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April 2018 saw the openings of lots of new restaurants in and around Boston, from a bacon-filled cafe in Charlestown to a Theater District club with, well, theatrical cocktails, not to mention a suburban stunner out in Easton, a couple ramen shops in Medford and Somerville, and new vegetarian spots in Cambridge and Brookline.
On the closure side, we said goodbye to a few old-timers, including Tremont 647, Sister Sorel, and Sonny Walker’s, as well as some younger spots, such as the Maiden in South Boston.
Read on for a summary of April 2018, including the most-read news stories and maps, the openings, and the closings.
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- A Suburban Hit Gets a Stunning Sequel: Towneship, sibling to the Farmer’s Daughter, finally debuts in Easton.
- Bertucci’s Files for Bankruptcy and Will Close Some Locations: The Somerville-born pizza company will close 15 restaurants, keeping 59 in business.
- Five Restaurants to Try This Weekend Around Boston: Updated most Fridays with weekend dining recommendations, including topically themed collections, Eater staff picks, and more.
- Go to Downtown Crossing for a Meal Cooked by a Robot: Spyce brings its MIT innovation across the river.
- Get ‘Tableside Wing Service’ at a Southie Restaurant With a ‘1970s Auto Garage’ Vibe: The folks behind Publico want to make cookout food a year-round thing at Backyard Betty’s, opening later this month.
- Somerville Pizza Shop Goes Totally Vegetarian: Eat at Jumbo’s will convert to Sassafras Somerville, under new management.
- The Eater Boston Beer and Liquor News Round-up: Updated most Thursdays with news of new breweries, beer gardens, and other boozy things.
- One of the Only Local Egyptian Restaurants Opens in Medford: Baity serves classics from Egypt and the wider Mediterranean region.
- Popular Ice Cream Shop That’s Hard to Reach From Boston Wants to Expand Closer to Boston: Here comes New City Microcreamery with summer pop-up plans — and hopefully a permanent location nearby.
- Talulla Fills Cambridge With Fine Wines and Global Flavors This Month: The Cambridge restaurant opens April 20 in the former T.W. Food space.
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- The 38 Essential Restaurants in Boston, Spring 2018: Boston’s greatest restaurants for any occasion, updated quarterly.
- The Hottest Restaurants in Boston Right Now, April 2018: Updated monthly, the Eater Boston Heatmap tracks a dozen hot new spots to check out.
- The Massachusetts Restaurant Opening Guide, Spring 2018: From Boston proper to the city’s suburbs and beyond, here’s what to expect from the Massachusetts dining scene this season.
- 18 Delightful Hidden Patios Around Boston: Dine outside in charmingly secluded spots.
- 26 Iconic Dishes Around Boston: Get to know the city and surrounding area with these essential eats.
- 28 Essential Pizzas in the Boston Area: From old-school classics to fancy wood-fired pies.
- The Spring 2018 Restaurant Opening Guide: Boston Proper: Boston cream pie banana pudding, champagne from a vending machine, steak at a table designed for Instagrammers, and more.
- 25 Boston-Area Tacos to Try: Hint: The CambridgeSide Galleria Taco Bell is not on the map.
- The Cocktail Heatmap: Where to Drink Right Now, Spring 2018: Spend spring with a cocktail (or several) in hand — here are some hot new cocktail destinations to try this season.
- The Spring 2018 Restaurant Opening Guide: Cambridge and Somerville: Pierogi and macarons and empanadas, oh my.
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- Abbott’s Frozen Custard (1853 Massachusetts Ave., Lexington): This Rochester, New York-based frozen custard chain also has Massachusetts locations in Needham and Brighton.
- The Bacon Truck Cafe (50 Terminal St., Charlestown, Boston): Boston’s bacon-themed food truck has put down roots with a casual breakfast-and-lunch brick-and-mortar location, serving bacon everything, including dessert.
- Baity (84 Spring St., Medford): This casual Egyptian spot — one of only a few in the area — serves koshari, hawawshi, fateer, and more.
- Bancroft & Co. (210 Andover St., Peabody): This sibling to Burlington’s Bancroft steakhouse is located at the Northshore Mall and serves New England cuisine, such as clam chowder, and more.
- Charlestown Tea & Treats (1 Monument Ave., Charlestown, Boston): Teas, Levend bagels, and more in the former Evy Tea space.
- District 118 Kitchen (118 Needham St., Newton): This replaced Grande Kitchen and serves dishes such as burgers, braised short ribs, smoked salmon flatbread, and seared ahi nachos.
- The Ghost Walks (57 Stuart St., Theater District, Boston): A cocktail-oriented sibling to Committee, Cafeteria, and Bijou, located under Bijou, with showy drinks and a champagne vending machine.
- Godavari Mini (23 Union Sq., Union Square, Somerville): Union Square’s longtime North Indian and Punjabi restaurant India Palace quietly converted to part of a national chain of South Indian restaurants, featuring dosas and more.
- Howling Wolf Taqueria (550 Turnpike St., North Andover): This is the second fast-casual “express” location for Salem’s Howling Wolf Taqueria, which also has an express offshoot in Marblehead. Tacos, burritos, quesadillas, and more.
