“I have nothing against lobster thermidor,” owner Frank Giuffrida told a reporter in 1984, “but don’t come to the Hilltop Steak House and expect to find it.” There was only one salad dressing and appetizers and desserts were uninspired – Jello was one of the three desserts on a 1981 menu. Steaks could vary in grade, customers could not send back too-well-done steaks, orders could not be split, and there were no tablecloths. Prices were premised on sales volume, rapid table turns, cash-only payment, no reservations, and limited menu choices.
#Your chronicle cactus steak free
Guests appreciated big steaks, low prices, and free parking. No doubt the names rang true to diners from New Hampshire and Massachusetts but would have amused residents of those Iowa and Missouri cities which are conspicuously lacking in Western symbology.
The rooms had names meant to conjure up the Wild West such as Sioux City and Kansas City. I was not one of the 2,350,000 or so customers who patronized the Hilltop in 1985, for example, one of a number of years when it ranked as the #1 independent restaurant in the USA from a high-grossing perspective, with over $24 million in annual sales.Įstablished in 1961 with seating for 125, the Western-themed restaurant continued to grow in subsequent years, with more dining rooms brightened with the standard steakhouse blood red color scheme, seating 1,100 by 1970, with an enlarged parking lot, and a huge 68-foot high lighted cactus sign out front.ĭining rooms were adorned with totem poles, reproductions of Remington and Russell paintings, and life-size Indian figures.
Had we been on a tour of Route 1 north of Boston, I’m sure he would have shouted the praises of the Hilltop Steak House, another mega-volume eatery, where a team of in-house butchers carved up millions of steaks a year, the parking lot held 1,000 cars, and customers waited in long lines outside the door. In pointing out the highlights of the Boston Harbor, the tour operator singled out several booming enterprises including Anthony’s restaurant. Until I moved to Boston in the 1980s and took a whale watch tour I hadn’t heard the boastful term “biggest grossing” thrown around.
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