Boston Chops Is Opening a New Location Downtown
Boston Chops in the South End. / Photo via bostonchops.com
Chris Coombs and Brian Piccini are looking to expand their Boston Urban Hospitality restaurant group, and they’ll begin with a neighborhood that’s finally getting some new energy: A second location of Boston Chops will is headed for Downtown Crossing, chef/co-owner Chris Coombs confirmed.
Boston Restaurant Talk first reported the news last night. Boston Urban Hospitality, which also operates dbar in Dorchester and Deuxave in Back Bay, announced in April it was looking to grow its presence in the city of Boston, and the co-owners were looking at real estate and researching new concepts.
“I’m extremely bullish on Downtown Crossing as a neighborhood,” Coombs says. It has long been underdeveloped, considering its proximity to the rest of the city, he adds. “I’m excited to be part of what I believe is something of a renaissance era in downtown Boston.”
Coombs and Piccini are finalizing a lease for what was most recently the French-Indian fusion restaurant and venue, Mantra. The 9,000-plus-square foot space was once a bank, and that history gives it great character, Coombs says. It includes a labyrinth of former vaults, which have potential to be some of “the more unique places for business dinners and social gatherings Boston,” he says. There are “spectacular” marble details, as well as ornate, antique moldings to be restored.
Private dining options are something that is missing from the “urban steak bistro” they debuted in 2013.
“We get constant requests for private dining room space [at Boston Chops], and it’s something we just don’t have. We have been turning away larger parties between 25 and 50, and even larger, since we opened,” Coombs says. “That’s something we’re assessing in the design process, having a much larger space in Mantra.”
Piccini oversees the design of Boston Urban Hospitality projects, and for the Downtown Crossing Boston Chops, they are working with architect Stephen Martyak of StudioTYAK, who also designed the original Boston Chops. While the two restaurants will share a concept, they will be unique.
“It’s a totally different space, so we will take a completely different approach on design and layout,” Coombs says.
Adrienne Wright was recently promoted to executive chef of the restaurant group, and Coombs will oversee menu development. Boston Chops, one of the city’s best steakhouses, offers prime steaks and chops, hearty sides like sour cream and horseradish mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts au canard, and pork belly mac and cheese, and offal, including crispy fried sweetbreads, and oxtail croquettes. It also has a raw bar and seafood dishes.
The Downtown Crossing restaurant requires a complete gut renovation, and Boston Urban Hospitality has yet to secure a liquor license, so a timeline for Boston Chops is still quite fluid, Coombs says. In the meantime, the restaurant group is always keeping its options open for other new opportunities to expand, he says.
Boston Chops, coming to 52 Temple Place, Downtown Crossing, Boston, 1375 Washington St., South End, Boston, 617-227-5011, bostonchops.com.
