Wonder brings multi-restaurant food hall concept to Canton

Wonder managers and cooks celebrate with John McGonigle, market operations director (far left), GM David Kososki (holding scissors), and state Rep. Bill Galvin (far right).

If you want one entree for dinner and your spouse and kids all want something different, there’s a solution nearby. The goal of Wonder restaurant is to make great food more accessible.

Wonder comprises 115 infinite kitchen concepts, mostly in the New York and New Jersey area, with eight more locations in Massachusetts. The new Canton location in Cobb’s Corner, 95 Washington Street, held its grand opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on March 19. John McGonigle, market operations director of Wonder, explained how the business model works.

Customers have two options when it comes to ordering. “You have the option to come and dine in, where you can order off of our kiosks here,” McGonigle said. “We also have the option to order it through our app, where you can pick it up or we offer [no-fee] delivery. And the idea is to really just make food more accessible to businesses and families, where not everyone has to settle on one cuisine. You can mix and match and pick a variety of different things that are cooked in this one building and delivered. It’s hot and fresh and delivered on time.”

Wonder executives sampled menu items from restaurants from across the country before selecting more than 20 for their infinite kitchen concepts. They then trained chefs to prepare those items. All meals are cooked on site, and the menus are prepared and developed in close collaboration with Wonder’s culinary team to ensure the dishes reflect the original flavor identity. Customers can order Bobby Flay steaks, pizza, burrito bowls, Chinese food, Mexican dishes, Italian entrees, and Thai food. Smashburger is a recent addition. Pop Salad and El Diez joined Wonder’s Canton location this week.

Wonder owns some of the restaurants, while others, like Bobby Flay, Michael Simon, and Marcus Samuelson, are in partnerships with Wonder.

McGonigle said that the Canton location is ideal for families in the tri-town area. “They mix and match different dishes from 20-plus exclusive restaurants in a single order,” he said.

Canton Wonder is decorated in bright and vivid colors. Artist Julia Emiliani has created a mural for each infinite kitchen concept in Massachusetts. It features images of a steak in the shape of the state as well as the MBTA Red Line and Boston Harbor.

McGonigle enjoys the Wonder foods as much as any customer. “My favorite menu item is by far the brisket,” he said. “It’s a partnership we have with a local restaurant out of Texas called Tejas. Being a very big barbecue fan, I was just blown away at the quality of the brisket.” The brisket is served as an entree with a trio of sauces and sides that include coleslaw, beans and cornbread. It’s also available as a sandwich.

McGonigle grew up in Canton, attending the Hansen School and Galvin Middle School and then going on to Xaverian Brothers High School. He still lives in town. He said that business at Wonder is going very well and even better than expected.

“I do have a lot of family and friends in the area that are helping promote Wonder here in Canton,” he said with a laugh. “Being here for the last 34 years of my life has definitely helped in that regard.”

He said that the most popular restaurant in Wonder is Limesalt, a Mexican eatery. “They do burrito bowls, quesadillas, tacos.” Burgers have become very popular as well, following the addition of the clamshell — a piece of kitchen equipment that smashes the burgers.

Wonder also offers a subscription program called Wonder+, in which customers pay a small fee each month and then receive discount rewards that can be applied to future orders.

Founder and CEO Marc Lore named the company Wonder because of the definition of the word: it refers to a feeling of surprise, admiration, or awe caused by something beautiful, unexpected, or inexplicable. Wonder originally began as a delivery food truck business. During the past two years, the infinite kitchen concepts were developed.

Wonder has had great success in suburban New York and New Jersey, and Massachusetts, according to McGonigle, was a logical next step for expansion. “It’s a very big, up-and-coming market,” he said. “Having the opportunity to open one in my hometown was absolutely breathtaking.”

McGonigle said that out of the eight openings of Wonder infinite kitchen concepts in Massachusetts, the Canton location was one of the most successful. There was live music and free snacks from Mike’s Pastries for the 120 people who attended the event. Artist Julia Emiliani created stickers for the first 100 attendees, who also received Wonder branded hats.

“Operationally, the team has done an exceptional job,” McGonigle said. “David (Kososki), the general manager, has really rallied his team. They just truly have the buy-in to continue to push Wonder and make food more accessible to the greater community. Wonder exists to eliminate tradeoffs at meal time, giving individuals and families flexibility, variety, and convenience in one seamless experience.”

Wonder has a partnership with Spoonful, the largest food recovery operation of its kind in New England. The company donates meals that the cooks prepare as part of their training. “Instead of cooking it and throwing it out, we try to find partnerships locally that we could donate the food to,” McGonigle said.

During opening week, Wonder also donated $1 from each order to the Greater Boston Food Bank.

For added convenience for its customers, Wonder has partnered with the meal kit company Blue Apron. “You can order on Blue Apron’s website or Wonder app, and use your credits of Wonder+,” McGonigle said.

McGonigle said that providing choices for families is important. “We don’t want families to have to settle on one cuisine and be the most convenient option,” he said. “Instead of asking what’s for dinner, the obvious choice is going to be Wonder.”

For more information, visit wonder.com.

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Posted by Mary Ann Price on Apr 10 2026. Filed under Business. Both comments and pings are currently closed.