Davio’s Steakhouse Chain Is Opening a Gigantic Seaport District Location

Boston-based Italian steakhouse chain Davio’s is expanding to Boston’s Seaport District. The new location will be situated inside the 50 Liberty tower on Fan Pier, where it will boast a massive 15,000-square-foot floor plan that will include private dining and function rooms.

Davio’s owner Steve DiFillippo has signed a 20-year lease for the Seaport space and recently renegotiated the lease for the original Davio’s in Back Bay (75 Arlington St.). “I think about Davio’s, and I don’t want it to go away,” DiFillippo told the Globe. With those leases — and a total of 10 current locations, five of which are outside of Massachusetts — it doesn’t seem like Davio’s is going away anytime soon.

Davio’s has an expansive menu — diners can eat a Niman Ranch pork chop or cod from Georges Bank or Philly cheese steak spring rolls, for example — but it specializes in steaks. The Back Bay location has long been known as a restaurant that caters to the city’s moneyed movers and shakers, and there’s little to suggest that the Seaport location will be any different.

DiFillippo plans to name one of the private dining rooms at the new restaurant after Anthony’s Pier 4 owner Anthony Athanas, who he said mentored him early in his career. He told the Globe that he feels as though he’s carrying on the Athanas family legacy. Anthony’s, which was located nearby, closed in 2013 after 50 years. (As the Globe points out, another restaurant is slated for the actual Anthony’s Pier 4 site — a new project from the Woods Hill Table team from Concord — so there will be multiple restaurants trying to honor the Anthony’s legacy.)

The Seaport District in general is the target for many upcoming restaurant expansions — local groups as well as out-of-towners. For example: new locations of local fast-casual Greek restaurant Greco and Brookline’s Paris Creperie, as well as a new project from the Lola 41 and Lola 42 group, plus a UK-based chain of darts clubs.

The Seaport location will be the 11th for Davio’s, which along with its other Massachusetts-based restaurants (Foxborough, Lynnfield, Braintree, Chestnut Hill) has locations in New York; Philadelphia; King of Prussia, Pennsylvania; Atlanta; and Irvine, California. The restaurant is also planning to open new locations in Texas, Virginia, and Pennsylvania.

DiFillippo told the Globe a key to surviving as long as Davio’s has is having an ability to adapt to modern tastes.

“You really need to keep changing,” he said. “When I look out over to Pier 4, there’s a reason they’re not there anymore.”

• With a 15,000-Square-Foot Megarestaurant, Can Davio’s Pick Up the Anthony’s Pier 4 Mantle? [BG]
• Davio’s Northern Italian Steakhouse Plans to Open in Boston’s Seaport District [BRT]