Two Worcester restaurants close
Photo | Grant Welker
C'Mondz, a restaurant on Shrewsbury Street in Worcester, closed after just four months in business.
Photo | Grant Welker
Wild Willy's Burgers closed after roughly a decade in business on West Boylston Street.
Two Worcester restaurants, a newcomer and a relative longtimer, have closed: C'Mondz Restaurant on Shrewsbury Street and Wild Willy's Burgers on West Boylston Street.
C'Mondz opened in July, taking the place at 156 Shrewsbury St. of Meze Estiatorio after the Greek restaurant moved a few doors down to 166 Shrewsbury St. It was also previously the home of Porto Bello restaurant.
C'Mondz posted a farewell note to patrons on Facebook in November. A for-lease sign went up at the site in mid-December. Owner and executive chef Christ Mondzali, who relocated the restaurant from Framingham, didn't return a message seeking comment.
C'Mondz's closure comes as change has come to two other nearby Shrewsbury Street restaurants: Simjang will close at the end of the month to soon be replaced by a Mexican restaurant by the same owners, and the Parkway Diner eliminated dinner hours.
Meze's new space a few doors down most recently hosted The Usual and Chameleon in quick succession. That space also previously hosted two other Worcester restaurants moved elsewhere in the city: The Fix Burger Bar and Mezcal Tequila Cantina, both owned and operated by Niche Hospitality Group.
Wild Willy's, which was located near the Greendale Mall for roughly a decade, closed in December after first posting a note to patrons on the restaurant's front door saying it was closed unexpectedly because it ran out of food. The restaurant has not reopened. A message left for the owner was not returned.
Wild Willy's has other locations under separate owners in Watertown; Rochester, N.H.; and York, Maine. The Worcester restaurant's closure comes about five months after the long-vacant Barber's Crossing restaurant three buildings down was demolished after sitting vacant since 2006.
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The hospitality industry is evolving, and the past few years of declining sales in Worcester is a prime example of that. There are just too many restaurants in this city. Even the restaurants already well established are experiencing declining sales, but for some of them they have seen an increase in take-out sales. Know your market: Our younger generations don't like to go out. They like dog parks, take out and craft beer. Stop opening restaurants in an already saturated market.
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