While the S&S Restaurant will close June 7 after 107 years in Inman Square, its owners say a new restaurant may replace it.
“We are going to take a deep breath and figure out what is the right thing for this landmark, iconic space,” said Gary Mitchell, who is the fourth generation in his family to run the restaurant, which he owns with his sister, Aimee Baum. They also own the building at 1334 Cambridge St., and Mitchell said they plan to rent the space to another “legacy,” family-run restaurant or business ready to become the next neighborhood staple. He said they hope to “help create what’s next” for Inman Square.
Mitchell said the restaurant is having a “record year,” but he is 69 and started working behind the deli counter in 1969, when he was 12. His daughters don’t want to take over the family business, and he and Baum feel now is the right time to retire.
In November 1919, Rebecca “Ma” Edelstein, Mitchell and Baum’s great-grandmother, opened the deli at its original 1306 Cambridge St. location. The deli was aptly named for her favorite Yiddish saying, “Es and es,” which means eat and eat. From those initial days as a deli counter to today’s full restaurant, function room, and catering services, S&S has always been a part of “the fabric” of Inman Square, said Mitchell. When the restaurant turned 75 in 1994, it buried a time capsule with restaurant memorabilia and other items, which was opened in 2019 as part of the restaurant’s centennial.
He said he believes S&S’s long-running success comes from the quality and good value of its food as well as its effort to make every customer feel comfortable. These things kept people coming back, sometimes for their entire lives.
Mitchell shared an email he received from a Cantabrigian-turned-Floridian sharing childhood memories of S&S and his dismay at his inability to visit one last time. “You will be sorely missed. Thank you so much for always having the best food, the best services, and most importantly, putting people first,” the man wrote.
Its longevity makes its closure bittersweet. Mitchell said he’s been hearing from customers who want Mitchell and Baum to take a much-needed break. But they’re also crying over the loss of “their place,” Mitchell said.
Cambridge resident Sara Mae Berman wrote a letter to The Boston Globe saying she’s been an S&S customer for approximately 50 years and “was heartbroken to learn that the S&S Deli … will close.”
“I will miss the customers tremendously,” Mitchell said, as well as the staff. He wants the end of S&S to be “a celebration of my family’s history here,” so a week after it serves its last reubens, matzo ball soups and cheese blintzes on June 7, Mitchell will host an invitation-only party.
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