Legendary Wareham Lindsey’s Restaurant Recipes Revealed

WAREHAM (WBSM) — For 74 years, the recipes for all of the delicious offerings at Lindsey’s Family Restaurant in Wareham were a closely guarded secret. Since the restaurant closed at the end of 2022, fans have clamored for clam chowder, begged for bisque, and cried for croquettes.

Now, the Lindsey family is giving the people what they crave.

On Saturday, owner Cheri Lindsey – who revealed this week the real reason the restaurant closed was because she was battling Lewy body dementia, although she did not know it at the time – is holding a yard sale featuring Lindsey’s merchandise, glassware, signage, artwork and more.

The Story Behind the Lindsey’s Family Restaurant Yard Sale

She has held on to it all for the past three years because being surrounded by the familiar and the good memories it brings has been helpful in keeping her mind sharp, but since she is moving and selling her home, she needs to downsize. Lindsey’s announced the yard sale earlier this week, and former patrons are planning to visit to not only purchase memorabilia, but also as a de facto reunion with the restaurant ownership and staff.

However, as the restaurant’s Facebook page posted about the yard sale and Cheri shared her diagnosis with WBSM, so many of the social comments asked the same question over and over: can we buy the recipes? That question was answered on Friday afternoon.

Unleashing the Guarded Lindsey's Secret Recipes

“The wait is over!” Cheri's daughter Debi Lindsey-Morrison announced in the video that shows the booklet, titled Home Cookin’ for Folks Who Can’t Be Home Cookin’, a nod to one of the most popular sayings featured on the Lindsey’s marquee outside of the restaurant over the years.

“This was a very last-minute decision,” Lindsey-Morrison said. “It’s a very informal collection of recipes. Some don’t have full recipes or instructions.”

Still, Lindsey’s fans will be glad to get their hands on some of these highly-sought recipes, even if they are incomplete, just to get a taste of their favorites one more time – including some of the restaurant’s most famous offerings, such as the clam chowder, corn chowder, seafood bisque, crabmeat stuffing, and turkey croquettes.

The booklet features a special message from Cheri Lindsey to all of those who supported the restaurant over the years, and a tribute to the chefs who brought the recipes to life – especially the late Arthur Elgar, who is credited with developing so many of the signature Lindsey’s dishes in his more than 40 years as the restaurant’s chef.

How to Buy the Lindsey’s Recipe Booklet in Wareham or Anywhere

There will only be 50 copies of the booklet available at Cheri’s yard sale on Saturday morning – “All that’s printed at the moment,” Lindsey-Morrison said – but they are also accepting pre-orders for future printings that can be shipped anywhere. The recipe books are $30, and all proceeds will be donated to Damien’s Food Pantry, Turning Point of Wareham, the Wareham Land Trust, and the Wareham Council on Aging.

“We want to keep it in the town that has given us so much,” Lindsey-Morrison said in the video.

The yard sale will take place on Saturday, July 11 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 79 Edgewater Drive in Wareham.

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Gallery Credit: Jackson