VisitingNewEngland.com/Nashoba Club Pizza Restaurant Small Business Partnership - Local Small Business Stories
Best of Massachusetts Pizza Destination: Nashoba Club Pizza
Restaurant in Ayer
Nashoba Club Pizza Restaurant, Ayer, Massachusetts.
Photo
by Eric Hurwitz.
Story by Eric Hurwitz. Article created on 10/31/2017
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Nashoba Club Pizza Restaurant in Ayer, Mass., not only offers
some of the best slices of pizza in Massachusetts, but it also stands
as
a
slice of classic old school Americana.
There's something so timelessly endearing and likable about a
family-owned and operated pizza restaurant and bar sticking to what
works best. Old Ayer locals love the place and are always present with
diner-like
conversations going on all over the place, while millennials, the
business community, soldiers and civilians from the nearby U.S. Army's
Fort Devens, families enjoying a
night out and pretty much all walks of life come here, mostly for the
amazing pizza. This is the ultimate townie place for lunch and dinner
with a sense of
community within a close-knit Ayer community.
Bar area at Nashoba Club.
Photo by Eric Hurwitz.
The greatest rock hits from the
past play in the background without any trace of music that's trending.
Photos of community and family, as well as retro
pop culture pictures (someone here seems to love The Three Stooges)
saturate the walls so prominently that it's hard to see the actual
panels.
Pictures line the walls at Nashoba Club. Photo
by Eric Hurwitz.
Outside, there are many good signs that Nashoba Club Pizza Restaurant
is going to be a fantastic, unpretentious dining out gem -- signs
literally
and figuratively, that is. Approach the old-fashioned front-porch with
vintage wood spindles and you'll find beer signs in the window, Pepsi
logos alongside the main Nashoba Club Pizza Restaurant sign, a
worn red "PIZZA" sign,
and a "Nashoba Restaurant Proudly Supports Its Troops" banner all
setting
the
tone for a restaurant steeped in tradition and patriotism. Inside,
older carpets, drop ceilings, card-like tables with checkered
tablecloths, menus with 1950s style font and a pizza photo await each
party at the tables, and handwritten food specials as well as drinks
are posted in the dimly-lit, wood-paneled dining room in the
back.
The dining room at Nashoba Club. Photo
by Eric Hurwitz.
While baby boomers and ensuing generations know the Nashoba Pizza Club
restaurant as a local go-to place to eat, very few under 60 probably
know that this 1920
building was once a paint store, school, dance hall, and Fraternal
Order of the Eagles Nashoba Tradesman Association. The Nashoba Club
Pizza Restaurant, however, has had the longest standing residency in
this comfortable-as-an-old-shoe building with no signs of slowing down.
It can even be crowded at 2 p.m. in the afternoon.
The feeling is upbeat, welcoming and like being in a close family
member's home, courtesy of long-time owner Bob Rakip and sons Brian and
Scott. And what could have been just another solid local bar and
restaurant turns out to serve the most delicious pizza imaginable --
every bit as good as the legends in Massachusetts like Santarpio's,
Regina Pizzeria and Pleasant Street Cafe in the Boston, Mass.
neighborhoods. That Nashoba Club is located in a
small north central Massachusetts town -- best known during the days of
a much larger Fort Devens -- should
never
undermine the fact that great pizza is not just relegated to well-known
cities and suburbs.
The Nashoba Club Pizza Restaurant pizza recipe dates back to its
beginnings as a restaurant starting in 1950. Bob remembers fondly his
Uncle Harold "attending school" in New York City at "P.U." -- Pizza
University -- and bringing home the mouthwatering recipe that locals
virtually inhale, to this very day. The made-fresh daily pizza --
bridging bar and Italian-style pizza -- has a perfect crust and sauce,
and a fabulous mozzarella and provolone cheese base, but the overall
product goes well beyond those ingredients. The key is in the blend,
created in proper balance of high quality ingredients.
Bob's Uncle Russell assumed the business in 1963. Bob and his wife
Nancy, and Bob's parents Robert and Muriel Rakip purchased the
restaurant in 1975. Today Bob Jr., at 66, energetically and
passionately
runs the restaurant
with his sons (Nancy works in private industry). An Ayer native now
living in neighboring Shirley, Bob clearly prioritizes family, friends,
his profession, tradition, customer service and community.
