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Substation restaurant in Roslindale would serve up wood-fired pizza, small plates
By adamg on Wed, 09/14/2016 - 2:05pm
Douglass talks up Third Rail plans. See it larger.
The Boston Licensing Board could decide in a couple weeks whether Chris Douglass gets a liquor license for the Third Rail restaurant he's planning for the old trolley substation at Washington Street and Cummins Highway.
Douglass, who already operates the Ashmont Grill and Tavolo, in Dorchester, described a menu that would feature "a very rustic style of food," centered on the wood-fired grill he plans for the heart of the restaurant.
The grill, similar to one at the Ashmont Grill, provides "a wonderful sort of aroma and ambiance," Douglass told the board at a hearing today.
Workers are currently getting the interior of the building - unused since 1971 - ready for his restaurant and a separate craft-beer store. At the hearing, Douglass said that basic work could be finished sometime between November and January, after which he'd begin outfitting his space for a restaurant with 116 table seats and 28 bar seats.
Douglass has applied for a neighborhood-specific liquor license - which he would have to give back to the city should he close or sell the restaurant, rather than being able to sell to the highest bidder. Because the board has received so many applications for both kinds of licenses - it currently has 25 in total to dole out - it is holding off on any decisions until after at least one more round of hearings on proposals next week.
Douglass earned support at the hearing from several city councilors, including Tim McCarthy (Roslindale, Hyde Park, Mattapan), who said the restaurant would only further complete the area's transformation from gritty, barren Roslindale Square to a more attractive Roslindale Village.
He noted that at one of the first community meetings on the proposal, 300 people showed up and everybody supported Douglass's idea - something he said is rare in the community-meeting biz these days.
Adam Rogoff, a Roslindale resident who has been working since 2002 to try to get something done with the hulking substation, praised Douglass for taking a chance on a building that has proven "extraordinarily difficult" to do something with, given the extensive renovation work and unusual large, open space inside.
Far more residents submitted letters and e-mails of support for the project. "We have received quite a few letters," board Chairwoman Christine Puligini said.
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Comments
So glad someone has the guts to get this done
It seems like decades that ideas for this place have been being kicked around. This guy has the will and the experience to get the job done. I'm excited!
(What about parking? I guess in the commuter rail lot...it's only about a 2 minute walk.)
Rozzie Substation
The municipal lot at 10 Tafthill Terr. has 95 free parking spots. Craft Beer Cellar Roslindale will also be in the "cellar."
Even closer, by a little bit
The semi-secret municipal parking lot behind South Street.
Also cummins
Usually plenty of parking along cummins in the evenings.
Ample Parking
There is ample parking in the Square at night between on-street and the lots mentioned, rarely an issue. Also, this restaurant will attract a lot of nearby residents who will walk down, similar to the other restaurants in the Square now.
Substation restaurant Third Rail
Amazing what a dedicated bunch of community volunteers like Adam Rogoff can accomplish. Thanks Adam!
I've got a gripe
You can't transform Roslindale Square into Roslindale Village. It will always be the Square.
That said, I look forward to eating there.
Who Cares
Can we not do this for the 1,000th time please?
Actually
Let's start calling it Adams Triangle since that's clearly not a square...
Yes
Just call it Roslindale Square. Like I've been saying all along.
Just get over your boomah self
Back in our great grands day till the 50s it was 'the village', then it was 'the square', and since the turn of the millenium the area has been growing again and the more expansive sounding 'village' is appropriate again.
Yeah Jeff but...
... it was only "the Village" and not "ROSLINDALE Village".
;-)
(As if THAT should matter ...)
As Vaughn says
Triangle is a more apt phrase. "Roslindale Village" is an invention of marketing folk, like the ladder district.
And I ain't no boomer. I'm an X-er (the overlooked generation). My non boomer parents never called it that horrible name, either.
And Adam, I blame this thread on you!
How many times dude?
We've been over this multiple times before - you clearly either don't pay attention at all to what other people write or you believe a vast army of liars are arrayed against you.
Previous UH sub-threads contain numerous anectdotal and documented reports of the neighborhood being reffered to as the 'Village' prior to WWII. Your 'rents may not have used the term, but it's pretty clear that many others did.
***
Also... you're a genxer? I honestly thought you were far older than that.
I'm a prematurely old fart
But I am lacking the horrible nostalgia of the boomers.
