Rockport Restaurant Update from Peter Webber

Thanks to Peter Webber of the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce for this e-mail:

Hello Sarah.  I am guessing, by the Ohio reference, that you were the author of the recent Rockport restaurant rant on Good Morning Gloucester.  I have also looked at some of the comments.  Here is some more information to add:  The Coffee Shop was purchased by the Bracketts who spent longer than they hoped to make major renovations. It re-opened this week, and is being operated by their sons.  Lograsso’s, Bistro 127, Rockport House of Pizza and Roast Beef, and the Grand Café are also open year round. RHOP is daily 10-10 year round; Lograsso’s is Wed-Sat. year round; Bistro and Grand Café are Fridays and Saturdays in January for dinner and then expand their operations with the calendar; Hong Kong Kitchen is daily year-round.

Rockporters, we need to make every effort to support Rockport restaurants during the winter months.  However, even when viewed in the most optimistic terms, the situation with restaurants in Rockport clearly reveals a persistent problem, particularly downtown.  There just aren’t enough restaurants (and none with a significant number of seats), to support the non-food establishments that are working so hard to make a go of things during both the high season and off-season. The John Tarr Store, Toad Hall Bookstore, Rockport Music and a host of other businesses and organizations manage to hang in there year-round – so where are the restaurants?  People presumably still frequent the library, the churches still hold services, the Rotary Club & Garden Club hold meetings, so why can’t more restaurants manage to stay open?  I’d love to hear from some business owners on this, and some Rockporters.  And once again, let LoGrasso’s, the Rockport House of Pizza, and the rest (some mentioned in yesterday’s post) know that as a local, you appreciate the fact that they work hard to serve their  community, as well as contribute to our town industry by staying open for visitors.  Rockporters need to consciously support local business if we want a thriving year-round community with an active downtown culture.