Back in May, we decided to do a grand tour of places to eat in Lowell. Every day, we stopped by a different restaurant, store or market to sample some food and then posted about it on Instagram.
Today, we’re looking back to see which of those restaurants were most popular based on Instagram likes. A couple things to note:
- This is just for fun — so please put away the pitchforks if your favorite isn’t listed.
- This is very unscientific – our Instagram followers only number about 1,000 and hashtags and other factors can determine how widely the powers-that-be on social media distribute a post.
- This is just for fun.
- We love all our Lowell restaurants.
- This is just for fun.
We also wanted to take this opportunity to thank those who support our work so two people are getting a $20 gift card to their choice of the following eateries. We randomly selected one person who is a subscriber on Facebook – you can subscribe here – and one person who has supported us on Ko-Fi (go here) in the last year. Congrats to Douglas C. and Bruce D. Check your emails!
And here are the most popular places to eat in Lowell, according to our Instagram followers.
5. Cup of Grace
When we looked at the Instagram likes, this coffee stand was the dark horse winner. It actually wasn’t even on our radar until it showed up at St. Patrick School one day for Teacher Appreciation Week. But the coffee was good and the donut amazing, and we subsequently wrote a business profile about Cup of Grace to learn more about their origin story.
4. Heidi’s Farmstand
No surprise here. We love Heidi’s and so do a lot of you. From relatively humble roots, Heidi’s Farmstand has become more than just a place to pick up donuts and fresh veggies. It is now a farm destination, particularly in the fall months when its property is packed with games, a corn maze, u-pick pumpkins and more. But despite all that, the donuts are what keeps my family always looking for a reason to drive up Alden Nash toward the highway.
3. Sweet Seasons
The building at 307 E. Main Street has long been home to coffee shops – anyone remember Voyages? – but Sweet Seasons seems to be the one with the most staying power. As we’ve mentioned in the past, it often serves as the LFL office when we need to meet people or simply need a change of scenery while cranking out articles. Come for the coffee, stay for the bagels, scones, brownies, quiche, cheesecake….well, you get the idea.
2. Easy Street
Opening a new restaurant isn’t for the faint of heart – or so we’ve heard – and Easy Street has apparently had a bumpy start. While the food and service were great during our visit, others reported they weren’t as fortunate. Despite the hiccups, many in the community seem to be fully behind this venture, and Easy Street had the second-most likes among all the places we posted on Instagram in May.
1. Frosty Boy
The new boy in town seems to be quite popular. Many wondered whether anything could fill the hole left on Main Street when Ball’s Softee Crème announced it was time to retire. Frosty Boy has done the job quite admirably so far, though, offering up ice cream, chili dogs and Broaster chicken among other delicious options.
So tell us: where do you think is the best place to eat in town?
Why isn’t Easy Street open for breakfast anymore. We had breakfast there in May and it was delicious.
We can’t say for sure, but we’ve heard that it may have been a staffing issue that led to the change in hours.