Kosher Blog

When exactly is the closing date?

Their lease runs until the end of the year, so I’d imagine it’ll be open until 12/31.

Is this 100% definite??

Wow. My condolences to the Boston Jewish Community. You’ve lost a good one.

I’m already starting to feel anemic

Perhaps they can be encouraged to re-open a location in the Longwood Medical Area.
Sir Kosher Blogger, what can we do to get this to happen?!!

Sad.

You realize that if you hadn’t reported this, it wouldn’t be true?

They should convert the main location to fleishigs. Seems weird to take a client to a dairy lunch.

I hope they can stick the hot dog cart somewhere on the street or such. Maybe they can get a local convenience store to sell the prepacked salads and sandwiches.

btw, don’t expect them to be open until 12/31. That’s the last date they have to move their things out. My bet is that the last open date will be Friday 12/21. The timing of xmas and new years would probably reduce the volume of clientele such that it wouldn’t be worth trying to eke out another week.

It’s been a bad couple of weeks for the Boston Jewish community. First, the kosher Dunkin’ Donuts shut down. Then we find out the kosher Subway’s not coming. Now this.

Woe is us. We have to figure out a way to attract and keep good kosher establishments.

I presume these businesses close because they arent making money. I was talking to a fellow in jewish retail (nonfood) and he tells me that people order online or from NY stores rather than buy from him in order to say a couple of $’s. Obviously its different with food but still the same mentality. We cry when the businesses close but rarely go when theyre open.

I had not heard the SUBWAY was not coming but delayed. Where did we hear this from?

Thanks

There’s an entire thread on this site devoted to the Boston kosher Subway, and someone there posted a downbeat update on whether it was actually happening.

Yes, it comes down to whether these places make $ or not, and I guess they aren’t, or aren’t making enough to afford their leases, operating costs, etc. We could support them more, as a community, but I also think there should be a quality product to support. That was definitely the case for the Milk Street PO Square location - the food was very good, as was the service.

My understanding was that the lease was lost for reasons other than money.

I just confirmed that Milk Street PO Square will close on 12/21.
Sad day.
Get your meat while you can.

I know in my area when places close it is always because they “lost” their lease. Its as if a lease is something elusive and frail and cant easily be replaced. Why is it that places that “lose” their lease never find one elsewhere?

The reason the lease was lost/given up had nothing to do with money or profitability. It had to do with the park essentially wanting them out of there for the longest time and being the worst landlord one could ever think of. The management of the park made life on the employees and managers at post office square very rough for at least the last two years.

BigE, I wonder what your source for saying that a kosher Subway is not coming is. I did post that it is not entirely clear that one will be opening, but that hardly qualifies as downbeat. My guess is that it will propbably happen eventually, but I wouldn’t expect it anytime soon.

I would say that, “. . . it is not entirely clear that one will be opening” and “I wouldn’t expect it anytime soon” would qualify as downbeat, wouldn’t you?

Ari, ask jabbet, he’s talked to one of the vaad’s newest employees, and they know of no subway that is in the process opening.

So the Vaad isn’t the only kashrut agency in town. It is possible that they will go through the ORC, the Kof-K, or the OU (although the OU is a bit unlikely, I’ll grant). In any case, before the kashrut agencies get involved, investors and management need to be lined up and possibly contractors as well (not to mention long discussions with evil lawyers :-) ). What we originally heard about was a posting to see if anyone was interested in management. Hopefully that will result in interest, but it could still be months before they are ready to talk to certifying agencies. That being said, I am still optimistic (but, previously, people may have had unreasonable expectations).

We are looking tor elocate to the Boston area. My hubby is a restaurant owner and would love to open a fleishig one there. Why won’t you all support one?

@ Shana - who said we wouldn’t support one. The biggest problem(s) are appeal and location. There are only a handful of kosher fleishig restaurants, Rami’s does schwarma, Taam China and Rubin’s for deli. They are all in Brookline. The outlying towns have almost no kosher food, Newton and Sharon are the prime examples. I would be happy to see some more variety though. What kind of restaurant is your husband interested in opening, and where?

Well, Brookline does have those 3 meat places (Rami’s, Rubin’s, and Taam China), but there is also Ruth’s Kitchen for meat takeout (and Cafe Eilat and Kupel’s bakery for pareve/dairy). But, Newton does have Taam China II, which is meat, and also the Avenue Deli, which Ricardo assures me will be re-opening sometime this month (although I will believe it when I see it). Sharon doesn’t have a kosher restaurant, but neighboring Stoughton has Cafe Tel Aviv (formerly Deja Vu Cafe), which is dairy. That being said, the Boston area is in great need of a nice kosher meat restaurant.

It’s always surprised me that Sharon could not support a kosher restaurant–even a pizza joint!

BTW, there used to be a deli somewhere near the north shore, off Rte 1, iirc. Is that still around?

Shana, if your husband does open a good kosher restaurant, with professional service, decor, and quality food, we will 100% definitely support it.