Restaurant In Waxy's Location Will Be 'Sam Walker's Tavern'

WOBURN, MA — The restaurant coming to Woburn's former Waxy O'Connor's location will be "Sam Walker's American Tavern," named for a 1600s Woburn selectman and tavern keeper.

The restaurant is under construction at 1 Rainin Road.

Maverick Hospitality, the group behind Lucy's American Tavern in Dorchester as well as the Bowery Bar and Cityside Tavern in Boston, requested a liquor license earlier this year under the name Lucy's American Tavern as a placeholder, the group said.

“Our goal when opening a new location is to connect to the community and one way, we do this is by digging into the local history and incorporating that into the name of our restaurant," said Maverick partner Pat Dillon, a lifelong Woburn resident.

Lucy's is named for Lucy Stone, a Dorchester resident and women's rights activist and suffragist.

“Coming to Woburn, we wanted to connect to the rich history of this great city and for the name to reflect that," Dillon said.

Captain Samuel Walker Sr. was a selectman and "well-respected member of the community," according to a Maverick group release.

"Samuel Walker was also the first person in Woburn to be granted a tavern & innkeeper license as well as being the first to sell and distill liquor," the release continued.

“After doing some digging into Woburn’s history, we came upon the story of Samuel Walker and knew that we need not look any further when it came to a name. It was a perfect fit,” said Maverick partner Shawn Ahern.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or [email protected].