Mike McLaughlin Jr. to sling dough
Michael McLaughlin must be proud of his son, Michael McLaughlin Jr.
Thursday morning the elder McLaughlin chowed down on what smelled like a real tasty omelet in the restaurant Mike Jr. hopes to open next week in a Tewksbury strip mall just over the Lowell city boundary on Andover Street.
The future home of Mike McLaughlin’s North End Diner and Pizzeria, on Andover Street in Tewksbury. (Column Blog photo by C. Scott).
As his father fueled up for the day, the younger McLaughlin said he hopes to open the North End Diner and Pizzeria sometime next week.
According to town officials, however, he still needs permits from the Board of Health and Board of Selectmen.
McLaughlin is opening in the spot that was formerly occupied by the Chinese restaurant Chop Sticks. That restaurant recently moved, and expanded, just a couple doors down in the spot where the River Road Cafe was located.
McLaughlin was formerly employed by the Greater Lowell Technical High School and more recently in the Dracut School Department as a $58,000-per-year alternative education teacher. Yes, the same school district that employed McLaughlin Sr. as business manager from 1995-2000. Click here for more recent developments concerning Mike Sr. and his other son, Matthew McLaughlin.
Mike Jr.’s time in Dracut wasn’t without controversial. In April 2010, the Dracut School Committee asked lawyer Ed Morris to investigate whether former School Supt. W. Spencer Mullin improperly granted McLaughlin, and two other teachers, Linda Monroe and Noreen Burns, early tenure as personal favors. You can probably guess to whom.
During a School Committee meeting, member Mike Miles made a motion to strip the early tenure status from the teachers, but Morris said that wasn’t necessary. It was unnecessary because Morris said Mullin never received a recommendation from the high school principal to give early tenure to any of the three teachers, so the designation wasn’t valid under state law.
Mike Jr. later appealed to interim Supt. Elaine Espindle, and his appeal was denied, Miles said. Mike Jr. ended up being laid off.
Young Mike appeared excited and eager to try his hand in the food-service industry, noting next week’s opening.
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August 16, 2012 at 8:41 am
Live nearby and ate there – good stuff! Thanks for coming to the neighborhood!