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A large map, studded with pins, covered the back wall of the diner and claimed to pinpoint the origins of postcards from customers over the years. In keeping with the informal atmosphere of the diner — where the cooks, including Tom Sweet, who managed The Tasty on the graveyard shift until the summer
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The Tasty was a tiny one-room diner and lunch counter, its customer area no more than seven feet wide and thirty feet deep, with a narrow counter made of yellow linoleum. A Harvard
Business School student once deemed it "the most profitable restaurant in New England per sq ft", at 210 sq ft
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For a time, an
Abercrombie & Fitch store operated in the building on the site formerly occupied by the Tasty. This store was later succeeded by a branch office of Citizens Bank, and the actual space in which the Tasty once operated became occupied by a row of Citizens Bank ATMs. As Muchnik
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required that the distinctive entrance to the Tasty be preserved, giving it landmark status, and it remains unmodified today. The attention paid to the closing of the Tasty by the
Cambridge City Council in the Winter of 1997 occasioned a rebuke from the Harvard Square Business Association, who
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Despite a struggle by its owner Peter Haddad, the Tasty's tenancy ended in
November 1997. A sign in its window during the move-out stated its lifespan: "81 years. 29,565 days. 5,913,000 people. 422,357 per stool." Its landlord, the Cambridge Savings Bank, took advantage of the increasing
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remarks, "if you look at the bank in the Read Block today, you have one door too many" — the extraneous door, a second entrance to the small ATM lobby, being that of the former diner. Following a relocation of
Citizens Bank to Brattle Square, a CVS Pharmacy since opened in its place.
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franchises, which enabled the bank to charge significantly higher rents to tenants who provided greater security. Opposition to the end of the Tasty's tenancy was voiced by a number of groups, including the
Harvard Square Defense Fund and brothers
234:(20 m). The Tasty had 14 stools. On busy nights it would be crammed with around 70 people (from actual head counts) at a time. On these nights between 300 and 400 burgers were served between the hours of midnight and 4:00 AM.
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Despite having brought considerable evidence attesting to the historical value of the diner and the important social role it played in
Harvard Square, the supporters of the Tasty did not prevail; however, the
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The Tasty was often referred to in the press as a "local landmark" or "institution", and was immortalized in film during a scene in
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opened a location not far from the Tasty in 2012. Its design is "meant to invoke" the Tasty, using similar lettering for its logo.
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By the end of its existence, The Tasty had attracted both long-time residents and, by virtue both of its proximity to
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of 1976, and chef
Charlie Coney — were sometimes compared to bartenders and frequently chatted with customers.
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The Tasty, 1985. Behind the counter is chef Don
Valcovic; on the right is Al Nidle, publisher of
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criticized the council for becoming involved in a private, contractual matter.
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and a symbol of the transitions the neighborhood was undergoing.
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Touching
History; Harvard Square, The Bank, and the Tasty Diner
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Crimson article: "A Night in Cambridge, a day at the Tasty"
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http://artfilmdesign.com/mp3/artfilmdesign-2005-10-04.mp3
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and tools are available to assist in formatting, such as
425:"Boston no fee apartments - Description of Cambridge MA"
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attractiveness of the Harvard Square neighborhood to
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819:42.37339°N 71.11938°W
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221:Description
145:Established
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85:August 2022
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810:71°07′10″W
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596:October 4,
574:full video
363:References
271:Love Story
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304:neon sign
242:Customers
173:Cambridge
36:bare URLs
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323:Car Talk
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