The old, faded awning and handwritten posterboard signs just scream, "mom&pop joint, serving Quincy…read moresince 1970!" I'm not sure how long it has really been there, but happily the food is fresher than that. The inside is just as mom&pop: cute, close, everyone seems to know everyone else, and the service comes with a smile and some happy chit-chat.
It's not really much of a market, unless you count a few cans of dog food and some Draino on a shelf in the corner. It's actually more like a deli...or a variety, or a sandwich shop, or whatever you people in Massachusetts call them. Sandwiches pre-made or made to order, hot dogs, pizza, sometimes some soups, some baked goodies that I think are made on-premises, daily specials, this sort of thing. Overall, the menu is pretty sparse. A handful of cold sandwiches. Half of the hot sandwiches are permutations of a grilled cheese. And that's cool, I love grilled cheese, but it only goes so far as a menu-filler. Standard chip/candy/bevvy add-ons (but no Diet Dr. Pepper).
My first time there, I ignored the specials board and ordered a plain old turkey sandwich. I was nonplussed when I asked for a sub and he pulled out a round roll, but my protest didn't even make it to my lips before I was distracted by him walking up to a giant, freshly-roasted turkey and starting to carve. He asked how I wanted it, and I stammered something about lettuce and tomato and pickles, still transfixed by the fact that he was actually carving an actual turkey. He joked to someone else about how I wanted it "weird." Because what I failed to notice was there, on the top of the special menu for the day, was the Turkey Gobbler. Every Monday and Thursday, they offer this sandwich: fresh roasted turkey piled on a roll, and decked out with cranberry sauce and stuffing or something. And when I tried it? Holy Thanksgiving, Batman! That shit was tasty. If you're going on a Monday or Thursday, and you eat bird, pretend there's an extra star on this review. Other days of the week? I had a normal turkey sandwich there another day of the week. It was fine. Perfectly good, but nothing too special. The cinnamon bread wasn't as dense as I expected (it looked like pound cake, so my mouth wanted pound cake), and the chocolate chip cookie was fine but unremarkable.
The prices are pretty normal for what you're getting. The menu boards make it look like they're going to nickel and dime you, charging for everything you add to a sandwich, but so far, they haven't bothered to do that. Not even when I asked the woman making my sandwich to go raid the pizza fixins to get me some green peppers to put on my sandwich, which she happily did. God, I love the mom&pop joints.