# First the Hilltop Steak House, now the Orange Dinosaur! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 20, 2015, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-hilltop-steak-house-now-the-orange-dinosaur/728378 "2015-08-20T20:41:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-hilltop-steak-house-now-the-orange-dinosaur/728378/21 "2015-08-21T13:56:43Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > There used to be a Rotary (“Traffic Circle” to most US drivers) at Exeter Street and US 1 in Saugus Essex Street? > [@](#): > > There was a big Howard Johnson’s there - one of the earliest. But it was long gone before I moved here. the circle reportedly had an awful lot of accidents, which is probably why it isn’t there any more. That was also the problem at the Red Coach Grill (now where Kelly’s is) - a red light that not everyone expected, and a lot of accidents coming off Lynn Fells Parkway. > [@](#): > > Another Saugus Route 1 casualty is Route One Racquet and Fitness – my racquetball club, even before I moved to Saugus, now closed for over four years. It was always a marginal business. The Breens always ran it as an afterthought to the roller rink, where they made most of their income (and still do). Being right next to the river, it was always one of the first places in town to get flooded, too. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-hilltop-steak-house-now-the-orange-dinosaur/728378/22 "2015-08-21T14:27:49Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Frankly, I am puzzled for the nostalgia for the Hilltop. It offered huge portions of low quality food, in a cattle-barn like dining room. I ate there twice-both times i could not finish-the salads were enough for 3 people. The first time I have a decent (though tough) steak. the second time was as disaster-the steak was tough and tasteless. > Now, I admit it-a lot of people loved the place-I just could not understand why. I must’ve just been lucky every time I went, then. The food quality, while not stellar, was very good. I never had a tough steak. The vegetables were freshly prepared. The salads portions certainly were huge. “Cattle barn-like”? I’ve eaten in enormous warehouse-like eateries, with the feeling of being in an airline hangar and echoes off every wall. The Hilltop wasn’t like that – the interior was broken up into a series of western-named dining rooms and each dining room into rows with booths. I never got the “enormous single room with lotsa echoes” feel you can still get a Fuddruckers, just down the street. Maybe I’m too tolerant, but I didn’t notice a decrease in quality near the end. Until not that long before it closed, people were still coming in large numbers, filling the parking lot, and waiting in line out front. The main reason, in fact, that I didn’t go more often was because of the crowds. It was only the last time I went (and I was there late) that the place was relatively empty. I suspect that it failed largely because the original crowd was older, and dying off. There’s still a market for steakhouses there, since the Steer House, not half a mile away, is still flourishing, but it’s also more upscale than the Hillside ever was. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-hilltop-steak-house-now-the-orange-dinosaur/728378/23 "2015-08-21T14:55:09Z")
I drive past all of these things whenever I visit our plant in Middleton, it’s the most wonderful assortment of bizarre eateries/landmarks. Please make sure nothing happens to Hockey Town USA or the two DD’s facing each other on each side of the road in Pibiddy. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-hilltop-steak-house-now-the-orange-dinosaur/728378/24 "2015-08-21T14:57:09Z")
I’m not native to these parts, so my nostalgia for ye Olde Route 1 is rather minimal, but I will note that if you’ve ever been on a tropical vacation and returned home along Rt. 1 in early April, it is the most dismal drive imaginable. It is the opposite of a drive of great scenic beauty. I also note with sadness that the Rt. 1 “strip” is inexorably progressing further northwards into Topsfield and Ipswich. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-hilltop-steak-house-now-the-orange-dinosaur/728378/25 "2015-08-21T15:02:47Z")
Pretty soon the Agawam Diner is going to have to be considered picturesque. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-hilltop-steak-house-now-the-orange-dinosaur/728378/26 "2015-08-21T16:07:26Z")
Sounds like you need a Conservancy group. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-hilltop-steak-house-now-the-orange-dinosaur/728378/27 "2015-08-21T18:45:47Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > The food quality really went downhill after Frank Giuffrida sold the place and retired - that’s what ultimately drove the place under. The nostalgia is from an earlier time. Definitely this. We used to go to the Hilltop for Sunday dinner every so often when I was a kid. The only good thing about waiting in line for a table were looking at the cows! ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2015, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-hilltop-steak-house-now-the-orange-dinosaur/728378/28 "2015-08-21T23:11:50Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > There is more to the Pacific Coast than just California. I’m well aware of that, having driven the coast several times from San Diego to the Olympic Peninsula, but “the coastal road” from Morro Bay up through San Francisco, then again from Stinson Beach up past Fort Bragg is CA-1, while US 101 goes inland through Paso Robles, San Jose, Santa Rosa, et cetera up to Leggett. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2015, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-hilltop-steak-house-now-the-orange-dinosaur/728378/29 "2015-08-22T01:34:28Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > The Hilltop Cows have their own Facebook page - [Where are all the Hilltop Cows?](https://www.facebook.com/Hilltopcows) > > Three of them are at Market Street in Lynnfield, I don’t know if they’ll be targets there. Are they really? JFC. I went just a few weeks ago (and not for the first time) and I didn’t notice them. I must have not worn my glasses that day. Oh wait, I was also sick. It doesn’t explain how I didn’t notice them the other times I’ve gone… I liked The Border’s old location and its faux-dive exterior and location better than its new one. But if Orange Dinosaur goes bye bye, Leaning Tower is going to be my favorite Rt 1 Thing until you get to Scarborough, ME and see the gigantic chocolate moose. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2015, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-hilltop-steak-house-now-the-orange-dinosaur/728378/30 "2015-08-24T16:27:18Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > The food quality really went downhill after Frank Giuffrida sold the place and retired - that’s what ultimately drove the place under. The nostalgia is from an earlier time. Yep - mid 90s you could have a 2 hr wait on a Friday night, even though all the dining rooms were open. They even put a walkup bar in the long waiting area hallway so you could get good and hammered before you ordered. “Smith, party of four, your table is ready. Sioux City, Sioux City.” ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2015, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-hilltop-steak-house-now-the-orange-dinosaur/728378/31 "2015-08-25T01:20:59Z")
Fortunately, the Bagnell dam strip at lake of the Ozarks still exists in[all its glory.](http://www.go2lakeoftheozarks.com/lake-of-the-ozarks/lake-of-the-ozarks-shopping/bagnell-dam-shopping/images/img-bagnell-dam-shopping-old-time-photos-01.jpg) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-the-hilltop-steak-house-now-the-orange-dinosaur/728378.md?page=1)