buy it if I was ten years younger.

[grania]

re: HillTop Steakhouse. In its glory days was so incredible that people would travel 50 miles and wait in line for their steak dinners, with unbelievable quality and only a small number of choices for sides. Was it about 40 years ago where they slipped enough so it was no longer worth the long trip?

There are a few factors when a restaurant slips. You see it all the time. A major one is they lose their base, those that come often or would travel far. They do that by cutting corners on those aspects that made customers loyal. Another factor (around here anyway) is that some restaurants had to get smart. If the population or the surroundings shift, they have to know to find a new, probably nearby, location that will keep them coming back.

[Gay State Conservative]

First Hilltop Steakhouse then Durgin-Park.

I drive by Ken's Steak House on Route 9 pretty regularly and I *never* see any cars in the lot.I'm always wondering how they manage to stay in business.Outback only lasted a few years right across the street.

[9YearLurker]

There’s a limited market for really old-school American dining these days. Especially in a hip-aspiring, young people’s city like Bosotn.

Gotta do it cheap as something of comfort-food, diner revival, add a new-dining chef’s flair to it, or really win at the nostalgia marketing game.

That is, DP either had to at a modern, gourmet flair to their menu and give up the old-school angle — or get a crack marketing team in to make it hip with the college crowds flowing through town.

Not surprising that it didn’t hold up. But a shame. Nothing like a good Indian pudding to finish off a meal!