Hope you didn't have reservations for the 33 restaurant tonight

By adamg on Wed, 04/21/2010 - 10:06am

It has ceased to be, Boston Restaurant Talk reports.

The closing comes eight months after a man was stomped to death in a fight outside the bar.

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Back Bay

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Comments

33 didn't die because of the Red Tuxedo Gang

By MC Slim JB on Wed, 04/21/2010 - 10:44am.

The Columbus Center project (the now-abandoned development that was going to span a new deck over the Pike) couldn't have helped 33's business; construction made Stanhope Street less accessible for a couple of years. But 33's problems were bigger, like a revolving door of chefs, bad service, a young-adult-oriented cocktail list, and the owners' focus on the nightlife crowd. I gave up after three mediocre meals under three different chefs, all with comically inept service. They managed to survive a long time on the fickle club crowd, which is an accomplishment in itself, but it was hard to take seriously as a restaurant. Yet nightclub operators keep trying to do restaurants (maybe because it makes getting a liquor license in a new spot easier). I'm still waiting to see a restaurant run by nightclub people that's worth a damn. Next attempt: Noche, in the old Icarus space.

Good point, but--

By Brighton Billy on Wed, 04/21/2010 - 11:06am.

--I don't think you can entirely discount the beating death, and an earlier gun incident if memory serves me, in driving the final nails into the coffin. After all, aren't their plenty of crap restaurants that survive for many years despite bad food, bad service, etc.? I'd only been there twice before, somewhere in the middle of 33's run, and while I was as unimpressed as you, it didn't strike me as a whole lot worse than any number of cheesy-drinky-lounge-y places in the area. Yes, the construction nearby didn't help, and the location overlooking the Pike was always a bit odd, and maybe the place was already on its last legs before the incidents happened, but I can't help but think that the place might well have staggered on a bit longer otherwise. Instead, the crowds opted for one of the many mediocre places where people _don't_ get killed.