Blake's Restaurant closing stirs memories; ice cream production continues
Jan. 16—MANCHESTER — Sisters Desiree and Kaitee Petto reminisced about coming to Blake's Restaurant and Ice Cream their entire lives as they waited in line behind a dozen or so eager to eat at the West Side mainstay one last time Monday morning.
The restaurant will officially close on Saturday after 60 years. The wholesale ice cream part of the business, which started in 1900, will continue.
"When we walked in, it smelled like our grandmother's house," said Desiree Petto, 29 — at least until a car crashed into the building in October 2021 and the vestibule needed to be reconstructed.
Desiree's son, Kaiden Marron, loves "all the ice cream." What 9-year-old wouldn't?
"It's really devastating. This is a Manchester icon," said Kaitee Petto, 39.
Co-owner Ann Mirageas said the restaurant has always been a family-friendly neighborhood place to eat. Mirageas said she and business partner Richard Wolstencroft did not make the decision lightly, but in response to worker shortages and rising costs of food, even staples such as eggs.
"I'm very proud to say we made 60 years," Mirageas said. "Not many restaurants can say they've had 60 years of business. It's bittersweet, but I celebrate that."
The restaurant announced the decision Sunday afternoon on social media. On Monday, Blake's was a warm space for many to grab a bite as light snow continued to fall in the morning. Servers scrambled to meet the demand, with the line remaining steady well into lunchtime.
Some eating in booths waved to friends waiting in line as they lamented the closing.
"Keep those good memories," Mirageas said to a customer leaving with a half-gallon of ice cream.
People's stories about Blake's are always interesting: Going after losing their first tooth, late-night meals after high school football games or even meeting their spouse there.
Changing times trump history
Blake's started as a dairy in 1900, when Edward Charles Blake and his company delivered milk door-to-door. The current restaurant has been at 353 S. Main St. since 1963, when it opened as a lunch counter.
Mirageas, Wolstencroft and a third partner bought the business in 1998.
At one point, there were nine Blake's restaurants, including Hooksett Road in Manchester, the Mall of New Hampshire and Milford. The Hooksett Road location is now Cafe La Reine.
Mirageas said the hospitality industry has shifted since COVID, including an increase in demand for takeout and a change in when people go out to eat. The restaurant was closed from March to mid-June 2020. Takeout had never been a focus of the restaurant before the pandemic. Competition has increased.
"We weren't immune," she said. "We weathered the ups and downs and we tried to change to what people wanted."
The restaurant hadn't raised its prices in more than a year.
Many people took in the atmosphere of Blake's, including its booths, Wedgewood blue walls and quirky decorations, including a clock shaped like an ice cream cone.
Keri and Scott Paradis of Manchester had two turkey club sandwiches with a heap of fries delivered to their table by Mirageas herself. Scott Paradis, who sipped from a vanilla frappe, said he grew up across the street.
"My earliest memories are of coming to Blake's and being excited," he said of shuffling across the street.
"It's heart-wrenching, but we understand with the times," Keri Paradis said of the closing.
Sherry Wright of Merrimack worked at the restaurant for 21 years. Over that time, she has crocheted blankets for customers and visited them in the hospital when they were sick.
"People are upset," she said. "They are not mad, they are sad. They're sad that it's closing because they have memories from their grandparents coming in. Some are my age and they worked here when they were in high school."
She'll miss the customers and Mirageas most.
Ice cream business thriving
Production and distribution of ice cream, involving 12 to 15 employees, will continue onsite. That side of the business began to "take off" during the pandemic and continues to grow, Mirageas said.
The company now makes more than 80 flavors, including newer offerings such as Salted Caramel Brownie and Raspberry Cheesecake.
New flavors are developed in consultation with a New York ingredient house, but some of the best come from their own or customers' suggestions. One of those is "Dirty Water" — Colombian coffee ice cream with chocolate cookie swirl and chocolate chips — though Wolstencroft wanted to call it "Muddy Water."
"I said, 'No, we need to call it Dirty Water,'" Mirageas said. "He said, 'Come on, no one would want to eat that.' And I started singing the song, 'I love that dirty water.'"
The flavor has since been trademarked.
The product is shipped all over southern New Hampshire, western Massachusetts and the Maine coast.
"It's expanding organically," she said.
Space's future unknown
What use will be made of the restaurant space in the future is unknown.
The Petto sisters, who ordered a mix of breakfast and lunch items, will miss the homey, welcoming feel of the longtime restaurant.
"The staff has always been friendly," Kaitee Petto said. "This was a great place for high-schoolers to get their first jobs."
The two thought Blake's would be around forever.
"I think sometimes I took it for granted," Desiree Petto said. "When I heard they were closing I said, 'We have to go to Blake's right now.' "
