By Tom Meek

Tommy Rodriguez retires next month from ownership of the Montrose Spa in Cambridge’s Neighborhood 9.

A 51-year era draws to an end as Tommy Rodriguez retires from ownership of the Montrose Spa, a bodega that’s become an integral part of its community since coming under his stewardship.

The spa and Rodriguez have seen a lot of change at 1646 Massachusetts Ave., between Harvard and Porter squares.

“When we first opened,” Rodriguez said, “all we sold was newspapers, magazines and cigarettes.” The area was served by several food marts in 1974 – Evergood, A&P and the Avenue Market – as well as other bodegas, and they were happy at the Montrose selling 500 copies of The Boston Globe and a similar number of The New York Times on a Sunday. Today, he says, he may sell 20 Sunday papers altogether. 

As the groceries closed around them, Rodriguez and his co-operators – his sister and brother-in-law, Mirtha and Eddy Tabit – changed the Montrose product mix to make up for the losses, cramming in everything from canned foods to cleaning products. “Now we’re the only one,” Rodriguez said.

A couple passes by the Montrose Spa on Massachusetts Avenue between Harvard and Porter squares in Cambridge.

When the 1984-1985 extension of the red line from Harvard Square to Alewife Station took foot traffic and business away, Rodriguez and his partners pivoted again, putting in a deli and serving breakfast and lunch sandwiches at below-market prices – during Covid, you could get an egg and cheese on English with a small cup of joe for less than $5. 

The day a Starbucks opened nearby on Shepard Street in the mid-1990s, business at the Montrose dipped by half. It was another storm to be weathered; just as Rodriguez passes his keys, that Starbucks (and others in Harvard Square and Somerville’s Davis Square) is closing Saturday, part of cuts of more than 400 underperforming locations for the chain.

Scottish foundation, Cuban roots

Rodriguez and his sister and brother-in-law, whom he bought out as owners in 2007, were not the first owners of the spa. Records show it existing as such back in the 1930s, with the French flat-styled low-rise that it’s in built in the late 1920s. Rodriguez says he’s the third owner. (Cambridge once had a Walden Spa in North Cambridge and Oxford Spa in Baldwin. Why “spa”? Apparently because the bubbly soda water at the once-common soda fountains was similar to the mineral waters of actual spas – or because sodas, or tonics, were originally thought to be good for digestive problems.)

The name is borrowed from The Montrose apartment building next door, which was part of an 1898 development project along with the The Dunvegan at Massachusetts Avenue and Shepard Street – where Marathon Sports is – by Scottish developer William G. MacLeod. He named the buildings after a village in Scotland and a castle of the clan MacLeod, respectively, said Charles Sullivan, executive director of Cambridge’s Historical Commission.

The Cuban at Montrose Spa.

While there’s no haggis sandwich at the Montrose deli, its hot-pressed Missing Link – rosemary sun-dried tomato ham, provolone cheese and sweet roasted red peppers on a choice of fresh bread – and Desperado – a dense, gooey smoked pepper turkey, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, Swiss, bacon and dressing on pressed dark bread – are stack arrangements you don’t see much elsewhere.

The main reason gourmands have flocked, however, is the Cubano, an expertly prepared and pressed steal for your dollar that Rodriguez knows intimately: He immigrated here from Cuba, where he grew up under the Castro regime. Mirtha and Eddy Tabit had already left when Rodriguez finally fled to Spain with his parents in 1971. The government had seized the family farm and was preparing to send Rodriguez – then a teen – into the army, which was fighting a war in Angola. A move to the United States followed.

Hard work at the spa

Rodriguez said he’s moving on again because it’s time. “It’s hard work,” he said of the spa, “very physical.” He went through a recent battle with cancer and, weakened by treatments, broke his femur doing yard work; he was laid up for the better part of a year, unable to make the daily hourlong commute from Sharon, on the South Shore, and work behind the counter.

Rodriguez said he doesn’t have immediate plans for his newfound free time except to enjoy New England and maybe get down to the Cape. “You know,” he added, “I’ve never been to the Seaport, and I haven’t been to Back Bay in over 20 years.” He said he’d likely find part-time work near his home to occupy his time, and spend time with his three children and eight grandchildren. 

Neighbor praise

The Montrose Spa and its neighbors in 1998.

Rodriguez has meant much to the community. “My initial reaction was, ‘Oh no!,’” said Nancy Cullison, a retired schoolteacher and neighbor of the spa for more than 70 years. “I hardly remember the Montrose Spa without Tommy. He has been a neighborhood fixture. His flowers out front brighten up Massachusetts Avenue, and anything you need, you can find it at Tommy’s.”

Another neighbor, Debbie Kernochan, said Rodriguez “kept the neighborhood alive during the pandemic,” and is grateful to him for making sure her favorite dairy products are in stock. “He was a pillar within our local community,” said Wright Street resident and dog owner John Gazely, who appreciates that Rodriguez puts out treats and water for four-legged friends. “He will be sorely missed. Hopefully the legacy of his Cuban sandwiches will live on.”

Tito McFadries, a bartender at the nearby Abbey bar and a regular at the deli, called the spa “friendly and impossibly charming.”

Centering, and spreading, community

The spa has become a bastion of community along Massachusetts Avenue akin to that of the University Wine under the 40-year ownership of Paul DeRuzzo, just a block up the avenue toward Porter Square – but DeRuzzo left in April, and neighbors say something has been lost under new ownership.

“I hope it doesn’t change at all,” said longtime Neighborhood 9 resident Pattie Heyman, who called the Montrose “a place with soul and heart.”

Rodriguez has also been important to Brockton,  where his wife did social work in the 1990s and he became a principal organizer of the Brockton Neighborhood Health Center. Rodriguez and his wife have leveraged the Montrose business to bring joy to families in Brockton, delivering hams and food baskets to people facing food scarcity.

The hand off of the Montrose is slated to happen early next month, with most of Rodriguez’s staff to stay on. Cullison and other neighbors plan a block party on Langdon Street On Sunday to bid Rodriguez farewell. “We are going to miss him so much,” Cullison said.