Pair Seafood Towers With ‘Glug Jugs’ at Puritan & Company’s New Oyster Bar

Inman Square fixture Puritan & Company has debuted a little something new next door: An adjacent oyster bar complete with seafood towers, lobster sandwiches, and “glug jugs,” or cocktails served in glasses shaped like open-mouthed fish. “We wanted to do some stuff in there that was kind of more fun and playful,” restaurateur and chef Will Gilson says. Starting on February 7, the oyster bar is open seven nights per week, from 5 to 10 p.m. The team isn’t taking reservations for the more laid-back space; seating is first come, first served.

Former Darwin’s employees raise money to open a worker-owned coffee shop

The Harvard Crimson has a look at the ongoing effort by former Darwin’s employees to open a worker-owned cafe where the Darwin’s shop on Cambridge Street once stood. Owner Steven Darwin shut down all four locations of the coffee shop at the end of last year in a move that some former staffers say was a response to tension with the company’s newly formed workers’ union.

Spanish spot Toro revives its Thai fried chicken offshoot Ghost King

Ghost King has returned. Restaurateurs Ken Oringer and Jamie Bissonnette have brought back their spicy Thai fried chicken takeout menu at Toro in the South End starting this week. The lineup includes fried chicken sandwiches piled high with som tum and avocado ranch dressing, and box meals with chili jam-slathered fried chicken, som tum, sticky rice, and shrimp chips. It’s unclear how long Ghost King will be around for this time — last year, it was revived for just one week around the same time as the Super Bowl — but the restaurant appears to be filling orders on a weekly basis at least through the end of February, according to a post on Instagram.

‘Black-owned’ business labels are working, study says

Remember when Yelp rolled out a “Black-owned” business label starting in June 2020? According to a new study from Harvard Business School, those labels have helped to drive business, the Boston Globe reports. Black-owned restaurants and other businesses on the platform that used the label saw a 30 percent increase in sales and a 10 percent increase in weekly in-person restaurant visits, the study says, as compared to before the label was introduced. The activity suggests that consumers have been looking for a way to support Black-owned businesses, according to the Globe.