After losing their business in 2020, Jenny McBride and Jo Gray made it their mission to travel to every city and town in Massachusetts. 

The couple closed Inman Oasis, their massage therapy and hot tub business, during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We had that business for 15 years, and it was a big loss,” Gray said. 

Yet the loss set the couple on a search for something new—something that could bring them joy again. They found that joy taking walks outside and exploring the neighboring towns around Newton, where the couple lives—a habit that grew into what they called the Massachusetts 351 project.

In each town they visited, Gray and McBride made it one of their “rules” to support the local economy and any local restaurants they could find. Gray said supporting community-owned businesses “unlocks your flexibility and your openness to new things and people.”

When asked about their top five restaurants they visited, the couple immediately smiled, taking out multiple sheets of paper. “We have this written down,” McBride said with a laugh.

1. Restaurante Algarve, New Bedford

Restaurante Algarve is a Portuguese restaurant serving authentic dishes based on family recipes, according to the restaurant’s website.

The restaurant, located in a small neighborhood, features classic Portuguese dishes such as francesinha sandwiches and pudim flan.

The couple ordered a seafood stew that came with rice and tomatoes. “I loved that restaurant,” Gray said.

2. The Old Mill Café, Hatfield

The Old Mill Café is a restaurant inside an inn that used to be a grist mill. It serves breakfast featuring house-made scones and McBride’s favorite, its biscuits.

“I’m from southern Missouri. I know a good biscuit,” McBride said. “You laid it down, and there was butter everywhere. I would think about those biscuits so much so that we had to go back.”

The inn also serves Rao’s coffee, which Gray, who described herself as a coffee roaster enthusiast, enjoyed. “That was a huge gem,” McBride said.

3. Black Joy Kitchen, Oak Bluffs

During a weekend trip to Martha’s Vineyard, where the couple tackled two of the island’s six towns each day, Gray and McBride were driving through Oak Bluffs when they saw a handwritten yard sign.

“It said something like ‘Black Joy: Grand opening,’” Gray said. They pulled over and smelled barbeque. The restaurant had opened two days earlier.

The couple ordered brunch alongside their friend Angie Waszkiewicz, who has known McBride since their college days. The group shared small plates—brisket, greens, cornbread and more.

“Everything had a very unique flavor to it,” Waszkiewicz said. “The food itself was really delicious.” Gray said the town’s Black history and the restaurant’s community feel made it unforgettable.

4. Sangar General Store, Windsor

Although technically not a restaurant, Gray and McBride raved about Sangar General Store. In “the middle of nowhere on a winter day,” McBride said, they found the convenience store with a small wooden sign reading “samosas.”

Not wanting to be hungry before their day of snowshoeing, the couple ordered samosas and dal, savoring the warmth of the food on a cold winter day.

“It was just a couple of tables set up in the back of the convenience store,” McBride said. “But the food was amazing.”

A lobster roll at The Bayside in Westport. Courtesy photo

5. The Bayside Restaurant, Westport

While adventuring through Westport, the couple stumbled upon The Bayside Restaurant, a seasonal restaurant near Horseneck Beach, where Gray said she had the best lobster roll she has ever had in her life.

She said it felt like they picked the lobster 10 minutes before serving it to her. “It was something very, very special,” Gray said. At around $30, she said, “it was worth every single penny that we paid.”

Aside from the lobster roll, the restaurant’s menu also features classic New England seafood dishes like calamari, fish and chips, and chowder.

Honorable mention: Crying Thaiger Rustic Thai Kitchen, Malden

Because the Sangar General Store isn’t really a restaurant, Gray and McBride said if they were to add one more sit-down place to the list, it would be Crying Thaiger.

“We were really blown away,” McBride said. The restaurant serves classic Thai dishes from pad see ew to chicken satay to roti with green curry. 

“I loved every bit of that experience,” Gray added.

Beyond discovering great food, the Massachusetts 351 project reinforced what Gray and McBride already believed from owning their own small business: Local businesses are the heartbeat of their communities.

“Those small towns—those independent businesses—they’re going to bring people together,” McBride said.

Waszkiewicz, who has joined the couple on several of their trips through Massachusetts, said the project is such a representation of who Gray and McBride are. “They are going to do everything,” she said. “They’re going to take on some cool, unusual thing and they’re going to do it to the max.”

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This story is part of a partnership between the Newton Beacon and the Boston University Department of Journalism.