There’s a lot of action – dining and drinking action — on and around East Broadway near L Street, as well as that stretch just below Perkins Square – technically, West Broadway, of course, but still referred to as “Upper.” Once upon a time, those few blocks were called “Big Broadway,” leaving the rest of it to be known as “Little,” we guess.
There’s an intriguing bit of ground-floor frontage looking out on the intersection of L and Broadway from the southwest. It begs for a restaurant, and the paperwork is underway, but what will it be? We’re betting on a steak-and-designer-cocktail place, but admittedly we haven’t done our investigative legwork yet.
Sixth Gear Cask & Kitchen has opened on L and Fourth, a new joint that looks very attractive. Its website boasts of a steam punk atmosphere, with “steam punk” referring to a science fiction subset where steam rather than electricity powers everything, which results in a kind of Victorian-like world theme. Interesting.
Possibilities are rife at three Upper Broadway sites: 709 where the Urban Art Bar was once located, the site between the Boston Beer Garden and Pan Asia, which is now a hole in the sky, and The Windmill at 429 West Broadway, just below Perkins Square. South Boston Online has no clue about #709 – will retail or dining take the place of the Urban Art Bar?
And will the Boston Beer Garden expand onto the demo site next door to it? (“Yes we are back open!!! Pardon the appearance next door,” Boston Beer Garden announced on Facebook last week.) And will there really be world-beating meatballs on The Windmill’s former site? The best meatballs in the world come from the Maghreb, North Africa, and are made from ground lamb. We’ll see.
Capo (“Head” or “Chief” in Italian) at 443 near Perkins Square is now open evening hours. It’s very, very big, like Lincoln and Loco combined – and then some. Rustic Italian fare heads Capo’s list of offerings – if you’ll pardon the awful pun.
South Boston Online knows that Amrhein’s is way down West Broadway, but we would feel remiss if we didn’t mention their renovation and reopening. Owner Steve Mulrey has really outdone himself with the elegant decor in South Boston’s oldest restaurant, opened in 1890. And he has added a new Chef de Cuisine to Amrhein’s roster – a profile to follow.
There is a hazard lurking among South Boston’s dining establishments: There are many, many of them. The South End, for example, has four foodie residents for every one of its restaurant seats. In contrast, South Boston, including the Waterfront, has only two such residents for every restaurant seat. What’s the answer? Simply dine here; support local dining. No need to go elsewhere – the food, drinks and service are great in South Boston.
The “discreet dining establishment” look of the ground floor on the southwest corner of L and Broadway.
What will it turn out to be?
The empty storefront that had been the Urban Art Bar, which closed this past year.
Sixth Gear Cask & Kitchen at 81 L St., opened in January. The new business has an interesting name and vaguely Victorian deco, a la “steampunk” (a popular, somewhat noir, sci-fi genre).
A new hole appeared in the sky between Pan Asia and the Boston Beer Garden. So what’ll go there? Condos, plus a bigger Beer Garden? (Boston Beer Garden is open, the company announced on social media last week.)
The front doors of Capo (it’s huge inside, but its PR management didn’t want Online to take pictures), a new Italian dining room at 443 West Broadway.
The Windmill is closed, so what’s next? Meatballs from the Arctic Circle to the Tropic of Cancer – Sweden in Northern Europe to the Maghreb in Africa?
