If you moved to North Andover more than a few years ago, the mental map of a Saturday probably still runs down Route 114. Burtons Grill at Eaglewood, a stop at the Trustees property, maybe Smolak Farms on the way home. That map is not wrong. It is just no longer the whole picture. Over the last eighteen months, the town's late-summer weekend has quietly reorganized itself around a second axis: the historic center along Main Street and Chickering Road, where a relocated farmers market, a new concert series, and a high-profile restaurant takeover now sit within a two-mile loop.
This post is a working resident's guide to that shift, with specifics on where to go and when.
The new center-of-town axis
Three anchors define it: the North Andover Farmers Market behind Town Hall, the Stevens-Coolidge House & Gardens on Chickering Road, and the reopened restaurant space at 80 Chickering. All three sit inside the old town common footprint. All three are recent changes, not longstanding institutions.
The practical effect: a Sunday-through-Thursday rhythm that used to require three separate drives now fits inside one neighborhood.
Here is how the anchors line up:
| Anchor | Address | When | What it replaced |
|---|---|---|---|
| Farmers Market | 120R Main Street, behind Town Offices | Sundays, 10 AM–1 PM | The old First & Main corner setup |
| Stevens-Coolidge Concert Series | 153 Chickering Road | Thursdays, 6–8 PM through August | Winterlights (retired) |
| Brando's Part II | 80 Chickering Road | Opening 2026 | Harrison's Roast Beef, then a short-lived successor |
Sunday morning at 120R Main Street
The farmers market moved. If you have not been down since 2024, you may still be looking for it at the old First Street corner. It now runs out of the parking lot behind the North Andover Town Offices at 120R Main Street, about a hundred yards from the previous location, in a space the organizers describe as offering more flexibility and room for vendors.
What that translates to in practice: roughly 30 vendors each week, live music, food trucks, and a Sunday-morning format that rewards lingering rather than a fast in-and-out. Vendor rotations include Mei Mei Dumplings, whose 2026 schedule at the market runs through early October, and Blisspoint Meadery, which is on the calendar into late September.
The market is sponsored by Lowell Five Bank, which is worth mentioning only because it explains the free coffee and donuts you will occasionally find at the volunteer booth. That is a small-town detail national restaurant reviews miss.
If you are picking one weekend to reset your assumptions about the market, aim for a Sunday in August. Peak vendor count, peak produce, and the walk from parking to the last stall takes about four minutes.
Thursday evening on Chickering Road
The retirement of Winterlights at Stevens-Coolidge was announced by The Trustees of Reservations as part of a broader strategy to prioritize preservation and develop year-round programming. Locally, the response is the Summer Concert Series, and it is the single most under-marketed weeknight event in town.
The next date on the calendar: Thursday, August 20, 2026, 6–8 PM at Stevens-Coolidge House & Gardens, 153 Chickering Road. Pricing runs $12 for member adults and $20 for nonmembers, with reduced children's rates. Local beer, wine, and food vendors are on-site each week, outside food and drink are not permitted, and pre-registration is required.
A note that matters if you have dogs: dogs are not allowed on the Stevens-Coolidge property, but they are welcome on leash at nearby Weir Hill and on the Stevens-to-Stevens Trail connecting the historic center to Weir Hill. That trail is the connector that ties this whole loop together, and most residents I talk to have never walked it end-to-end.
The house itself is open on a real schedule now, not just special-event days. Self-guided first-floor house tours are free for Trustees members and North Andover residents with ID, $5 for nonmembers, running Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from May 15 through September 27. Bring an ID. The residents-free policy is a genuine perk, and it is worth using before the season closes.
The 80 Chickering Road story
The building at 80 Chickering has been a puzzle for the neighborhood since 2023. Harrison's Roast Beef operated there for nearly 40 years and closed in September 2023, with the property selling for $1.21 million. A successor concept called Patrick's NorthShore Eatery struggled, the owner later brought back the Harrison's menu and added Town Line Pizza & Seafood, and the restaurant still faltered.
The current chapter: Billy Griffin and Scott Brandolini, who run Brando's Cutlets in Haverhill, have leased 80 Chickering Road and are calling their new venture Brando's Part II. They expect to open with 10 to 15 employees, per reporting from WHAV in February.
Why this matters for a weekend guide: the Chickering Road corridor between the Stevens-Coolidge property and the town common has not had a strong casual sit-down option for two years. If Brando's Part II delivers on the reputation the original Broadway location built in Haverhill, the concert-plus-dinner Thursday and the market-plus-lunch Sunday finally have a natural stop between them. Watch the WHAV updates rather than the generic listing sites for the actual opening date.
When the Route 114 version still wins
The Eaglewood Shops corridor did not go anywhere. It is still the right answer for a specific kind of weekend.
CAVA opened at 119 Turnpike Street in Eaglewood Shops in November 2024, filling a gap for fast Mediterranean that the town did not previously have. Burtons Grill sits in the same plaza and remains the go-to for weekend brunch and seasonal outdoor dining. Tavern On High, in the historic West Mill, keeps a 30-plus-person bar and a dog-friendly patio that most Chickering Road spots cannot match.
Rough decision rule: if you want a table and a drink after a long errand day, Eaglewood or the West Mill. If you want the walking, seasonal, in-the-neighborhood version of a Saturday, the Main Street to Chickering axis is where the new energy is.
The trail that ties it together
If you have never walked it, put this on the short list: the Stevens-to-Stevens Trail. It connects Stevens-Coolidge House & Gardens to Weir Hill and intersects other conservation land and Stevens family land. A morning walk on this trail, followed by the farmers market, followed by lunch on Chickering, is the sequence more residents are working out for themselves.
Weir Hill on its own is worth an early Saturday. Ward Reservation, over the Andover line, is the leashed-dog alternative to Stevens-Coolidge when you want the same historic-landscape feel with the dog in tow.
What to actually do this weekend
Pull the market and the concert onto your calendar first. Everything else on this list is durable. Those two are seasonal, and August is the window.
- Sunday, 10 AM: farmers market at 120R Main Street. Park behind Town Hall.
- Sunday, noon: lunch at Tavern On High or a Chickering Road stop.
- Thursday, 6 PM: Stevens-Coolidge concert. Pre-register.
- Saturday morning: Weir Hill or the full Stevens-to-Stevens loop.
- Any Friday, Saturday, or Sunday through September 27: bring your ID and do the free self-guided house tour.
The larger point is that North Andover's weekend map has more density near the historic center than it has had in a decade. If your default is still Route 114, you are missing what the town has quietly built two miles east.
If you are thinking through what any of this means for your own property or a future move within town, Rebecca Curran Realty works these neighborhoods block by block. Get your instant home valuation to see where your address sits in the current North Andover market.
