Hey, there! Log in / Register
West African food returning to Roslindale
By adamg on Sat, 02/01/2020 - 7:46pm
Workers were busy Saturday night at 146 Belgrade Ave. in Roslindale building out a West African restaurant in the space formerly occupied by a series of Albanian and pizza places that never seemed to last long.
Gloria Omoregbee of Dedham won a food-serving license in November for her 49-seat Obosa restaurant, with hours of 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.,, Tuesday through Sunday.
Roslindale has not had a West African restaurant since Suva Joint left Roslindale Square for Dudley Square in 2015.
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Wish them well
and hopefully they did their market feasibility study on the concept for this neighborhood since it appears that this a destination restaurant without parking. I'll give it a try.
Plenty of parking
I often pick up Tasty Thai (across the street) at prime restaurant hours, and there is virtually unlimited parking available on that stretch of Belgrade. Plus if we were going for a sit down meal we’d walk. Nobody that matters to any businesses success in Roslindale or West Roxbury in 2020 even thinks about parking. It’s the realm of irrelevant people.
any different than Centre St. in WR?
Porter Cafe, Himalaya, etc... don't have any parking around there either.
I'm just rooting for a restaurant without ties the Albanian mob.
Huge difference
Westie has a large clusters of businesses with public parking lots. You can park and visit multiple businesses while walking.
This place is on an island. Then add in the fact most people in the area don’t eat this type of ethnic food, I can’t imagine it doing any better that the prior businesses.
Funny you mention West Roxbury
Because there was a time when your only options for sit-down dining on Centre Street were pizza and Irish-American fare (and 1950s-style Chinese food, until Tai Ho burned down). If you had told somebody back then that Centre Street would one day have two sit-down Thai places, that an Indian/Nepali place would move in and that Buck Mulligan's would be replaced by something like West, that person would have just snorted and wondered if you'd just fallen on your head.
Suya Joint showed West African food can sell in Roslindale. And there actually is a local Nigerian community, granted, more focused on Hyde Park (there's a Nigerian club across from the library), but if you don't feel adventurous, that's OK, more seats for the rest of us.
Where though?
Where are the large clusters of public parking near the specific block I mentioned at the end of Belgrade? There aren't any and yet West on Centre, Tres Amigos, Himalaya, etc... all do fine.
“Tres” Amigos
That brings back memories for me: Tres Amigos was the place I always went to—and wish I could still eat at on a weekly basis now—when I grew up in a small beach town in California. Are there even any Tres Amigos’ out here?
Outdated perspective
Your perspective on that areas demographics and tastes Is probably ~20-25 years outdated.
That’s a very diverse area with plenty folks who enjoy that type of ethnic food. Exhibit A the owner lives in Dedham.
It’s 2020, not 2000.
The Albanian Mob?
I clearly haven’t lived in Roslindale long enough.
Welcome to Roslindale
One of the previous “restaurants” was a front for the Albanian mob.
Slanderous accusation without proof or evidence
Do you have a court record that attests to that?
What are Universal Hub's standards for filtering statements like that?
A pity you didn't count to ten and scroll down just a tad more
Right below this very comment is another comment with a link that will take you to a story about a man who was sent away for a significant amount of time for using one of the previous restaurants at that spot as a distribution point for cocaine shipped in from California.
It's not slander if it's true.
You know what's pretty awesome
The Yelp page for the restaurant in question is still up.
That, and what Adam posted.
This website is where I learned about all of this. You should check Universal Hub out.
Cocaine is a hell of a drug
Food wasn't the only thing on the menu at defunct Roslindale restaurant - the same exact location this new place is going into.
Ditto
Seems like this block of Belgrade is a desert when it comes to sit down restaurants. I loved Rustic’s pizza and often picked up or had it delivered. I only ate in the restaurant a few times, but it was practically empty each time save for people picking up orders.
Same really with Tasty Thai: great food but I can’t recall the last time I saw someone eating in the restaurant.
There is plenty of parking in
There is plenty of parking in that area. Plenty.
Tons of parking
I have frequented Rustica, Seven Star, the breakfast place that was there, Tasty thai, busted knuckle, etc...i have parked there at least 100 times and never, ever, ever had to even try hard to find a spot...the parking complaints are absurd.
Liquor license
I see “Events” on the awning, any word on a potential liquor license or BYOB situation?
BYOB possibly
They'd have to apply for a license specifically for that, and it would be kind of limiting - patrons could bring in a bottle of wine or some amount of beer (I forget the amount, but I seem to recall a growler would be OK) - and they couldn't go out for more (like, say, to the Home Market across the street). So I'm thinking not a really good option for an event.
They could try for a liquor license, but odds are none are available from the licensing board, so they'd have to try the open market - and with prices currently ranging around $100,000 for a beer-wine-and-liqueurs license and $400,000 for an all-alcohol license, that might be too expensive for that location.
Plenty of parking?
I've noticed how many are loudly saying that there's plenty of spots to park and I mean not spots for bikes. I'll sit back and see if you'll be saying the same thing when someone comes out trying to developed (30+ apartments w/out p....) on the corner building that house's the convenient store and the many empty commercial spaces that only gets used by local politicians during campaigns.