The Ground Round Restaurant to Open April 30 in Shrewsbury

After a notable absence in New England for several years, The Ground Round restaurant has returned to Massachusetts.

An NBC 10 WJAR-TV report announced a grand opening for the new Ground Round location, 271 Grafton St. in Shrewsbury, will occur on Wednesday, April 30. Dinner service has a limited opening as of April 5, and customers must call ahead at 508-845-9044 to make reservations. Opening weekend, May 3 and 4, is completely booked.

Entrepreneur Joseph Shea bought the intellectual property rights for the restaurant chain in his plan to open a new location in Shrewsbury. Several other Ground Round locations remain at various locations in the United States, but none existed in New England until recently. The Ground Round can be found in Perrysburg, Ohio, and a few places in North Dakota. 

According to an NBC 10 report, The Ground Round began as a spinoff of Howard Johnson's in Massachusetts in 1969 and eventually increased to 200 locations by 1985.

As dining tastes changed and competition pressures from other casual dining restaurants mounted, The Ground Round declared bankruptcy in 2004. Most locations closed more than 20 years ago, and only a small number of independently owned locations survived. The Ground Round in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, closed more than 10 years ago.