Who takes over a building that served East Wareham for 74 years? The building at 3138 Cranberry Highway was Lindsey's Family Restaurant until it closed in November 2022. Since then the address has changed hands twice. Its neighbor at 3126, long known as Barnacle Bill's, has sat waiting for a new tenant since 2024.
In 2026 both buildings were taken on by restaurateurs who already run kitchens in a nearby town. One comes from Middleboro and the other from North Plymouth. Neither is starting from nothing. Each is bringing dishes from an existing menu onto this stretch of Route 6, and the Wareham Select Board licensed both on the same night in May.
Two addresses, several lives
Most East Wareham residents can tell you what used to be in these buildings. Fewer have kept track of how often the signs changed in the past four years. Here is the sequence, using local reporting from Wareham Week, SouthCoast Today and Town of Wareham records.
| Address | Earlier tenant | What happened | 2026 tenant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3138 Cranberry Highway | Lindsey's Family Restaurant | Closed November 2022 after 74 years | 12 Knots Classic American Grille |
| 3138 Cranberry Highway | Towne Tavern & Tap | Planned a fall 2023 opening, liquor license transferred in May 2026 | 12 Knots Classic American Grille |
| 3126 Cranberry Highway | Barnacle Bill's | Relaunched under Andrew and James Mattos in 2013, closed by 2024 | Jefes Masa Cantina, licensed and moving in |
The Mattos family's run at 3126 lasted about 11 years. That covers only the 2013 relaunch, so the full history of the Barnacle Bill's name on the site goes back further. At 3138, Towne Tavern followed a restaurant that had lasted most of a century. A Wareham Week report from April 2025 noted it had opened two years earlier.
A Middleboro kitchen comes home to 3138
Michael Dearing owns Fireside Grille in Middleboro. On July 7 he soft-opened 12 Knots Classic American Grille in the old Towne Tavern & Tap building. The name comes from sailing. Twelve knots, just under 14 mph, is the wind speed Dearing considers ideal for a boater: strong enough to move the boat without making it dangerous.
Dearing told Wareham Week the restaurant has a scratch kitchen and that seafood is the "focal point" of the menu, alongside prime rib and steak tips. Some Fireside Grille favorites are coming with him, including the buttermilk chicken. SouthCoast Today's July 29 coverage described the former Towne Tavern as reopened under the owners of Fireside Grille.
His connection to the area goes further back than the business. Dearing said he grew up where Middleboro, Rochester and Wareham meet:
"I actually went to school in Middleboro, but I had a 295 phone number growing up and went to church and played youth sports in Wareham."
He called the move a homecoming. "The fact that we can now be the stewards of this property is really a wonderful thing," he said after the July 7 Select Board meeting, where the board unanimously approved a jukebox and entertainment license for the restaurant. Board member Judith Whiteside welcomed him to town.
Three months in, the restaurant is still serving. Its reservation listing shows daily hours of 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. The most recent dated diner review we found is from September 26, 2026, and recent reviews mention fried clams, seafood casserole, steak tips and a chicken Caesar sandwich. The listing does not post a menu yet, so calling ahead is still the best way to find out what's on that day.
A Plymouth taco kitchen moving to 3126
Next door, Michael Grant Jr. is moving Jefes from its North Plymouth location into the former Barnacle Bill's building and renaming it Jefes Masa Cantina. The Plymouth restaurant is known for tacos on handmade tortillas from a scratch kitchen. Grant told Wareham Week in May that he would open in Wareham "as soon as possible."
Most of the paperwork is done. On May 19 the Select Board approved an annual all-alcohol restaurant license and a common victualler license for Jefes Restaurant Group at 3126 Cranberry Highway. In June, WhatNow reported that the move was expected to debut "sometime in August or early fall 2026," depending on construction and final approvals.
As of early October, the restaurant's own website lists the East Wareham address with hours of Tuesday through Thursday, 3 to 10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, noon to 10 p.m. The same site still describes the kitchen as being at 390 Court Street in Plymouth and links to the Plymouth menu. We found no dated report confirming a first night of service in Wareham, so call (774) 343-5002 before driving over.
What the two owners bring with them
These two buildings share more than a property line. Both new operators have run a restaurant before, and both are carrying something specific from that restaurant into East Wareham: buttermilk chicken from Fireside Grille, handmade tortillas from Jefes in Plymouth. Both got their liquor licenses at the same May 19 hearing, so the two openings have moved through town approvals almost in step.
That matters for the buildings themselves. A restaurant building that sits empty can go a different way, and a few miles west on the same highway, one did. At 2424 Cranberry Highway, the former BB's Bar & Grille was demolished in November 2025 to make way for a new Taco Bell. Wareham Week traced that site's earlier restaurant history through The Nest, Zeadey's and BB's. The Wareham Planning Board gave the project final sign-off on August 10, 2026, and the chain now lists a drive-through location at that address.
At 3126 and 3138, the original buildings are still standing. One is serving food again and the other is licensed and waiting on its first night, both under operators who already know how to run a dining room. One more nearby storefront fits the pattern of new tenants taking over older spaces. Anna Nathan planned a secondhand clothing shop called USED in the former Seakers building at 3065 Cranberry Highway, and the Select Board approved her secondhand dealer license on June 16. She expected to open before August. We found no later confirmation that the shop has opened.
The October date to know
12 Knots has scheduled the formal opening that Dearing said would come after Labor Day.
- When: Thursday, October 22, 2026. Ribbon cutting at 5:30 p.m., reception from 6 to 8 p.m.
- Where: 12 Knots Classic American Grille, 3138 Cranberry Highway
- What: Stationary appetizers and a cash bar. The restaurant says 100 percent of proceeds go to the Buzzards Bay Coalition and its work protecting clean water in Southeastern Massachusetts.
- Tickets: Listed through the restaurant's Eventbrite page
The restaurant has been serving since July, so the October event is a celebration of an opening that already happened. Jefes Masa Cantina has not announced a comparable date for 3126.
When a longtime building changes hands, families with a stake in nearby property often wonder what the change means for them. If you own a home near Cranberry Highway or are settling a family property in East Wareham, Martin Real Estate is glad to talk through what the street looks like today and prepare a free home valuation whenever you're ready.
