Thursday, 4:30 PM
Hilltop Steak House auctions off cookware, cows, and memories
(David L. Ryan/Globe Staff)
The Hilltop Steak House held an auction at its former Braintree location today to sell everything from fiberglass cows to the kitchen sink.
By April Simpson and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff
The green, 50-foot tall cactus that greeted motorists on Union Street in Braintree for more than 15 years sold for $100. The aluminum pots, mixers, ovens, tables, and chairs also went to the highest bidders. As did the sign for the butcher shop, cowboy paintings, stainless steel display racks, and the chandeliers that look like deer antlers.
But nothing made quite as much buzz today when the Hilltop Steak House auctioned off the contents of its Braintree location as those famous fiberglass cows. Modeled after Black Angus and Hereford cattle, the 7-foot-long, 4-foot-high, black and brown bovines sold for up to $1,100 apiece.
"The cows were a great attraction," said a melancholy Lenny DeRosa, the vice president of restaurant operations for the Hilltop chain, of which only the original location in Saugus remains. "To be honest with you, I'm a little heartbroken."
PHOTOS: The Hilltop Steak House auction
That prompted today's 450-lot auction, to sell everything from kitchen equipment to the western-style kitsch that makes the Hilltop unique, including boots with spurs, lassos, a leather saddle, and the faux livestock.
About 75 people came to the daylong sale, following two auctioneers as they moved from the kitchen, to the butcher shop, to the dinning room.
Some came searching for deals on used restaurant equipment. Others wanted to take home a sign, a cow, a spittoon, or some other tangible piece of the Hilltop.
"I'm here for the chandeliers," said Kathy Grennon, 50, of Quincy, eyeing the antler-like light fixtures.
DeRosa left long before the auction ended and drove back to the Saugus location on Route 1 with a heavy heart.
"It's just not easy to close the door and walk away," said DeRosa, who has worked for Hilltop since 1976. "There's a lot of memories ... a lot of people you've seen there and fed there and made happy."
