The Walpole Foodie Scene

Downtown Walpole Emerging as a Food Lover’s Destination

19 May 2024

Americans love to eat out at their favorite restaurants, and downtown Walpole has an emerging “foodie” scene with a dozen dining options to satisfy a variety of tastes. Walpole’s small business eateries have created a “restaurant cluster,” vital to the local economy and connecting the community to one another. 

Chicken panini from Bianco’s

Research by the International Journal of Hospitality Management found that casual restaurants do benefit by clustering near one another as long as demand is not severely hurt by competition. Higher priced restaurants tend to have stronger clusters than lower priced restaurants. Restaurants located in a central business district do make restaurant clustering more effective and potentially more profitable. Another recent study showed that 64% of consumers have gone out of their way to support local restaurants over large chain restaurants. There is a willingness by consumers to proactively support local dining establishments, and downtown Walpole is no exception. 

The longest operating downtown Walpole restaurant is Jalapeno’s Grill. Owner Ricardo Dorronsoro has operated Jalapeno’s for 18 years. Dorronsoro believes that restaurant clustering is the key to a sustainable and lasting environment where restaurants intentionally locate their operations close to each other. He says that restaurants support each other when long wait times to eat send consumers to nearby restaurants that may be able to offer seating upon arrival. The ability to walk from one restaurant to another creates more foot traffic and a livelier downtown. Dorronsoro feels that downtown has plenty of room to offer other types of restaurants such as a steakhouse, seafood or an Italian restaurant.  

Rob Carnes, owner of CRISP, added that the influx of people moving into the new apartment and condo complexes in and around downtown gives restaurants an opportunity to step up their game. Carnes says downtown Walpole is a busy location, and many customers like to walk to the restaurants.

The Farmer in the Dell is a farm-to-table restaurant which has a loyal following because all their food is made to order with only fresh ingredients. Dannielle Donnellan, the restaurant’s owner, says they get their produce and ingredients from farms local to New England with meats from Vermont and all baked goods are made fresh every day in their kitchen. Donnellan grew up in Walpole and has never seen as many restaurants downtown as there are now. She is excited to be a part of the emerging food scene. The Farmer in the Dell serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner with a large take-out customer base. 

Angelos Petropoulos, owner of Kosmos, says he chose to locate his Greek restaurant in downtown Walpole because it's a fantastic community with a real need for a unique dining experience. His restaurant can be best described as a blend between casual and high-end dining offering a sophisticated yet approachable atmosphere, catering to those who appreciate fine dining experiences without the formality. Petropoulos added, “We felt that a restaurant offering a blend of traditional and modern Greek cuisine would be a perfect addition to downtown Walpole.”

The newest restaurant downtown is Muffin House Café. Owner Sheldon Strasnik owns six locations of his Muffin House Café and attributes his success to product quality, excellent customer service and attention to detail. The precise location of his new Walpole store sold him on locating in downtown Walpole. Strasnik feels that downtown is a growing food destination and he said that it’s exciting to see how restaurants are bringing new life to downtown. 

Another recent enhancement to the downtown restaurant scene was the expansion of Tessie’s Bar & Kitchen, which was featured in our March Business Spotlight. Tessie’s is and owned and operated by Mark and Maura McAuliffe, who are also proprietors of nearby Raven’s Nest, another popular downtown restaurant destination.

The recent pandemic pushed restaurants and other food establishments to ramp up their delivery and take-out service. While just about all restaurants offer these services, downtown Walpole is fortunate to have Gate House Kitchen, a facility that provides commercial kitchen space for food and beverage entrepreneurs, many of which provide take-out and delivery options. Gate House currently has several tenants including: Casa De LaLa (Latin street food), Mike and Lenny’s Bar Pizza, ThankQue Barbeque, Wright Old School Chocolate, Real Food Ready to Eat (meal prep.) and Royal Indian Kitchen. Gate House Kitchen is located at 127 West St.

Due to space limitations we could not mention all downtown eateries. Please visit our Business Directory link at the top of the page for a more complete list of downtown and other Walpole dining options.

-Spotlight article contributed by Rick Ward. Photography contributed by Eric Hurwitz