Local Vegetarian Chain Lands Permanent Restaurant in Back Bay

Local vegetarian chain Clover will soon make a permanent home for itself in Back Bay. Taking over the former Globe Bar & Cafe space (which relocated down the street in January 2018), Clover could open at 565 Boylston St. by the end of September or early October 2019.

While there are 12 Clovers spread out across Cambridge, Brookline, and Boston, a permanent restaurant in Back Bay will be a first for Clover, which joins the likes of national chains Sweetgreen, Dig, Cava, Tender Greens, and other locals like Boloco, Parish Cafe, and more on Boylston Street. Clover did once have a regular, albeit mobile, presence in Back Bay — it parked one of its food trucks in a sidewalk space on Newbury Street near the Hynes MBTA stop — but that tenure ended in July 2017, and Clover no longer operates any food trucks.

“We’ve known for a long time that the Back Bay would be an amazing location for us to open a restaurant but we had to wait patiently for the right opportunity,” founder Ayr Muir said in a release, indicating Clover has received more than 1,200 requests to open in the area.

Muir launched Clover in 2008, as a food truck, and over the last 11 years the business grew to include 12 restaurants that make good on the company’s goal of serving vegetarian dishes with locally sourced ingredients to appeal to meat eaters and non-meat eaters alike. Known for its chickpea fritters, rosemary fries, and popover breakfast sandwich, Clover was among the first restaurants in the city to serve the Impossible Burger, a meat-like product made from plants.

When it opens, Clover’s Back Bay restaurant will operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., serving its usual menu of breakfast sandwiches and baked goods, sandwiches, platters, fries, and coffee beverages.

• Clover Food Lab Coverage on Eater [EBOS]