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New Fenway restaurant vows to cater to Sox fans who want quieter atmosphere, better food than Remy's
By adamg on Wed, 06/08/2011 - 4:14pm
The Boston Licensing Board said today it will approve a liquor license for a proposed replacement for the Fenway Cantina on Boylston Street that will feature sophisticated "American comfort food."
Although the board doesn't formally vote until Thursday on Sweet Caroline's application to buy a full liquor license from Petit Robert Bistro in Kenmore Square (which wants to downgrade to just beer, wine and liqueurs), members Suzanne Ianella and Michael Connolly said they would vote to let the place stay open to 2 a.m., at least three nights a week - over the objections of a neighborhood group and city officials, who didn't want to see it open past 1 a.m. Board Chairwoman Nicole Murati Ferrer did not indicate how she would vote.
Sweet Caroline's attorney Karen Simao said the restaurant would be similar to the owner's Battery Park in the Financial District - and definitely not a sports bar like Remy's or the Baseball Tavern.
"It's sit-down seating; you're not in a crowded sports-bar environment," she said. Referring to other baseball-oriented restaurants in the area, she said, "none of them are providing the quality of food [Sweet Caroline's owners] are providing."
She said the menu would be very similar to Battery Park's - which, like Remy's features a number of burgers.
She said fairness demanded the restaurant be allowed to stay open until 2 just like those two establishments.
She added the owners specialize in taking over failed bars and restaurants and classing them up. Battery Park was formerly a bar called Cosmopolitan's, which, she said, caused no end of trouble for police. 1260 Boylston, she said, has been the site of three failed restaurants.
City Councilor Mike Ross and the mayor's office both wanted a 1 a.m. closing time, because the restaurant would be on the "residential" side of Boylston. Connolly noted the Baseball Tavern is on that side, too; Ianella noted that people now live on the other side of the street.
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Comments
Ianella noted that people
Where, at Trilogy? Those aren't people, they're students. (:O)
If the quote weren't "now live", suggesting a recent influx, I'd assume Ianella was talking about the apartments on Boylston opposite Park Drive and the Victory Gardens, but they've been there forever. Another "sophisticated" restaurant isn't going to make that section of Boylston any more or less raucous than it already is, with the Ramrod/Machine nightclub, Domino's Pizza and the Baseball Tavern all serving well-lubricated customers late into the night.
Why would a sit-down "classy"
Why would a sit-down "classy" restaurant need to be open until 2pm? Exactly what type of clientele are they looking for? As a resident, it's bad enough having drunks roaming around after 1AM - do we really want to further encourage after 2AM? Why not open for brunch at 10AM on the weekdays and offer a "classy" alternitive to the hopefully soon-to-be-reopened Thortons? Now that'd be a nice offering to the neighborhood!
What are you insinuating?
Do you know how hard it is to find a decent place to eat late at night? The options currently? IHOP in Brighton, a diner or two on the weekends, maybe a pizza place or two that are grandfathered in, and McDonalds drive-thrus.
What's wrong with night owls, who are bothering nobody, trying to get a bite to eat at 1 AM? Not everyone out at 2 AM is drunk.
If you live near Fenway and
If you live near Fenway and are complaining about noise late at night then you moved to the wrong area. Next time move to Melrose. Bars are being put up all over the Boston area and most are open until 2:00 am. It's ignorant to assume that anybody who wants to eat later on in the night is drunk. I don't drink yet I am always out late on the weekends. It just sounds like another reason for people with nothing better to do to complain about.
Change of plans (wink, wink)
In my earlier post, 1330 Boylston somehow got erased from the neighborhood. My apologies to Suzanne Ianella; its residents are indeed across the street from the block in question.
At any rate, the place has opened, proving the pitch deceptive: It's a sports bar -- I read someone else refer to it as a bro bar, which seems about right. The menu is "casual", burgers, wraps, steak tips, Chicken Whatever. "Massive TVs." A mug club.
"Sophisticated American comfort food"? LOL