Bickford's

[d_fife]

I saw no topic on bickford's. a lot of them have closed or evolved? and WHY??? I have never eaten at one, but the one in manchester nh on south willow st is my closest one.

the former vernon CT one

[d_fife]

here is the former bickford's in southington CT

[Zayre88]

I went there several times for breakfast, they are good.  Many locations have closed in the past years.  Newington and Dover NH are closed.  I also went to the one in Woburn MA.  It has a mansard style like the former Friendly's in Bangor/Brewer ME.

Here's a picture of the sign in Portsmouth NH.  Obviously it's a former Howard Johnson's.

[Marc82]

That one in Southington hasn't been Bickfords since December 2004. It was bought by the Gold Roc Diner of West Hartford and it became Gold Roc 2 in the spring of 05. The owner of that restaurant where Price Chopper is that used to be a Friday's bought Gold Roc 2 and last I heard was planning on opening a Mexican Restaurant there. That old Bickfords was previously a HO-JO's and years ago that hotel in the back was HO-JO's too.

I miss Bickford's but the management was stupid. Several years ago their corporate office called me for a job interview in the Southington restaurant and when I went to the Southington restaurant the manager said he didn't even know I was coming.

[AmesNewington]

Bickfords basically disappeared from the Hartford area. When my family went shopping frequently at the Southington Price Chopper, we saw Bickfords, then Goldric II restaurant, and it is empty again.

Then there was one in Rocky Hill in front of Ames and Namco. That's the one I used to go to as a small child. It was really great food. Now it is called O' Leary's Pub and Restaurant. There might still be a few open in Southern CT.

[Marc82]

According to their website there's only 2 left in Connecticut. One on Hazzard Ave in Enfield. And their new Grille/Tavern Style Restaurant on Greenmanville Avenue in Mystic.  It's sad. There used to be somewhere between 60 and 75 throught New England and now there's only 33.

[Zayre88]

Just visited their website... only 30 restaurants are still open.  I found out that only 3 remain in NH (Two Bickford's have closed in Manchester...)  One closed in Dover years ago and the Newington location also closed. Only 1 in VT and 1 in CT. They really are going downhill.

[Lastdaysofrain]

They also closed their corporate office in Brighton, MA on Soldiers Field Road a few years ago (the building is still empty and is the most amazing Logan's Run-esque 70s arcitecture)

They rebraned most of their stores into the Bickford's Grill concept, but it didn't fly.

The Salem, NH store is a "Grille", the Saugus, MA and Somerville, MA locations (the Somerville one is relatively new, having been built in the last 10 years) are regular Bickford's and seem to be doing ok.

[Zayre88]

Bickford's is no longer open 24 H in Portsmouth NH (Traffic circle).

[Zayre88]

Closed Bickford's on 2nd Street in Manchester NH. (july 2007)

[Marc82]

Down to 23 according to their website as of 8/27/07. :-( Enfield is the only one in CT left.

[Marc82]

Down to 21. :(

[Zayre88]

Originally posted by Marc82
Down to 21. :(

I just found out that the Portsmouth location is gone from the list.  It was a great location right at the Traffic Circle off I-95 in a Best Western Hotel with 5 other hotels nearby...

Best Western website statement: Restaurant and lounge are closed for renovations until further notice

The 2nd street location in Manchester NH was closed last summer.  A sign read: «Closed for renovation. Visit our South Willow street location»  That location was already demolished and the 2nd street one never re-opened...

[RogerAnthony]

Originally posted by Marc82
Down to 21. :(

Down to 17 now by my count.

[Marc82]

Down to 15 now. You should see the old Bickfords in Southington. The building is painted Geen and has a huge outdoor dining area. Its a Mexican Restaurant called AGAVE. http://www.agavect.com  Next time I go to Price Chopper I'll try and take pix of it.

[Crawford]

Drop that to 14, the Bickford's in Seekonk Massachusetts closed up a couple weeks ago with no ado at all.

[Zayre88]

Originally posted by Crawford
Drop that to 14, the Bickford's in Seekonk Massachusetts closed up a couple weeks ago with no ado at all.

They're going fast... Bickford's won't be around for long at this pace... they will be gone by the end of 2008... unfortunately.

[CTAmeshopper]

Yep, Mystic's is completely gone as well, I've been they're recently and it looks like they're building something completely new there, still under construction, I haven't a clue what it is there were no signs indicating what the new place was.:huh::(

[Marc82]

Interesting. Their website no longer lists Mystic and CTAMESSHOPPER said they were closed, but I had two people tell me they ate at the Mystic Bickfords within the past couple weeks.

[Zayre88]

Originally posted by Zayre88
Closed Bickford's on 2nd Street in Manchester NH. (july 2007)

The same location again: Bickford's used to be called Bickford's Family Fare.

[CTAmeshopper]

I remember Bickford's very well (based on eating at the one in Canton and the one in Niantic and another one in Southington,  and the last newest one in Mystic.)at the front they had toys you could take home with you,(I bought two) and in the back was the seating area, it was a pretty old school family restaurant which seems rare these days. The food was okay, not bad. I also got to ate at the newer one in Mystic before it closed down, the food was absolutely delicious and a big improvement over the other versions,inside it was nautical themed, now that restaurant is gone as well. I miss them they were unique.:(

[Zayre88]

The officially former Bickford's is available at Loopnet.  

Some time ago, the Best Western website had this statement: Restaurant and lounge are closed for renovations until further notice.

http://www.loopnet.com/property/15700661/580-U-S-Route-One/

Bickford's sugar packets:

[jmcnamara96]

Originally posted by Zayre88
The officially former Bickford's is available at Loopnet.  

Some time ago, the Best Western website had this statement: Restaurant and lounge are closed for renovations until further notice.

http://www.loopnet.com/property/15700661/580-U-S-Route-One/

Bickford's sugar packets:

hahaha the first ones funny lol

[JimSawhill]

What's in the old vernon Bickford's? That used to be an old 'Big Boy'.

[jmcnamara96]

Nashua NH
<a href="http://s621.photobucket.com/albums/tt295/jmcnamara96/?action=view&current=JoesPictures300.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i621.photobucket.com/albums/tt295/jmcnamara96/JoesPictures300.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

[Zayre88]

Originally posted by Crawford
Drop that to 14, the Bickford's in Seekonk Massachusetts closed up a couple weeks ago with no ado at all.

Recently down to 13 if i'm correct.

[Zayre88]

Down to 12 with the recent closure of the last Bickford's of Rhodes Island (Warwick).

http://www.projo.com/food/content/BICKFORDS_LEAVES_RI_06-23-09_RREQDAI_v8.37b3ba8.html

[jmcnamara96]

I think they mite not last thru 2009

[C. Fontaine]

Originally posted by JimSawhill
What's in the old vernon Bickford's? That used to be an old 'Big Boy'.

The Bickfords in Auburn, MA also started as a Big Boy, then Abdows, then Bickfords.  The Bickfords in Westfield, MA is still there.  It sees little business due to bad location.

[Marc82]

I though Bickford's made the best pancakes. I also used to enjoy their Thanksgiving Sandwich - Turkey, Stuffing, and Cranberry Sauce between 2 slices of bread.