Back in 1955, Joseph Foti came to America from Sicily. He was the 17th of 18 children. Florence Romano came from Naples, the oldest of 5, 1958 they were married and had 4 children, Josephine, Pellegrina, Florence, and Joseph. 

Both Joseph and Florence worked in many factories; Florence also cleaned restaurants and dish washed. Once she learned the English language, she bussed tables and became a waitress. After about 20 years in the business she thought she would like to give it a try. Along with her husband, Florence’s Restaurant opened, January 1974 in Boston. Shortly after the restaurant opening they fell short of help and asked if I could work. I had just turned 12. After one night I really liked it and never stopped. At first I bussed tables and helped the dishwasher. On slow nights, I would do food preparation; my favorite was stuffing the artichokes.

My brother Joseph wanted my parents to open another restaurant, so he found a location in Merrimack, NH, and opened in April 1989. I stayed in Boston and worked. Shortly after the opening my brother was offered a great job and couldn’t do both. That’s when my husband Donald, daughter Alyssa and I, moved to Merrimack, to run my parents restaurant. After 8 years our lease expired. Florence’s in Merrimack closed, but the Boston location was still going strong. Trying to find a new location wasn’t working, so we sold everything and thought it was over. 

About 4 months later, I received a phone call asking if I would be interested in leasing a space that was already a restaurant. Before you knew it, we were back in business. My mother thought it would be best for me to do it on my own. Now having two children, Alyssa, 8 and Michael, 3, at the time, it wasn’t going to be easy. With the support of my family, anything can be possible. On July 29, 1977, Florence’s reopened. 

A few years later my father became ill, my mother felt it time to give up in the Boston restaurant, to take care of my dad. On January 1, 2000, we celebrated our last New Years at Florence’s in Boston. My dad passed away 6 months later. So I continue to work and hope my dad is proud of me. My daughter, Alyssa, works with me, my son, Michel,  is too young. Although my daughter’s name isn’t Florence, could she take it to another generation? We will just have to wait and see.

A special thank you to Janet, who has been with me from the start, and all my present and past employees. Thank you to all of our customers for their continued support and friendship throughout the years.