Diners flock to Hilltop’s final night

SAUGUS – Travelers, locals, former staff and other members of the Hilltop Steak House “family” gathered for one last call for Sioux City Sunday night as the landmark Route 1 restaurant shut its doors after more than 50 years.”The people have been so good to us,” Irene Giuffrida, widow of Hilltop Steak House founder Frank Giuffrida, said Sunday evening at the restaurant. “They come in first as customers and before you know it, they’re family.”In 1961, Frank Giuffrida, who died in 2003, opened the restaurant that became known for thick steaks, long lines and a western motif that included dining rooms named for train or stagecoach stops like Dodge City, Virginia City, Kansas City and, of course, Sioux City, “population” 392. The family sold the restaurant in the late 1980s, but Frank Giuffrida’s name remains on the iconic neon-green cactus sign.The management of the steak house announced earlier this month that the landmark restaurant would close Sunday after 52 years.Since the announcement, huge crowds have come to the restaurant for one last chance to eat a good meal and visit the restaurant’s life-size fiberglass cows that graze along the side of Route 1. The crowds continued Sunday night, with patrons and staff swapping stories and sharing memories of a bygone era.”My grandmother started coming here when it was a dance hall, and then it started serving steak tips, and then it became the Hilltop,” said John Gately, of Melrose. He recalled family vacations with a requisite visit to pick up hamburgers from the butcher shop at the restaurant.”It’s not a restaurant; it’s an institution ? no, it’s more than an institution,” said Bill Kickham, of Westwood. “You weren’t going out to eat, you were going out to have an experience.”And on Sunday night, as in the restaurant’s heyday, the crowds waited hours for a table. Cheers erupted in Dodge City, the bar, when a number was called, indicating that your table was ready. Although the menu selection was limited on the last day, the servings were large: Diners left with a full stomach and, most of the time, doggie bags.And although the nostalgia in the air was thicker than the restaurant’s famous Bone-In Sirloin Steak, diners and staff also appeared to be having a really good time.”We came in to say goodbye to Hilltop with a lot of sadness and we had to have a few last Manhattans here,” said Jose Moreira, of Medford.Patti Stancato, of Stoneham, recounted how her son and his grandmother came in for a Halloween breakfast years ago when her son was 4 ?-years old. Stancato said her son was afraid of Batman. “Grandma hit Batman with her cane,” she recalled.Cindy Parker, Moreira and Francisco Arellano, all from Medford, erupted in laughter.”And the staff was always just as warm as the rolls in the basket,” said Parker.Indeed, staff said they hadn’t had time to be sad about the impending closure.”Right now it’s been so busy, nobody’s had time to settle down,” said Manager Don Doward. “Next week maybe.”Jean “Mac” Surprenant, working her final shift after 46 years at the Hilltop, agreed.”Everything’s happening so fast,” Surprenant said.But she and waitress Sue Henderson, 34? years at the Hilltop, also recalled memories: birthdays, baby showers, and anniversaries celebrated at the restaurant, not just by patrons but by employees.”This is like home to me,” Surprenant, of Saugus, said.”This is family,” Henderson, of Hamilton, added.The Giuffrida family gathered Sunday evening in Dodge City.Tina Giuffrida Primavera, Frank Giuffrida’s daughter, and Giuffrida Primavera’s daughter, Francesca Primavera (named after her grandfather) had a banner where patrons could write their memories of the Hilltop.”It just hit us: it’s really over, this is it,” said Giuffrida Primavera. “This place will no longer be standing, but the memories are forever.”She said the outpouring of support and nostalgia for the restaurant has meant a lot to the family.”It means this place is really special,” Giuffrida Primavera said. “It