Lum's Roast Beef in Seekonk Celebrates a Half Century of Tradition

Lum’s Roast Beef in Seekonk is a locally owned restaurant, but it didn’t start that way.

Lum’s was originally a chain restaurant with locations all over the country and started in the 1950s. It was a kind of old time diner, serving up burgers and fries like the best of them.

Now, the only location can be found in Seekonk, started by JoAnn Duarte and Ken Barlow.

Barlow said the company changed many hands over the years, and came to its last owner in 1982.

“They were owned by an out of the country company,” he said. “They just took all the money away. The last Lums that was a part of that corporation was closed in 2011.”

Barlow said the shop came from JoAnne originally.

“We did some research based on ideas from JoAnne,” he said. “We got the recipes, the trademark and name. We have everything they had from back in the beginning. I mean, back then there were no McDonalds, so it was just a family place for people to come and eat.”

Duarte said she had never worked in the food industry before.

“I worked in a hospital for 25 years, and a patient I cared for had all the original recipes,” she said. “He was telling me he owned and operated four Lums in the early 70s and he did not want to retire. He asked me to do it with him and I agreed.”

Duarte said they opened the restaurant, but tragedy struck soon after.

“He passed away three months later, but he asked me to keep it going and now here we are, she said.”

Duarte said she could not have done it without Barlow, who was working as a contractor at the time.

“Ken’s partner, he owned the building,” she said. “When my original partner passed, I was sitting here crying. Ken asked me what was the matter, and I said I need a partner; I can’t do this alone. He said right off the bat well that’d be me, and that’s how it all started.”

Duarte said she loves the atmosphere of the place and the interaction she has with her customers.

“Families come in and share stories from back in the day, I like it a lot,” she said. “I’m here everyday, and it’s absolutely wonderful.”

Duarte said the store’s decorations came out of a pretty unique and unlikely circumstance. All over the walls, you can see posters that children did advertising and commemorating Lums.

“Originally, we were going to do cars up on the walls,” she said.

She said a customer’s grandson came in and asked if he could do a poster for Lums. Duarte said this started a chain reaction, and there are now dozens and dozens of such posters strewn across the restaurant.

“They’re spreading like wildfire,” she said. “I want to continue to let it be a place where the families can come together and be in good company. At one point a woman came in and said to her friend that’s my grandson Jack O’Malley’s poster. Her friend looked a little bit over and saw her own granddaughter’s art.  It really makes people feel good and that means a lot to me.”

Duarte said they donate to the local scout organizations, churches and police and fire organizations.

“We also give out free turkeys for Thanksgiving,” she said.