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Community Corner

Jack's Lunch

Home of the steamed cheeseburger

My father loved Jack's Lunch. For a while in his youth, he worked downtown at several of the theaters as an usher. Between shifts, he liked to saddle up to a stool for a coffee and a slice of pie at Jacks' Lunch.

Later, he would occasionally take me to Hall's Diner or to Ford News, both of which he enjoyed, but he would often regale me with his memories of Jack's Lunch while we sat on the stools in other eateries (well, he sat ... I spun).

Jack's Lunch was located on Main Street in the heart of downtown and is the original creator of the steamed cheeseburger!

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It opened in 1922 on the east side of Main Street, not far from the corner of Washington Street (probably about where Vinnie's Jump and Jive is located today). Its neighbors in 1922 were the James Young Co. (dry goods) and Heil Brothers Delicatessen.

After 1940, when the matchbook cover shown here was made, the establishment had moved north to 466 Main St., on the other side of Lenscrafters (then Steuck's Restaurant).

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"Jack" of Jack's Lunch was John D. Fitzgerald, and his business partner was Mrs. Caroline G. Page. In 1950, Robert Shimoda owned Jack's Lunch. Later Shimoda owned and operated Ford News Diner.  His brother Samuel Shimoda was associated with Hall's Diner. Now I see why those two places also appealed to my dad.

I completely concur with O'Rourke's Diner's claim as the "legitimate heir" to the steamed cheseburger. Jack O'Rourke, the uncle of Brian O'Rourke (who currently owns the diner), worked at Jack's Lunch when the steamed cheeseburger was invented. He then opened O'Rourke's Diner in 1941 in the North End and continued the tradition of the steamed cheeseburger.

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