Spitfire Tacos Owners To Reopen Salem Lowe At Willows Park

SALEM, MA — A popular Salem Chinese food stop is making a comeback at Salem Willows under new ownership.

Kathleen Rodgers, who co-owns the Spitfire Tacos locations in Salem and Marblehead, told Patch last month that she and her partner, Ryan Harriman, plan to resurrect the location this spring after it appeared to close for good last summer after more than 50 years at the Fort Avenue location.

Rodgers told Patch that the famed chop suey sandwich will be part of a new menu that will include some old favorites as well as new offerings.

Rodgers and Harriman opened the Spitfire Tacos location right before the onset of the COVID-19 health crisis in February 2020. After closing for three months at the start of the pandemic, they reopened the Lafayette Street shop that June and quickly became a fixture in the Point section of the Witch City.

That Christmas Eve, Rodgers told Patch that she wanted to show support for the neighborhood during the pandemic by giving out free meals of rice, beans and ham to area residents for six hours.

"We just thought that it would be a nice thing for people who aren't going to see their families and for people who don't have anywhere to go," she reasoned at the time. "We are using some of our profits from our first six months open to fund this little gift.

"We just want to do something nice."

The pair then opened a second Spitfire Tacos location in Marblehead early in 2022.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.