- Johnny’s Takeaway (168 Spring St., West Roxbury, Boston): This takeout spot serves heat-and-eat meals from chef Johnny Burke, who has worked at places like Barbara Lynch’s Butcher Shop, Belly Wine Bar, and T.W. Food.
- Kung Fu Tea (1 Brighton Ave., Allston, Boston): Located inside of Super 88, this is the seventh Massachusetts location for the international bubble tea chain.
- Lucky Strike Social (325 Revolution Dr., Assembly Row, Somerville): One of several bowling alleys to open this year, Lucky Strike also has shuffleboard, cocktails, a comfort food menu, and more.
- Minigrow (125 Summer St., Downtown Boston): Philly-based stir-fry chain Honeygrow now has a more streamlined sibling called Minigrow, which opened its first Boston location in April (follow by a second one in Back Bay on May 1).
- Pikaichi (123 Boston Ave., Medford): This popular ramen shop got priced out of Allston and landed in Medford instead, taking over the former Emiliano’z Mexican Grill space.
- Rapscallion Kitchen & Bar (208 Fitchburg Tpk., Concord): Sibling to Rapscallion Brewery in Sturbridge and Rapscallion Table & Tap in Acton.
- Rebel’s Guild (200 Stuart St., Theater District, Boston): Located inside the Revere Hotel in the former Emerald Lounge space, this revolution-themed restaurant has a giant cannon right in the middle and serves a seafood-heavy New England-y menu.
- Talulla (377 Walden St., Cambridge): Located in the former T.W. Food space and owned by T.W. Food alums, this small restaurant features fine dining with influences from around the world.
- Tender Greens (49 Boylston St., Chestnut Hill): This fast-casual Californian chain is backed by Shake Shack’s Danny Meyer and serves salads, sandwiches, and plates that feature seasonal ingredients.
- Towneship (140 Main St., Easton): The massive sequel to popular suburban spot the Farmer’s Daughter.
- Tsurumen (420 Highland Ave., Davis Square, Somerville): Osaka-style ramen in two varieties — shoyu and paitan — in the former Snappy Ramen space. (Snappy Ramen moved to the other side of the square and became Snappy Kitchen.)
- Veggie Crust (8 Cyprus St., Brookline): Somerville’s vegetarian pizzeria and “nice cream” place (aka dairy-free ice cream), which is from the same owners as Dosa N Curry, expanded to Brookline.
- Whole Heart Provisions (298 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square, Cambridge): This is the second location for the Allston-based vegetarian spot; it’ll expand to Harvard next with its grain bowls, falafel dogs, and more.
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- Bertucci’s (Multiple locations): Bertucci’s closed 15 of its locations — including six in Massachusetts — in the wake of filing for bankruptcy. The company is restructuring and keeping nearly 60 locations open.
- Bonefish Grill (99 Third Ave., Waltham): This was the final New England location of the Florida-based seafood chain.
- British Beer Company (120 Worcester Rd., Framingham): This is the second recent closure for the small pub chain. This location had been open for a dozen years.
- Clover Food Lab (6 Harvard St., Brookline): The ever-expanding Clover has closed its five-year-old Brookline location, which was a takeout-only spot.
- Flank (74 Tower Rd., Waltham): WAAF radio personality Greg Hill’s Whole House Group sold Flank as well as 29 Sudbury; the latter will remain open, but the former has closed for renovations. It’ll reopen as something new under different ownership.
- Hayward’s (125 Lynnfield St., Lynn): The waterfront restaurant will be replaced by Dock 125, which will serve some Hayward’s seafood dishes along with burgers, pasta, and more.
- The Maiden (28 West Broadway, South Boston): Oysters, cheese, charcuterie, and more from Esti, Drew, and Jon Parsons, located right by the Broadway T stop. This was a sibling to the now-defunct Sam’s at Louis.
- Salvatore’s (225 Northern Ave., Seaport District, Boston): This Italian restaurant still has sibling spots open in Boston’s Theater District and in a few suburbs, but the rent was reportedly much too high here.
- Sonny Walker’s (380 Warren St., Roxbury, Boston): This decades-old Roxbury bar was a live music institution.
- Tremont 647 and Sister Sorel (645-647 Tremont St., South End, Boston): Tremont 647 had been serving the neighborhood for 21 years, including taco Tuesdays and pajama brunches, joined a few years later by its sister next door. Both will be replaced by Whaling in Oklahoma from Tim Maslow.
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Looking back at April 2017, there were lots of openings, including Les Sablons in Harvard Square, a new location of Shaking Crab in Quincy, and Reelhouse in East Boston. But we also had to say some goodbyes — Chinatown lost both Chau Chow City and East Ocean City, for example. A few closures were also announced in April that didn’t take place until later in the year, including Ming Tsai’s Blue Ginger and Cambridge institution Lanes & Games.
In other news that month, Chicken & Rice Guys dealt with an E. coli outbreak, Spoke Wine Bar announced that it would reopen under new ownership, and Boston was full of patios.