Popular Local Eatery, Long Since Closed, Returns To Massachusetts

Some great news to share, Massachusetts residents! A very popular Berkshire County restaurant that I have very fond memories of which has been closed for decades is FINALLY returning to Massachusetts!

Granted, just because I have fond memories of this particular eatery doesn't mean that you did. Heck, your memories of this restaurant may not be so fond. You may have even avoided this place, for all I know.

But I loved it there. Back in the late 1980s when I first started in the wonderful world of radio brings back a flood of many great memories. One of my mentors here at Live 105 (still WBEC-FM, just a different spot on the dial. Live 95.9 didn't happen until years later) was CJ Preisser.

Anybody reading this out there remember CJ Preisser? He helped me out a lot (along with Rick Stohr. What's up, Brud?). Anyway, I was actually thrown into the overnight radio slot relatively quickly due to CJ getting severely hurt in a motorcycle accident.

CJ was doing middays at the time and while he was recuperating everybody moved up a day slot. The new guy (ME) got to do the graveyard shift, midnight to 6am. Hey, I wasn't complaining. I got to be live on the air!

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Anyway, sorry, got way off topic momentarily. CJ and I would occasionally head to the Ground Round at the newly opened Berkshire Mall (this was the late 80s remember). Anyway, we used to have a lot of great times at the Round.

Call me crazy but the food was decent and (at the time) very affordable. I think my favorite menu item was the Teriyaki Wings (man oh man, I loved them). Let me try to explain why I loved them so much.

The teriyaki wings had just the right amount of spice so that I didn't notice it right away but by the end of the meal, my scalp was definitely sweating. If you're not a fan of food that's even remotely spicy, my explanation probably made you even more confused. But if you love food that has a nice slow burn, you know why I always went back for more.

If you were also a fan of the Ground Round, then you'll love this. Boston 25 News is reporting that the family-friendly chain restaurant is making a return to the Commonwealth!

There doesn't appear to be a lot of info regarding this bombshell at the moment. However, according to Boston 25 News, the Ground Round put out a message on Facebook saying it was opening in January and they were looking for employees.

I wasn't even aware of this, but the Ground Round declared bankruptcy back in 2004 and right now there are only 4 restaurants operating in the United States. Hopefully, this news is proof that the Round is mounting a comeback!

By the way, the new location will be opening in Shrewsbury, which is a bit of a drive at around an hour and a half away. But if it's successful (fingers crossed) perhaps we'll get our own location just a few minutes down the road.

For the full story, please visit Boston 25 News' website here.