Business: Richard’s Sandwich Shop
Owner: Edward C. Davis
Location: 377 Richmond St.
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Number of Employees: 2
Year Established: 1966
Annual Revenue: WND
Providence’s Jewelry District was still a place where factories made jewelry when Richard Davis opened a sandwich shop on Richmond Street in 1966. For years, Richard would arrive at his one-story clapboard diner – more a shack than a restaurant – before the sun broke the horizon over the Fort Point Channel. By 8 a.m., he would be flipping over-easy eggs and throwing slabs of bacon on the grill for a roomful of factory workers.
Edward Davis remembers, because as a young boy he often worked next to his father, serving the breakfast plates after Richard piled them with food.
The Jewelry District has changed dramatically since those days. Today, old factories such as the Davol Rubber Factory and the Coro Building, where workers once boiled rubber and cast jewelry, have been converted to office spaces that house employees with white collars.
But Richard’s Sandwich Shop is still there, and it hasn’t changed.
"I’ve been working here since I was twelve," said Ed Davis, who is now 35 and owns the family business. "It used to be a blue collar neighborhood – there were no office people. The neighborhood has changed a lot."
"We had to add salads for the office workers – you know, things like that. Healthy foods," said Gina Davis, Edward’s wife of 15 years and the only other employee of the business.
Perhaps the clearest illustration of the changed neighborhood exists next door to Richard’s Sandwich Shop. There, on the corner of Richmond and Point streets, a Mobil gas station was replaced a few years ago by Olga’s Cup and Saucer, an upscale bakery and café which has outdoor seating amid blooming flowers and charges several dollars for a cup of fancy coffee.
Ed and Gina Davis spoke while working the grill and the counter on a recent steamy late afternoon – another in a seemingly unending string of unbearably hot summer days. Behind Ed, a fan buzzed in the restaurant’s only window. The tiny building was built in the 1950s as a barbershop.
In the center of the room, a ceiling fan whirred noiselessly. In another corner, the Regis Show emitted soundlessly from a black-and-white TV. The diner was hot and quiet. One patron sat wordlessly hunched over a newspaper and an empty plate. Four of the shop’s five swivel stools with green vinyl seats were empty. It was almost quitting time.
The Davises are at work before dawn, and open the shop from 5:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., every Monday through Friday. On Saturdays they are open 6:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. A sign on the door reads: "Breakfast anytime. Notary public."
These days, the couple is trying to get a license from the city to open Friday and Saturday nights at 1:30 a.m., and serve breakfast and dinner food to people letting out of the bars until sun-up.
Business has been bad in recent months, the Davis’ conceded. Ed Davis estimated that sales have dropped 50 percent in the last six months. He attributed the drop-off to construction being done to the Point Street Bridge and other nearby road projects that have rerouted car traffic.
"Business is way off. No one comes up through the light anymore," he said.
Gina Davis shot her husband a glance from the other end of the counter.
"Plus the heat. We got the grill going – it’s hot in here," she said.
"We don’t know. We’re gonna take it a day at a time," said Ed.
Last year, Richard’s marquis product, the Richard Burger, was named Best Diner Hamburger, Editors Choice, by Rhode Island Monthly Magazine. The Richard Burger features cheese, bacon, lettuce and tomato. Cost – $2.95.
"Really now it’s the Ed Burger," said Ed, smiling. "She came in and had French fries and a burger, the girl who put us up for that. She said the reason we won is it wasn’t only good, but the price was shockingly low."
A Richard’s Breakfast Special, which comes with two eggs-to-order, home fries, toast and coffee, costs $2.50.
And yet, old-time customers complain that prices have gone up.
"Some people don’t think are prices are good. They think our prices are outrageously high. They say, ‘we’ll go get a breakfast special for 99 cents," said Richard, flashing a rueful grin.
Ed’s grandfather, Richard Senior, actually ran the business for 22 years, after Ed’s father decided to take the family to Florida. Richard Senior handed the business back to his son and retired in 1994. He was 84 years old.
Ed took over the business when his father died, on Aug. 31, 1999. Richard was 62 years old.
"He got sick and six months later he died – boom, boom," said Ed. "He didn’t go through a long period of suffering. He was a hustler. My old man, some days he was worse than others."
The Davises recently moved to Pawtucket. They have a 12-year-old son, Edward C. Davis II. He works at the shop with his father, just like his father did with his father and grandfather when he was a boy.
These days, Ed and Gina have been adding items to the menu to attract customers – onion rings, and clam cakes and chowder on Fridays.
"Fridays is when people eat the seafood in Providence, especially in the old days. There’s a lot of Catholics here," said Ed. "Me, I’m a Protestant. My wife’s a Catholic and our son, he was raised Catholic. He was an altar boy. We never really practiced religion that much in my family. Work was their religion."
