PHOTO BY PAULA MULLER
Christie’s, a Lynn landmark, will close April 1, 2016.
BY THOR JOURGENSEN
LYNN — Today, with no fanfare and a final glance at the deep fryer, George Dean will close the Nahant Rotary restaurant his family – as the sign on the front of Christie’s says – has operated “since the turn of the century.”
Those words refer to 1900, when the Dean family opened a beachfront food stand. After moving to the Lynnway, they continued to sell hot dogs, milk shakes, hamburgers and the fish sandwiches with tartar sauce Bill Furey said he has been buying at Christie’s since he was a boy. He bought his last sandwich from Dean on Thursday afternoon, paying $6 for one of his favorite meals.
“It’s sad but what are you going to do? I came here all my life,” he said.
Dean declined on Thursday to talk about his decision to close. The Dean family ran an advertisement in Wednesday’s edition of the Daily Item announcing the closing and reminding readers how Christie’s has been “serving the public since 1903.”
“I’m retiring tomorrow,” he said.
Janice McGillicuddy of Nahant sympathized with Dean’s decision to close Christie’s as she praised the eatery for making the best haddock sandwiches in the world.
“He’s tired of cooking. He’s going to retire and spend time with his family,” she said.
McGillicuddy said she has grabbed a sandwich from Christie’s a couple of times a month for years. Like Furey, she praised Christie’s for its tasty food and wondered where she is going to buy lunch from now on.
Furey said if he is lucky enough to have another restaurant open up on Christie’s site, he hopes the owners will do their best to replicate Dean’s onion ring recipe.
Thor Jourgensen can be reached at [email protected]
