Then and Now: Dinner at the Colonial

For a small town, Lynnfield has had its fair share of legendary restaurants over the years. One such destination was the Colonial, which in a few short months will begin its new incarnation as the MarketStreet Lynnfield development.

You don't have to be a historian with a hearty appetite to appreciate how an old menu offers an intriguing look back to long-ago times. But it helps. That said, here's a look currently for sale on eBay at what George Page had on the menu back in those semi-mythical days when a lot of the patrons may or may not have been wearing Nehru jackets and when Lynnfielders casually rubbed (smoky smelling and suede-patched?) elbows with some of the greatest Boston sports legends ever.

Here’s one observation about this thing– back in those days, an appetizer was something like “segments of fresh fruit,” “chilled tomato juice,” soup, shellfish, so forth. As a person of 2013, it's scary and confusing, seeing the word "appetizers" but then not seeing things made of various combinations of fried cheese, meat bits and dipping sauces.

You can tell this menu is from a certain era – it would take a bold chef to put fried liver or beef stroganoff casserole on most menus in the year 2013. Something tells me the “Broiled Chicken Halibut” doesn’t show up on most menus this side of the 21st Century either. The place offered numerous steak and lobster items, plus other regional seafood dishes.  It was a pretty diverse menu actually, but very, very old-school New England without the slightest hint of potentially dangerous or titillating spiciness. But hey - no matter what decade it’s from, somehow $6.50 just doesn’t look too bad for a filet mignon.

Anyhow, I believe this restaurant stood on the part of MarketStreet that in August will open as the new Whole Foods. The last traces of George Page's Colonial (the golf course clubhouse, etc.) came down about a year and a half ago soon before site work began. Some of those light posts pictured on the front of the menu may have actually survived up to around that time.

Starting in mid to late August, locals will have a couple of dozen or so new dining options in this general vicinity.