Friday, March 25, TODAY, Nate’s of Front Beach Rockport opens. What’s better than fluffy pancakes and a walk on the beach?
Friday, April 1, Topside Grill opens. The dining room is completely renovated but the martinis have not changed. Opening Day party with music by John Jerome. Then Tuesdays are always Oyster night.
Saturday, April 2, Top Dog of Rockport opens for the eleventh season. A clam roll at a picnic table outside. That is my official start of the season. Or a Bad Dog with Chili Cheese Fries.
Those are the only three I have definitive dates. Last year’s announcements included, The Rudder: April 15, The Cupboard: May 6, Popo’s Gourmet Hot Dogs, Nate’s at Front Beach, Surfside Subs on Thacher Road, and Capt Carlo’s all around April 27 with Lobster Pool of Rockport and Lobsta Land both sometime earlier. So is Lobsta Land year round forever now? Don’t you wish all of these places did that?
Now let me talk to restaurant owners for a moment. Look outside. What do you see? What I see is the 21st century. What that means is when I go to your website or facebook page of your restaurant I should not see: “Fall hours” or “we will be closing for the winter soon” or “we will be opening in May.” What a buzzkill. Spring has sprung. Crank up the anticipation for your restaurant opening. Cast some bread upon the water and you will be repaid. We’re starving for the season to begin. Give us a sign.
Add a comment to this post when your restaurant, sub shop, ice cream parlor will be opening and I will include it in the next seasonal posting. Or even if you are just a patron, if you have heard when a place is opening, help them out and send that date in.
Good Morning Gloucester 
The opening of Top Dog kicks off the season for our household as well. And as for the rest of your post – awesome. The gentle suggestion to join the 21st century and build up a little excitement for Spring by using the Interwebs? Brilliant. I sometimes wonder if a lot of business owners still think you have to hand-code a website in order to have an online presence or something. Preach it, Brother Paul!
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You’ve convinced me. I am going to make up a flyer:
Will update your website for an order of fried clams.
Your own Facebook Page for a Haddock Fisherman’s Platter.
I might be able to run the scam for years before they found out I was overcharging them. Meanwhile Top Dog gets it. Am I interested that they will be handing out secret Wonka Golden Tickets through their Facebook Page? Yes. I am. I want one.
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FYI… Lobsta Land will open Thursday April 14.
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*LOL* Have you seen this site: http://neversaidaboutrestaurantwebsites.tumblr.com/
Yes, yes, I am a geek.
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Love it.
“Thanks for letting me know that I could have saved a dollar by printing your Grand Opening coupon two years ago when you had your grand opening.”
It only takes one time going to a restaurant website and reading about last year’s special which can send the viewer away forever. Almost as good as that little dude sawing wood, “Under Construction”.
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Nice find!
“Wow, how did you even create a 9MB PDF of a menu. That’s impressive. Congrats.”
This site was so funny that I subscribed to their RSS just to get a daily dose of sarcasm!
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She’s alive! Haven’t heard from you in a while Beth! Good to see you checking in 🙂
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*Sorry* I’ve been on vacation, working my butt off for maternity leave, and “nesting” (which Rob adores.) Missed you guys today at breakfast! I almost made it, but then I didn’t. I have tons of stuff for the blog I need to post…
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…wish this was a calendar that I could sync. Better than the first robin. Thanks!
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Now that is a good idea. I’ll get the GMG brain trust working on how we can do that wether it is a calendar you can subscribe to or I just link to an iCal file which you load into your calendar. We need to find something universal and works in all calendars which is becoming pretty easy these days.
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