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Rick Milmore is no stranger to hard work – of every kind imaginable.
He grew up in the Cambridge projects and completed his undergraduate degree in history at Boston State College, before it became UMass, with plans to teach.
Milmore graduated in 1974, however, when teaching jobs were scarce. So, he moved on to complete another degree – this time at Trades for Auto Mechanics – and attended Sylvania Tech for basic electrician certification, and passed the test.
He spent the next 33 years as an MBTA mechanic, installing motors and gears in trains, and repairing the damage caused when carbon gummed-up the gears and essentially “welded” them together.
But there’s more.
Milmore also invented and sold funny, original hats at Boston’s Faneuil Hall. Imagine a lobster hat, a pig hat, an elephant hat and even a clapping hands hat. One dog hat featured a canine that lifted its leg to a hydrant. The bay on another flapped its wings. Milmore had five different stores, which employed Carver cranberry bog workers to do the stitching, and watched these hilarious contraptions fly off the shelves.
After that, he and a friend opened a Lefty’s Only store at Fanueil Hall, selling scissors, gadgets and everything imaginable for the left-handed. Then he opened the Boston Image, which sold plaques, T-shirts and business cards – also a successful business.
There’s more.
Milmore went on to man a food truck at Otis Airbase. When it closed, he moved this operation to Mashpee before an opportunity in Hull presented itself. Milmore opened Ally’s at the Beach in a small building he rehabbed, and spent the next 11 years serving award-winning clams and fish to beach combers. But, over time, his commute from Cedarville to Nantasket took a toll. When the former location of Reliable Fish on the Plymouth waterfront became available, Milmore jumped, particularly since the building had been completely renovated from top to bottom.
“I love the waterfront and I wanted a year-round place,” he explained.
At auction, he bought the long, wood bar featured at a former Cheers location in Boston, placed colorful illustrations and photos of Plymouth attractions on top and shellacked them in place before installing purse hooks below. Then he compiled a knock-out menu offering everything from French fries and garden salads to fish, grilled cheese and chicken nuggets, and even specialty cakes. His prices are competitive. The Shanty Rose sells fish and chips or baked haddocks for $11.95, homemade onion rings for $5, seafood platters for two for $22.95, chicken parmesan at $10.95 and lobster mac’ and cheese for $14.95. And it’s the only restaurant selling monk fish, Milmore added.
Rick Milmore is no stranger to hard work – of every kind imaginable.
He grew up in the Cambridge projects and completed his undergraduate degree in history at Boston State College, before it became UMass, with plans to teach.
Milmore graduated in 1974, however, when teaching jobs were scarce. So, he moved on to complete another degree – this time at Trades for Auto Mechanics – and attended Sylvania Tech for basic electrician certification, and passed the test.
He spent the next 33 years as an MBTA mechanic, installing motors and gears in trains, and repairing the damage caused when carbon gummed-up the gears and essentially “welded” them together.
But there’s more.
Milmore also invented and sold funny, original hats at Boston’s Faneuil Hall. Imagine a lobster hat, a pig hat, an elephant hat and even a clapping hands hat. One dog hat featured a canine that lifted its leg to a hydrant. The bay on another flapped its wings. Milmore had five different stores, which employed Carver cranberry bog workers to do the stitching, and watched these hilarious contraptions fly off the shelves.
After that, he and a friend opened a Lefty’s Only store at Fanueil Hall, selling scissors, gadgets and everything imaginable for the left-handed. Then he opened the Boston Image, which sold plaques, T-shirts and business cards – also a successful business.
There’s more.
Milmore went on to man a food truck at Otis Airbase. When it closed, he moved this operation to Mashpee before an opportunity in Hull presented itself. Milmore opened Ally’s at the Beach in a small building he rehabbed, and spent the next 11 years serving award-winning clams and fish to beach combers. But, over time, his commute from Cedarville to Nantasket took a toll. When the former location of Reliable Fish on the Plymouth waterfront became available, Milmore jumped, particularly since the building had been completely renovated from top to bottom.
“I love the waterfront and I wanted a year-round place,” he explained.
At auction, he bought the long, wood bar featured at a former Cheers location in Boston, placed colorful illustrations and photos of Plymouth attractions on top and shellacked them in place before installing purse hooks below. Then he compiled a knock-out menu offering everything from French fries and garden salads to fish, grilled cheese and chicken nuggets, and even specialty cakes. His prices are competitive. The Shanty Rose sells fish and chips or baked haddocks for $11.95, homemade onion rings for $5, seafood platters for two for $22.95, chicken parmesan at $10.95 and lobster mac’ and cheese for $14.95. And it’s the only restaurant selling monk fish, Milmore added.
“We buy it from one of the fishermen we see every day,” he said. “It tastes like a cross between a scallop and a lobster. We also have fried lobster legs.”
Milmore’s chef is Rick Diaz, the former chef of Kingston’s Paisano’s. But John Alden Club chef Dave Gomes is the genius behind The Shanty Rose’s quahogs.
“We are an inexpensive restaurant on the dock,” Milmore added. “And my food is fresh every day. I try to have homemade specials every day, too. My wife is a great cook – a lot of her recipes are specials.”
The Shanty Rose, named for Milmore’s wife, Rosemary, seats 19 and features a full bar with Sam Adams, Bud Light, Budweiser, Guinness and Carlsberg on tap. Its location at 16 Town Wharf also features spectacular ocean views.
The Shanty Rose is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week from October to May. Summer hours will be 10 a.m. to midnight.
To place a take-out order, call 508-746-ROSE(7673).
