Sonny Walker’s, a Roxbury Institution, Closes Its Doors This Weekend

A decades-old bar in Roxbury says goodbye to the neighborhood this weekend, wrapping up a two-week farewell tour consisting of live music performances, special events, and visits from regulars. Sonny Walker’s (380 Warren St.) closes for good on April 1, according to WBUR, as its owners prepare to move on.

“I just wanted to say that this is a decision that my brother and my family have made because we wanted to make this, and do other things with our lives,” owner Andrea Walker said before a crowd at a recent show, as WBUR reported. “It’s not ‘cause we have to. It’s not ‘cause we were forced out — nothing like that at all. Everybody gets to retire, so that’s what we’ve decided to do.”

Arthur “Sonny” Walker took over the bar in 1980, turning it into a family business and a fixture of the black restaurant community, per the Boston Globe. Initially, Walker and his partner Charles Canada named the bar C&S Tavern, for their initials, but when Walker’s children took over operations in 2013, they renamed the bar after their father.

After Sonny Walker’s closes, its liquor license will go to a forthcoming location of the chain Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse, which is slated to open at the Prudential Center (800 Boylston St.) in Back Bay. The pricey steakhouse chain already has a location in Boston’s Seaport, as well as a slightly more moderately priced offshoot, Del Frisco’s Grille, in Chestnut Hill, Westwood, and Burlington.

• ‘It Was Just Ours’: Roxbury’s Community Says Goodbye To Sonny Walker’s [WBUR]
• As Sonny Walker’s Closes, Roxbury Mourns Loss of ‘Black Cheers’ [BG]
• Sonny Walker’s Coverage on Eater [EBOS]