Anyway, yes, even I have seen that people back in the 70s remembered back in the day going to "the village", but it never was "Roslindale Village." Heck, if we really want to be accurate to history, we should call it the Taft's Tavern part of town.
And yes, this has been played out, and I think in this thread we can both be faulted for dragging it out, except that Adam is the one to blame for referring to the transformation from Square to Village.
One concern
Village works better than square in business names.
Do you want to go to a business named "The Village Tap" or, the startuppity "Square Tap"
Dammit
You've got a point there. And if we went with the original name, we couldn't have a "Tavern Tavern", and how many Taft based name for public houses could we handle without people getting confused?
Gritty and Barren?
Maybe back in the 70s, but hardly now.
I see that as an insult to the great work that the community and its organizations have been putting into the area for the last 25+ years.
I also see that as an insult to the long-term residents of the area that had no control over the loss of the business district and what it became back then due to the proliferation of the "shopping mall." Sort of a slap IMO.
I look forward to eating there... and correcting the owner.
He only need look at the neighborhood in which his other restaurants are to see the same transformation. I have to wonder if he said the same thing about Peabody Square.
Who said what?
The way Adam wrote it, it was city councilor Tim McCarthy who called it gritty and barren, not the owner of the restaurant.
Gritty and barren were my words ...
But, yes, he mentioned the transformation from the Square to the Village. Neither he, nor I, were insulting all the work that's gone into reviving the business district (regardless of name).
But, please. I remember very well what Roslindale Square was like 25 years ago, because that's when we moved here. There was a giant hole right in the middle of the square, between Corinth and South. Fenced off, and everything. The place was hardly what you'd call a destination, if your needs didn't include paint or uniforms - or a haircut. Then Fornax opened and then the city agreed to clean up the hole so the Village Market could get built.
If anything, what the square/village is today is a testament to two decades of really hard work by some really caring people. But they wouldn't have had to do that work if Roslindale had the kind of center back then that it has today.
I agree
We've been in Roslindale for 19 years. The transformation to a more active square has been terrific. I would still love to see more storefronts filled, and see the spread further down Washington toward Metropolitan (yay for Tony's, Pet Cabaret and the Hardware store). Back then, the square was so dirty and the farmers market was a car selling fruits/vegetables out of the trunk in the commuter rail parking lot. So many neighbors, community partners and elected officials have worked hard to build a better Roslindale. Growing pains of more housing are challenging, but more foot traffic helps the businesses. I hope we can see the renovation of the library soon, completion of the Fallon playground, and more storefronts filled. And I dream of renovations to the Dale Street playground, a new gate/walkway to Peters Hill from the commuter rail, and more frequent commuter rail service/Orang Line extension. It's a wonderful neighborhood!
Also here for 19 years now...
... and concur that the Square/Village is far more lively now than I ever would have imagined back then.
Coming up on Twenty
Not only are these observations accurate, but something really cool is how so much that was already good back then is still here. Tony's, Diane's, Blue Star, Sebastian's, Wallpaper City. These are decades old successful businesses, sitting side by side with newcomers. All of this took hard work and persistence.
Hear, hear
n/t
Yep, hopefully the newcomers
Yep, hopefully the newcomers don't make too bland so that it looses it's local appeal. Not everything newer and more upscale is better. It's largely desirable for newcomers because of the work of people who've lived there a long time. People moving there recently might not know all the work that's gone into it by long time residents.
A lot of said 'newcomers' are
A lot of said 'newcomers' are actively involved in established civic groups to keep the independent businesses and local appeal you rightly mention as key.
Orange Line
Don't hold your breath on that orange line extension
It's best if it keeps it's
It's best if it keeps it's community feel that long time residents have gave it, and doesn't become too gentrified and transient.
There's plenty of generic areas out there, but these kind of neighborhoods aren't always found in other locations.
Becoming more upscale doesn't always mean things are better if older residents that made that kind of community don't reside there anymore.
Still some indications that long time residents are staying, and it's not being completely transformed, so that's good for the area.
Couldn't be happier about this news.
I really think that every neighborhood needs an Ashmont Grill--and a Tavolo too! Ashmont Grill is the only place I go where I consistently see a mix of old, young, black, white, gay, straight--it's everything you want to see in a neighborhood restaurant. Perfect for Roalindale. Oh, and train wreck fries. Train.wreck.fries.