[Photo: Peter Boyd at Church/Rachel Leah Blumenthal]
You may be most familiar with Peter Boyd from his expert bartending at Church, but nowadays he’s the sales and marketing manager for Narragansett in the Greater Boston area. For Greasy Spoons Week, The Lynn native shared thoughts with Eater on his favorite greasy spoons and his past experience working at one.
On favorite greasy spoons:
“I grew up in Lynn, so I’m partial to roast beef sandwiches. You can’t get them in Boston like they make them on the North Shore. The 3-way. Look it up. That was UNTIL the Roast Beast opened up two years ago…the same weekend I moved into the neighborhood. Located in Packard’s Corner, at 1080 Commonwealth Ave., they’ve been churning out roast beef sandwiches the right (3)way ever since. I think the owner is from the Brockton area (apparently they know how to make a proper beef down there, too.) The staff is very friendly. They even have lots of different hot sauces and cheeses if you’re looking for some variety.
The chicken torta sandwich at Tacos Lupita in Lynn (they only opened in 2003) is the best sandwich around. If anyone wants to take a ride out there they should. Or one can take the commuter rail from North Station to Lynn (15 minutes), and it drops you off less than a block from Lupita.”
On working at a greasy spoon:
“When I was 15, I worked at a small bar in Lynn near the Seaport Landing Marina called The Dockside. It was a seafood and chicken fingers joint. I bussed tables and valet parked cars even though I had no driver’s license. No one cared. The boss was always fucked up on coke and saying dumb shit like, ‘Pimping ain’t easy!’
The money always sucked. I didn’t care because all the hot senior girls from my high school worked there and sometimes they would take me out to parties after work. Plus, I could sit in the kitchen when it was slow and eat butter rolls like a fat kid ’til I couldn’t move. The line cooks with tattoos would smoke butts and tell me all about local rappers like Edo G and Scientifik (RIP.)
That place was gone by the time I started pumping gas for boats at the Marina next summer. That was the greasiest spoon! People on boats drinking beers, grilling all day and girls in bikinis. We just sat there in our little dock house waiting for someone to offer us some burgers. If nothing came along we played rock/paper/scissors to see who would go get steak, egg and cheese subs, chicken parms or pizza rolls. If we were lucky, our boss Jimmy, the Harbor Master, would take us to the Capital Diner for a late breakfast of eggs, home fries and bacon. Those were 4 great summers.
I could have gotten a job at the mall selling pretzels or sneakers or Misfits shirts like everyone else. I’m glad I had jobs that rewarded customer service with tips. It really gives you a little perspective on hard work and the rewards. The perks of summers by the water and greasy sandwiches didn’t hurt either.”
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