Old School Burlington Memories on Route 3A

I recently had a chance to drive Route 3A in Burlington, Mass., and, sadly, everything is gone that I remember from growing up there my first seven years, as well as when working in the area early in my career.

Gone are Almy's Department Store, Dale Pharmacy, Gianelli's family restaurant, Barbo's Furniture, Captain Pizza, IGA supermarket, Kemps hamburger stand, the Fish House seafood market and restaurant, Mister Donut and Sun Luck Chinese restaurant.

Most of these businesses were situated in a plaza that, to this, day remains nearly fully occupied. That's a good thing, but I do miss the older stores at the plaza, particularly Dale Pharmacy where my dad and I would walk from our small red ranch home to buy baseball cards and candy bars.

Sweet Ginger Asian restaurant is now located in the former Sun Luck spot and is admittedly a better restaurant than its distant predecessor.  Dunkin' Donuts took over from Mister Donut, the latter which I always liked better. Dale Pharmacy is now an Indian supermarket and looks like a quality business -- nice to see the old tile floors remaining intact there! The Almy's area is now a Shaw's Supermarket.

Old Schoolhouse Ice Cream and Yogurt is one of the current cornerstones of the plaza, serving excellent ice cream, sandwiches and soups. They would have fit in well with the family-oriented mix back in the day -- great to see them thriving in their mix of modern and old-fashioned ice cream parlor ways.

Does anyone remember this older version of Route 3A in Burlington? What are your favorite memories there? What do you like about the new Burlington on Route 3A?


5 comments:

  1. My great-uncle, Irving Kolovson owned the IGA and my father, Syd Corday, owned the Town Rexall Pharmacy in the strip mall next door.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lots of pride of ownership there, as I strongly recall. Thanks for sharing!

      Delete
  2. My grandfather, Tom Wong, owned the Sun Luck Restaurant.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Allen, thanks for your message. How long did he own the Sun Luck? It seemed like the restaurant had a great run for such a long time.

    ReplyDelete
  4. My dad took me to Rexall's to buy me two packs of baseball cards for 20 cents or one comic book for 15 cents once a week. Loved that place.

    ReplyDelete

Popular Posts