“I love being here because people come here. People know where to find me twelve hours out of the day. Come on guys, you want me? You know where to find me. I enjoy that. I enjoy people. Twenty years now I’ve been here, and I enjoy people knowing that, too, people knowing my name. ‘Oh, I know that place down on Main Street.’ I like that. Yeah. I like that.”
Annie Jenkins was born and raised in Worcester and now lives with her husband in North Oxford. In this interview, Annie discusses her work history with a particular focus on her experiences owning and operating Annie’s Clark Brunch, a breakfast and lunch restaurant in the Main South neighborhood. After graduating from Dougherty High School, Annie struggled to balance family obligations and paid labor as a young single mother. She began working in the office for the City of Worcester School Department, later working in the Tie Plaza at the Worcester Center Mall and at a rag processing factory on Southbridge Street. In 1986, she began working as a waitress at Wendy’s Clark Brunch, where she met her second husband. Six years later, she and her husband bought the restaurant and she has been running it ever since. She discusses her relationships with her regular customers, the ways in which Annie’s has changed over time, and its role of community-building in the Main South neighborhood. Annie also emphasizes the importance of her family life and her relationship with her husband.