Falmouth's Newest Spots Are Being Opened by Its Own Restaurant Veterans
"We're not a big corporation," John Norton told the Falmouth Enterprise as he and his wife, Jenny, got ready to take over East End Tap on Teaticket Highway. "We're just mom and dad naming it after our kid and trying to sling some pizzas."
That kid's name is going on the door as Johnny's Cafe. Norton has cooked for 33 years. His most recent job was general manager and executive chef at the Coonamessett Inn. Jenny has spent nearly 25 years in restaurants, more than two decades of them at the Lobster Trap in Bourne. Two miles away, a couple who met as coworkers at the Fishmonger Café in Woods Hole have opened a cocktail lounge on Main Street. That's how Falmouth's newest and upcoming places are taking shape this fall. They are small and run by their owners, and the owners learned the business in Falmouth's own kitchens.
Here's the backdrop. Eli's Tavern at the Coonamessett Inn has closed as a full-service restaurant and now operates as a private event venue, according to the Falmouth Enterprise. Rob Blood, founder and chairman of Lark Hotels, told the paper that lunch and dinner demand had been "waning" while requests for event space kept climbing.
The numbers explain the decision. Eli's seated 90. The Inn already had three other private event spaces holding between 70 and 250 guests. Lark has owned the 29-room property since February 2017, when it paid $5.55 million. For a hotel group, putting its resources behind weddings and milestone dinners is a reasonable call. For anyone who used to walk into Eli's on a Tuesday, it meant one less tavern open without a reservation.
The people opening Falmouth's newest walk-in places are, in at least one case, coming out of that same building.
East End Tap ran for nine and a half years under Paul Pendleton and Ellen Love-Pendleton, serving chowder, stuffed quahogs and haddock tacos at 734 Teaticket Highway. Its last day of service was set for Thursday, September 10. In their farewell, quoted by MassLive, the Pendletons wrote: "While the name on the door may change, the memories made here will not."
The new concept comes from Norton's childhood in Hanson, where he and his friends rode BMX bikes to local pubs for pizza. The Cape Cod Times called it South Shore-style bar pizza. Johnny's Cafe plans a full bar plus sandwiches, salads and appetizers. Norton has said he'll keep the menu small and affordable, aimed at families, workers looking for a late meal, and people who want an easy place to gather. He also wants it to support local sports. East End Tap's staff were promised first chance at jobs before the Nortons hire anyone else.
The space stays dark until a few pieces are in place.
If those approvals came through on schedule, Norton was aiming to open between mid-October and early November. That window is now. Johnny's Cafe's own announcement is the one to watch for the actual date.
Where Johnny's traces back to the Coonamessett, the owners of the Rebel Room got their start in Woods Hole. Aanjes and Hollis Hershfield, who also own Devour, turned the former Bangkok Thai space at 291 Main Street into a 1920s-inspired cocktail bar and conversation lounge. They opened it on July 1, as the Falmouth Enterprise reported.
The couple met in 2000 while working at the Fishmonger Café, where Aanjes's parents had also met. Her résumé runs through other Falmouth rooms too: Food For Thought, which stood where The Glass Onion is now, and a stint washing dishes at Liam Maguire's. She also leads the Brazen Belles, which the Enterprise calls Cape Cod's first burlesque troupe. That background shows up on the calendar. The Cape Cod Times listed a ticketed burlesque show there on Sunday, October 18, and told guests to bring $1 bills for tipping.
The room is set up to keep people talking. There are no televisions. Instead there are conversation games, velvet loveseats, homemade wooden tables, and family pieces like her grandmother's mirror behind the bar. She described what she was after:
"I want there to be an element of this very highbrow, which is made by the choices we are making with our cocktails and our food. But I want there to be a very lowbrow aspect to it."
On the menu, that means pub cheese and beer or caviar and champagne. Everything is gluten-free and locally sourced. Every cocktail can be made without alcohol, and punchbowls are available. The Enterprise's profile gave the hours as 5 to 11 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday and 5 p.m. to late Thursday through Saturday. That was printed when the bar opened, so check the current schedule before you go.
The Rebel Room and Johnny's Cafe are both small rooms run by people who already know the town, with menus written around who will actually come in on a weeknight.
Down in Falmouth Heights, the Old Casino has posted what it calls its fall hours, and Shipwrecked lists its current daily schedule. Both post hours on their own sites without an update date, so treat these as a guide, not a guarantee.
Neither has posted a winter closing date. With the Old Casino closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays, the Heights now has a midweek gap. A small Main Street lounge and a pizza bar on Teaticket Highway fit right into it.
Back on Main Street, the Cape Cod Times reported on October 7 that Añejo at 188 Main Street is getting new decor and selling off its tables and chairs. The report gave no timeline. If you're planning a dinner there in the coming weeks, call ahead.
That makes three stretches of Falmouth worth knowing this off-season. On Teaticket Highway, Johnny's Cafe is waiting on its oven and its licenses. The Rebel Room's emerald-green room at 291 Main is open seven nights a week, at least on its published schedule. On Grand Avenue, both waterfront rooms have posted their current hours, with breakfast at the Old Casino on weekends and sushi at Shipwrecked every day.
At Tara Franklin, we follow these openings because our clients ask what's within walking distance of a house as often as they ask about the house. If you own near Main Street, Falmouth Heights or the Teaticket corridor and want to see where your home stands this season, start with an instant home valuation, and we'll talk through what's changing on your street.
Get assistance in determining current property value, crafting a competitive offer, writing and negotiating a contract, and much more. Contact us today.