Since at least 1980, the small building at 643 Chandler Street in Tatnuck Square has been a place to grab a sandwich. It was Elsa's Bushel 'N Peck, then just Bushel 'N Peck, then Perry's Tatnuck Deli. It has been dark since Perry's closed in November 2024. The next tenant has now cleared two city approvals, and its plans are quite different from the counters that came before. Cafe Eidy is planned as a full-service restaurant with roughly 45 seats, a bar, and approval to serve alcohol.
For a corner that has always served people on their way somewhere else, that is a real change in what it's for.
Four Decades of Counters
The building went up in 1965 and is just under 1,900 square feet, according to This Week in Worcester's 2022 coverage. The sandwich shop there opened in 1980 as Elsa's Bushel 'N Peck, and it was the first Bushel 'N Peck of all. The chain later spread to Grafton, Clinton, Westborough, and East Mountain Street in Worcester.
Here is how the address has changed hands:
| Period | Business | Operators |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 to 2005 | Elsa's Bushel 'N Peck | Tom and Elsa Oliveri |
| 2005 to 2022 | Bushel 'N Peck | Michael and Ann Bartosiewicz |
| March 2023 to November 2024 | Perry's Tatnuck Deli | Perry Jano and Robert Babbidge |
| Planned | Cafe Eidy | David de Castro and Amber Goldberg |
The Bartosiewiczes bought the Tatnuck Square shop and the East Mountain Street shop from the Oliveris in 2005. In August 2022, This Week in Worcester reported that Perry Jano, who had opened his first Perry's Deli inside Ted's Package Store in Charlton in 2019, had agreed to buy both the Chandler Street business and the property with his brother-in-law, Robert Babbidge. Jano told the outlet the Bartosiewiczes planned to keep their other Bushel 'N Peck locations.
Perry's stayed with what the corner already did well. Jano described a menu of 25 sandwiches, led by the Gobbler: turkey with cranberry sauce, stuffing, mayo and gravy. He also planned a traditional deli counter selling Boar's Head meats and cheeses. The 2022 report targeted a mid-October opening that year. The deli actually opened on March 7, 2023, according to This Week in Worcester. It closed in November 2024.
That gap between the planned and actual opening dates matters for what comes next. Even a sandwich shop that kept the same basic setup took months longer than planned to open here.
What Cafe Eidy Is Planning
Cafe Eidy breaks with everything on that list. The Worcester Guardian's Building Worcester column describes a 2,200-square-foot, full-service restaurant with about 45 seats, a bar, and a refurbished interior. When the Zoning Board of Appeals approved it on Sept. 28, the approval covered food service and the sale and drinking of alcohol on site. The Guardian names David R. de Castro of Boylston as owner-operator.
De Castro is the founder and executive chef. The restaurant's website says he holds a bachelor's degree in culinary arts from Johnson & Wales and has more than two decades of experience cooking around the world. MassLive reported that he told the License Commission his career has taken him to Dubai, Australia and the Caribbean. He is opening the restaurant with his wife, Amber Goldberg, who will run hospitality and the front of house, according to Patch.
The name honors de Castro's mother, Eileen Riggs, whose nickname was Eidy. In a Facebook post quoted by MassLive, de Castro wrote:
"From my earliest memories, my mother's sense of adventure in the kitchen and my father's steadfast encouragement shaped not only my palate but my sense of purpose. Everything at Cafe Eidy comes from my family's influence and the idea that good food is best when it brings people together."
The restaurant's motto, per the same Facebook page, is "Globally inspired, Locally acquired." The menu posted on the website reads very differently from the Gobbler. It lists seared foie gras with fig and balsamic, bone marrow, steak tartare made with Whittier Farms beef, roasted oysters, truffle pasta and a vegan bagel. The menu page is undated, and the homepage still says "Coming Soon," so read those dishes as a plan rather than a promise.
The Approvals So Far
The city has signed off on two pieces:
- Zoning Board of Appeals, Sept. 28, 2026. Approved food service plus the sale and consumption of alcohol at 643 Chandler.
- License Commission, Oct. 8, 2026. Approved a common victualler license by a 3-0 vote. This license is required for any business that prepares and serves food to eat on the premises.
What's still missing is a firm date.
Why Nobody Can Say When It Opens
The reported timelines don't agree. MassLive's Sept. 17 and Oct. 9 stories both said no official opening date had been announced, and both noted that the restaurant's Facebook page pointed to late fall. Patch's Oct. 6 story cited a September Telegram & Gazette interview with de Castro that put the opening in February 2027.
There was already one delay. Patch reported that an August announcement from the restaurant pushed the opening back because of "unforeseen circumstances," citing the time it takes to work through permits, zoning and the other steps of opening a restaurant. That same announcement read: "We're working hard to make Café Eidy everything we envisioned, and I can't wait to welcome you through our doors."
The hours aren't settled either. The ZBA application, as MassLive reported it, described lunch and dinner service with 11 staff members. Patch described weekday dinner and weekend brunch. The website lists noon to 11 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and noon to 10 p.m. on weekends, with no Monday hours shown. Until the doors open, all three are plans.
The switch to a full restaurant helps explain the slower timeline. A deli taking over from a deli inherits a working setup. A 45-seat dining room with a bar and liquor approval has to go through more of the city's process, and Cafe Eidy has been working through those steps all fall.
The Same Block While You Wait
The short stretch of Chandler Street around Tatnuck Square still has plenty of quick, casual food.
- The Banh Mi Place, 649 Chandler St. A few doors from 643, serving Vietnamese sandwiches, spring rolls, coffee and matcha, with online ordering on its website.
- On The Rise Baking, Tatnuck Square. A bakery and café with baked goods, coffee, smoothies and savory items. Its site has been showing fall specials through its Facebook feed.
Both offer the quick counter food that 643 Chandler served for more than four decades, while the old deli building gets set up for table service and a bar.
If you've been thinking about selling a Tatnuck home and wondering how the area is changing around it, Erin Zamarro tracks changes like the one at 643 Chandler Street block by block and can show you how they factor into today's pricing. Get a Free Home Valuation to see where your home stands this fall.