And great pizza, of course! We, at VisitingNewEngland, included Nashoba
Club Pizza Restaurant in the 17 Best
Pizza Places in the Boston Area article.
"We use fresh ingredients, have a good sauce and make homemade dough
every
day," said Bob, in a most humble manner. "You don't want to make the
pizza overly sweet. You don't want too much oregano and don't
want the cheese to overpower the sauce, and vice versa. Always be
generous with toppings, which should always be fresh and never greasy.
We have fresh broccoli, and cut our own spinach and dice our own
peppers and onions."
Like many restaurants, Nashoba Club faced a challenge when Fort Devens
closed in 1995. The installation remains at a much smaller level with
private industry now dominating the Devens landscape. Nashoba Club
Restaurant definitely had to make adjustments, but just enough to
change with the times.
"My sons convinced me to go beyond a few beers, so we now have 24 beers
on tap. We used to get a lot of soldiers, but now we see more of the
business
community and we see a lot of millennials stopping by here... We
actually see people coming in from a 60-mile radius!"
Hand-written drinks and food specials menu at Nashoba Pizza Club
Restaurant. Photo by Eric Hurwitz.
Business, in fact, is booming with one local
business, as an example, ordering between $2K and 3K in pizzas each
month, according to Bob.
"The fact that Ayer has gone from an Army to a business
community -- well, the transition was first a challenge but it has been
nice and smooth for us,"
said Bob. "They are trying to make downtown Ayer more of a destination,
too, so that helps."
A revitalized downtown Ayer. Photo by Eric
Hurwitz.
You can't go wrong with any of the homemade
pizzas, but a few standouts are the "Nashoba Special" with onions,
green
peppers, pepperoni and hamburg, the chicken cacciatore pizza, and the
"Pork U Pie" with sweet
sausage,
bacon, kielbasa, ham, hot sausage and pepperoni.
Nashoba Special from Nashoba Pizza Club Restaurant.
Photo source: Nashoba Club Pizza Restaurant.
Chicken cacciatore pizza from the Nashoba Club.
Photo source: Nashoba Club Pizza Restaurant.
The
great comfort foods don't end with the incredible pizza, either. Locals
also love the
hearty chili (an old recipe from Bob's Uncle Richard in the 1970s),
crispy flavorful wings, oversized subs (especially the meatball),
half-pound burgers, pastrami and cheese on rye, the Swiss chili dog
wrap, Italian sub,
amazing fries and onion rings, daily homemade soups, and substantial
Greek, antipasto and Caesar
salads.
Italian subs with fries and onion rings from Nashoba Club. Photo
source: Nashoba Club Pizza Restaurant.
Chef's Greek salad with grilled chicken from the Nashoba Club in Ayer.
Photo source: Nashoba Club Pizza Restaurant.
Angus burger with fries from Nashoba Club Pizza Restaurant. Photo
source: Nashoba Club Pizza Restaurant.
With some employees having worked
at Nashoba Club for around 20 years, a time-tested menu that still
pleases big-time, and a home away from home-type atmosphere, Nashoba
Club Pizza Restaurant is a true local dining out treasure. They prove
that the best change is no change at all (well, maybe with the
exception of the growing beer menu), as evidenced by more than six
decades in business. As stated on its web site, Nashoba Club Pizza started when The Beatles
were in grammar school, Ted Williams was in his baseball prime, and
Harry Truman was president. It's a beautiful thing to see a restaurant
from that era still thriving in an industry that has seen countless
businesses come and go through the years.
What truly keeps the customers coming
back from Ayer all the way out to the Boston area, however, is that the
Nashoba Club seems to hit a
culinary home run every time by taking the familiar and finding ways to
make it far better than the norm.
"We don't take short cuts and
have always gone to great lengths to please the customer," said Bob.
"We
have always been about quality, and people know they are going to get a
great, filling meal here."
Nashoba Club Pizza Restaurant is located
at 14 Central St. in Ayer, MA. Tel. 978-772-2736. Web site: www.nashobaclub.com.
Facebook fan page: https://www.facebook.com/pg/nashobaclub
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Explore
Massachusetts travel! Read
the Massachusetts
Town Greens book -- Discover New England's first travel
attractions:
town commons. Includes chapters on nearby Shirley, Groton, Harvard,
Fitchburg, Leominster and Princeton!
Related article:
A
visit to the historic Bull Run Restaurant in Shirley, Mass.
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