Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez mourns closure of Eastern Standard restaurant in Boston, ‘home to so many wonderful memories’
Updated Feb 23, 2021;
Posted Feb 23, 2021
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing. (Tom Williams/Pool Photo via AP, File)AP
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Joining the many people who are in mourning over the news the Eastern Standard in Boston will be closing for good is progressive lawmaker and Boston University alumna U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Boston Restaurant Talk first reported the Eastern Standard and Island Creek Oyster Bar, both located within the Hotel Commonwealth in Kenmore Square, are seeking to transfer their liquor licenses to UrbanMeritage, the company that owns the hotel.
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Almost a year after the pandemic entered our lives, the list of restaurant closures has continued to grow and the farewell announcements haven’t become easier to process. When news hit Thursday that Eastern Standard, along with sister restaurants Island Creek Oyster Bar and The Hawthorne, had permanently shuttered, it was a gut punch to both occasional visitors and regular guests.
The iconic Kenmore Square restaurant within the Hotel Commonwealth helped jumpstart the careers of many in the Boston restaurant industry, with some taking to social media to share their own Eastern Standard memories.
“I remember the first time I sat at this bar,” Will Isaza, director of operations for Blossom Bar and Ivory Pearl in Brookline,” wrote on Instagram. “I’ll always remember that this was my education. …Tonight we’ll raise a few for you, with the hopes of seeing that name attached to another building.”
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Eastern Standard, Island Creek Oyster Bar, Hawthorne all close, leaving gaping hole in Kenmore Square and many patronsâ hearts
Restaurateur Garrett Harker had been locked in negotiations with UrbanMeritage, the real estate group that owns the Hotel Commonwealthâs retail properties, for years.
By Kara Baskin Globe Correspondent,Updated February 18, 2021, 6:51 p.m.
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Garrett Harker at Eastern Standard in June. At the time he said the landlords âdonât seem to acknowledge that thereâs anything special about these restaurants.âBarry Chin/Globe Staff
The Boston restaurant scene, already devastated by the pandemic, was dealt yet another blow Thursday with the news that Kenmore Squareâs Eastern Standard will not reopen.
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