Date Posted:10:31:26 04/27/04 Tue Author: NTKHC64 Subject: Miss Worcester Closes-End of an Era
Miss Worcester's frying pans evicted
Soup's off at diner
Martin Luttrell
T&G STAFF
Tina Budzinski hoped to purchase the Miss Worcester Diner after running it for nearly eight years. But at 9 yesterday morning, three deputy sheriffs gave the final order to go: namely, the customers, Ms. Budzinski, her staff and equipment.
A court order to evict the tenants closed the doors on the Southbridge Street landmark after a dispute over ownership of the historic diner. The order followed a hearing earlier this year in Central District Court in which the owner of the property, Talbert Trading Corp., prevailed against John Riggieri of Framingham, who claims to own the diner.
Stunned diners tried to console Ms. Budzinski, and even volunteered to remove and store her restaurant equipment and food until she can find another location to reopen.
"This is killing me," she said, tears rolling down her cheeks as customers offered support. "I made this place. It was a ghost town. I've made the Phantom Gourmet (radio and television dining feature) and magazines.
"I treat my customers like family."
As she spoke, the sneakers and work boots of volunteer help scuffed across the brown-and-white tile floor, the red booth benches empty, save for a 50-pound paper sack of State of Maine potatoes. A man wordlessly changed the locks on the doors.
A man with a Harley-Davidson motorcycle cap hugged Ms. Budzinski and muttered as he walked away. "They're taking away her livelihood," he said.
Asked if she would be able to remove and store all her equipment and food, Ms. Budzinski shrugged. "I'm doing the best I can," she said. "My customers are helping me. I was in the middle of trying to buy the diner. It was OK with the Talberts. They just wanted (former owner) Frank (Riggieri) out.
She said Benjamin Mantyla, president of Talbert Trading Corp., "came in here just after Christmas and announced in front of my customers that he owned the diner and for me to pay him, and leave Frank out," she said.
Ms. Budzinski said she had a lease agreement with Frank Riggieri, and didn't know who to pay. She said she did not pay the last couple of months' rent during the dispute.
John Riggieri said he purchased the diner from his father, Frank Riggieri, in February. He would not disclose the sale price, describing it as a nominal amount, but said his father paid nearly $70,000 for it when he bought it from J. Laurence Ciccolo in 1990.
Barbara S. Liftman, the lawyer for Talbert Trading Corp., which leases the property from the Saul Talbert Trust, said the owner offered to allow Ms. Budzinski to stay, on condition that she sign a lease and get insurance. The offer was ignored, she said.
Ms. Budzinski contends Talbert has no proof that it actually owns the diner that sits on its property.
But Ms. Liftman said the diner has been on the property since 1947, and is part of the property Saul Talbert purchased in 1950. "They were tenants at will, and we chose to end the tenancy," she said.
"We like Tina and her family," she said. "She could have stayed, but she chose to pay Frank and ignore us. If she had better understood the situation, we would have liked for her to stay."
John Riggieri disputed that, saying diners are moved and sold regularly.
"I will contest this adamantly," he said. "I'm not going to part with our property. The judge would not hear our argument. What she (Ms. Liftman) is doing is cute, saying Tina is a trespasser. I argued that she is in my diner. I own the diner. They have to allow me to take the diner off their land."
Mr. Ciccolo said last night the diner is not part of the real estate, but a separate entity that he purchased from George Army.
"The foundation is above ground and the diner is on steel girders," he said. "It was moved from across the street, where it was made. There had once been another diner there.
"It's unfortunate that neither Saul nor Thelma (Talbert) is alive. He was a guest of mine several times in Maine."
Disappointing. But not surprising. I have brought up the topic of the Miss Woo with current HC students on a number of different occasions and to a person not one of them had ever even heard of it.
Anybody know when it fell out of favor with the students?
The Miss Woo fell out with HC students mid to late 90's. Cut back on the hours etc. It never seemed like it was open. I had heard plenty of stories but never really knew anyone who ate there.
