☆☆☆☆☆
160 Center Avenue # 1
Middleborough, MA 02346
Phone: 508-947-9820

royal-cafe011.jpgWednesday, my mom, Josh, my roommate and friends went downtown Middleborough to attend the  Middleborough Commission on Disabilities monthly meeting. Before the meeting, my mom treated us to dinner at Flat Iron Cafe in Middleborough, the most wheelchair accessible restaurant in downtown Middleborough.

As we got out of our van, we noticed Royal Café located right across the street. We decided to check it out to see if it is a wheelchair accessible restaurant. We arrived at the main entry door and realized Royal Café is another place of business in downtown Middleborough that is not wheelchair accessible due to a very small step.

royal-cafe010.jpgRic went inside to ask if there is an accessible entrance. He was told: “No”. He was also told the Royal Café is a bar and not really a restaurant for they serve alcohol and only a few food items like quahogs and grilled cheese sandwiches. Ric said there are tables located inside which are wheelchair accessible. What a shame we all thought. Even though we wouldn’t want to go here, other persons in wheelchairs may want to drop in for a beer and a quahog.

Once Again! Under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, “businesses that provide goods and services to the public are already required to remove structural barriers to access by people with disabilities when removal is “readily achievable”. A one step entrance is considered “readily achievable”. The ONLY Massachusetts city or town that I know of who enforces this is the  Cambridge Commission for Persons with Disabilities and Cambridge Human Rights Commission  due to an ‘ordinance amendment’ the Cambridge City Council unanimously passed on March 3, 2008. The town of Middleborough does not have an ordinance amendment which allows enforcement of the ADA.

I give Royal Café in Middleborough ZERO STARS for wheelchair accessibility. In order to earn any Stars, they would simply need to replace the small step at the entry door with a small cement slope.