Certified Meatball Company to Fill Southie With Bao Balls and More This Summer

When Boston Nightlife Ventures opens the doors to Certified Meatball Company this summer at 429 West Broadway in South Boston, it will offer a variety of meatballs (and veggie balls), sauces, and other options, according to a partial menu posted to social media today.

As previously reported, the restaurant intends to serve "globally inspired meatballs" that draw upon "nostalgic memories of top quality food & produce found in the local butcher shops of our youth."

One portion of the menu includes "bao balls" for $3.25 apiece. The full description continues past the edge of the sneak peek, but it begins: "one meatball with sauce on a freshly st..." Since they're called "bao" balls, it seems likely they'll be served on steamed buns. Ball options are beef, turkey, Moroccan lamb, spicy Korean pork, turkey, and veggie, while there are a number of sauces, including a Thai green selection and a mole.

Also on the menu: salads (with the option to add meatballs, of course); pastas like potato gnocchi and mac & cheese to be served under meatballs or to the side; and house specialty meatballs served with ciabatta. The heading for a dessert section also appears at the bottom of today's photo, but no word yet on whether Certified Meatball Company will be serving sweet meatballs (sweetballs?) of some kind or whether dessert will be in a different vein.

The menu itself is designed so that customers can check off the dishes they'd like to order.

Boston Nightlife Ventures is also behind a number of non-meatball-focused restaurants: Wink & Nod, The Tap Trailhouse, Griddler's Burgers + Dogs, and the forthcoming Akinto, Southern Kin Cookhouse, and Little Owl Tavern. Akinto, formerly a long-term residency at Wink & Nod, is shooting for a late fall or early winter opening in the former Merrill & Co. space next door to Wink & Nod in the South End. Southern Kin should open sooner — potentially late May or early June — at Somerville's Assembly Row, while Little Owl Tavern is an Italian concept that is still under development.

Who's ready for some balls? #certifiedmeatball pic.twitter.com/fp6McQXBlG

— Certified Meatball (@cmc_meatball) April 20, 2016