Harry's Restaurant

About

Harry's Restaurant is a legend! Since 1946, we have been serving up the best fried seafood around. We are an amazing diner that is known for it's local charm and friendly staff.

Story

Harry’s originally opened in Shrewsbury in 1946 and moved to a former gas station in Westborough in 1968. The restaurant and dairy bar are iconic in Westborough. It got started in 1946 by Harry Cohen from Worcester, MA. He used to be a house painter who was diagnosed at an early age with diabetes. The ladders became too heavy to carry and he needed to be in close proximity to food. He had always worked for himself so he decided to open a restaurant. He rented an old shack on Rt 9 in Shrewsberry, MA and started out with pastrami sandwiches. At that time it was called Harry’s Famous Hot Pastrami. He would line up rows of rye bread and being a painter, he would use a paint brush to paint each slice of bread with mustard. People lined up for his famous pastrami sandwiches. Then he followed with hand cut onion rings (devised of a homemade batter) and that too became a hit. The same recipe is still used today (it’s a seven step process). Harry started to slowly add more items to the menu including fried clams, fish & chips and scallops, all of which was hand painted on venetian blinds which he would switch to change between day and evening menus.

Gradually he added sandwiches, hot style diner food and a complete soda fountain with his famous frappes and hot fudge sundaes. This location stayed in tact through 1968 and eventually changed it’s name to Harry’s Restaurant & Dairy Bar. In 1969, he purchased an Esso gas station on Rt 9 in Westborough (current location), hence men’s bathroom entrance still remains outside the restaurant.

Current owner Jon Cohen grew up around Harry’s and has at some point, worked in every position of the diner. In 1985, he took over as owner and remains as dedicated today.