Nevertheless, a Worcester institution fades away!!!
From my visits over the past half-dozen years, which were for breakfast, it seemed that the hours were from about 5 AM to 2 PM. On a Saturday morning, the place was always very busy. Of course, its cuisine was not in line with keeping your cholesterol below 300. Perhaps that was a factor that made it fall out of favor with students.
What a shame. I tried to take my wife there one night after an HC basketball game at the Hart during the 2002-2003 season so she could experience the atmosphere and I could reminisce, but I was disappointed that the place was closed. Now, I know why.
in the spring of '66 on the seniors' last visit,one regular senior asked the waitress for 2 burgers and an empty glass -he asked everyone in there(almost all hc students)to gather round ,and proceeded to squeeze the burger over the empty glass,filling it with grease--he then ate the 2nd burger
A few years back at one of my class reunions, a buddy and I took our wives there to show them the place and get a bite to eat. It was open but our wives refused to eat there. We did get a picture in front of the place for old times sake.
I wasn't personally a big fan of the Woo but my older brother will be heartbroken when he hears the news.
I am sorry to hear this news, but I can tell you that some students have still been going there, because I have taken them when I have visited and have seen seen others there frequently during the last four years. The gals who have been running the place were the greatest, although certainly not comparable to Russ! This is sad. Who ever wins this miserable dispute is going to have a pyrhic victory. There just are not many businesses that can go in there and make a go of it in thatlocation.
Tina's Worcester Diner set
Tomorrow could see popular old menu served at new site
Martin Luttrell
T&G STAFF
On Monday she was tearfully carrying her food and equipment out of the Miss Worcester Diner after a court order evicted her.
Yesterday, Tina Budzinski and family were painting new digs on Millbury Street that she hopes to open as early as tomorrow.
"I'm going to call it Tina's Worcester Diner. That's about as close as it'll get to Miss Worcester Diner," Ms. Budzinski said while standing amid orange tables and counters, workers cleaning and setting up the new restaurant equipment.
Ms. Budzinski, of Millbury, was forced out of the Miss Worcester Diner on Monday when sheriff's deputies arrived with a court order for eviction after a dispute between Talbert Trading Corp., which leases the property at Southbridge Street and Quinsigamond Avenue from Saul Talbert Trust, and John Riggieri of Framingham, who claims to own the diner building.
Ms. Budzinski's new restaurant, the lease for which she completed yesterday, is at 169 Millbury St. It is, coincidentally, across the street from George's Green Island Diner, which like the Miss Worcester is an old dining car.
As workers prepared to paint the bright yellow walls a more subdued eggshell color last night, Ms. Budzinski said she needs to install a grill and dishwasher to get running by tomorrow.
"I put in for my permits with the Board of Health," she said. "I hope to be in business on Friday. That may be stretching it."
The brick facade of the new location has a vertical sign of red letters above spelling the word FOOD. The location, which had been vacant, previously housed Pete's Dairy Bar and Big Mama's in previous years, she said.
Equipment and food that was hauled out of the Miss Worcester Diner is stored with friends at scattered locations around the city. "I have to call people and let them know," she said with a smile. "They'll be tickled."
She said the new location seats 34, the same as the old diner, with room for more seating at the S-shape counter if needed. She said she plans on keeping the same menu, including the fish-and-chips special that won her coverage in the Phantom Gourmet radio and television dining feature.
Mr. Riggieri said he will contest the Talbert claim that the trust owns the diner building, saying that his father purchased it for nearly $70,000 and that he purchased it from his father. He said he would file court papers this week to clarify the issue in hopes of moving the tan diner with blue awnings to another location.
Ms. Budzinski said she quickly gave up the hope of keeping her business in the diner building, whatever the location. She said she has not spoken with Mr. Riggieri since before being evicted.
"The way I feel, that diner was my life, my heart," she said. "I feel that if it was his (Mr. Riggieri's) diner, there's no way Talbert could change the locks. People have played with my head. I don't think I could do that again.
"I don't think I'll feel real again until I see my customers."
