The Ground Round returns to Shrewsbury after 20 years

A Shrewsbury restaurant that closed its doors in 2004 is reopening after two decades.

The Ground Round, a casual American cuisine restaurant, is opening a new location at 271 Grafton St. in Shrewsbury, according to Nachi Shea, the restaurant’s co-owner.

The restaurant’s location is the location of Bauhinia Restaurant, which closed on November 5, according to its website.

The original Ground Round restaurant in Shrewsbury was located at 225 Boston Turnpike, but closed in 2004, according to the Community Advocate.

Shea said she and her husband, Joseph Shea, had fond memories of eating at Ground Round and found that others in Shrewsbury shared those memories. She said her husband had been thinking about returning to Ground Round for some time.

“The idea is to apply today’s efficiencies to the best of the ‘old’ Ground Round,” Shea said. “We listen closely to our community to ensure we help families share their memories with the next generation and build new ones for future generations.”

The hope is to open the Ground Round the week of January 25 next year. Shea said the restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner and will have a bar area.

She notes that it was initially difficult to rebuild the restaurant because her husband found out that Ground Round’s franchisors didn’t want to expand. There are currently four Ground Round restaurants: one in Ohio and three in North Dakota.

However, after insisting, they agreed to a sale, making the couple sole owners of the Ground Round in Shrewsbury.

“I came to this venture with many years of restaurant experience as both an employee and owner,” Shea said. “Joe has owned several local businesses and brings the experience necessary to ensure the success of the restaurant.

“We will both be involved in the day-to-day operations, but we are putting together a great team that we can trust to help us make this restaurant worthy of all the memories and expectations,” she said.

The Ground Round was founded in 1969. The restaurant serves American comfort food such as the HayStack Burger, French dip sandwiches, mozzarella sticks, sirloin and shrimp, and the Choc’late Lovin’ Spoon Cake.

According to a Boston Business Journal report, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2004.

The makeshift sign hanging near the intersection of Routes 9 and 140 caught the attention of people on social media this week, with more than 100 commenters expressing joy and shock on several Facebook group posts. Many shared memories of the nostalgic restaurant, including Ground Round’s peanut-covered floor.