Boston Chops Expands to Downtown Crossing in a Flurry of Leather and Marble

Old bank spaces are a great fit for a steakhouse — and for Boston Chops in particular. Its first location opened in 2013 in the Penny Savings Bank building in Boston’s South End, a space that housed a restaurant called Banq after its life as a bank and before it became Boston Chops. This Thursday, May 31, Boston Chops will open its long-awaited Downtown Crossing sequel, first announced in summer 2016, in the former Mantra space, which was once the Old Colony Trust Bank (52 Temple Pl., Boston).

From co-owner Brian Piccini and co-owner/chef Chris Coombs, aka Boston Urban Hospitality Group, the new Boston Chops takes full advantage of its two-story space, playing up the vaulted ceilings with plenty of marble, tufted leather seats, and other stately features that scream “eat fancy steaks here.” (And sure, seafood towers as well.) There are three private dining rooms and three bars, plus a lounge inside of the former bank vault. Keep an eye out for art by Joshua Wilmoth, including a wagyu forehead, ear, and horns around a doorway.

Sarah Storrer/Eater

Another design feature: a table built for, and in consultation with, “influencers,” available by reservation (or invitation). It has adjustable lighting that’ll let Instagram fanatics easily take snazzy photos of dishes like an 18-ounce bone-in rib eye, pork belly mac and cheese, and a “poutine-style, twice-baked, loaded potato.” Coombs and Piccini are considering the table — a $10,000 investment, plus free meals offered to select Instagrammers, as Piccini mentioned to the Business Journal — part of their marketing plan, because like it or not, that’s the way things have been going in the restaurant industry for the past few years.

When Boston Chops number two opens this week, Coombs and executive chef Adrienne Wright will be serving up a range of steakhouse standards and beyond, including plenty of raw bar options — see the opening dinner and lunch menus below. There will also be an extensive wine list, along with beer and cocktails.

For its first couple of weeks, Boston Chops DTX will be open for dinner only (bar at 4 p.m., dinner at 5 p.m.), but starting around mid-June, the full lunch and dinner schedule will kick in, at which point the restaurant will be open from 11:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. daily.

• Boston Chops Coverage on Eater [EBOS]