The Athletic - Boston ‘Every penny matters’: The Fours, like most restaurants, in fight for survival

Fenway

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Heartbreaking :cry:


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‘Every penny matters’: The Fours, like most restaurants,...
March 15 was a turning point for restaurateurs across the city, including The Fours’ general manager, Jim Taggart. He has been running the place for 15 years. But now The Fours is closed for dine-in service, like all restaurants in Massachusetts after a decree from Gov. Charlie Baker in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This has led to mass layoffs in the restaurant industry. To stay afloat, restaurants are trying to make takeout and delivery work, even if it’s not a part of their standard business model.

“We tried that for the first week, but it really didn’t work for us,” Taggart said, although the other locations of The Fours in Quincy and Norwell are doing takeout and delivery.

For The Fours, prime business comes before and after events at the Garden.

“In that area, all the restaurants and bars live and die by the cycle of the Garden,” Taggart said. “So anything going on at the Garden brings business. We were fortunate that we had a really good lunch business for a lot of years and a weekend business, as a lot of government agencies used to be located in that area of Boston because the rent was cheaper. So we had a pretty thriving lunch business. But of course, that has all come to an abrupt end.”

The Fours can’t really rely on local residents’ takeout, either; the neighborhood is rapidly being redeveloped into a luxury housing area, and the population hasn’t quite moved in yet to sufficiently carry the business.

“That area where the Garden is really isn’t a neighborhood yet,” Taggart said. “There aren’t a lot of people living in the neighborhood, and businesses, as they closed down, there are less and less people there. We tried because we wanted to keep the kitchen guys working, but it just wasn’t working out.”

So when the NBA and NHL seasons suddenly came to a halt, their customers literally disappeared overnight. The shutdown came just ahead of expected prime business during Bruins and Celtics playoffs runs, typically the best period The Fours has all year.

“We’re closed right now, so there’s about 70 people who are not employed. It’s a big deal,” Taggart said. “Opposite of most restaurant businesses that are busy all summer long and quieter in the winter, this is our season.”
 
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Heartbreaking :cry:


March 15 was a turning point for restaurateurs across the city, including The Fours’ general manager, Jim Taggart. He has been running the place for 15 years. But now The Fours is closed for dine-in service, like all restaurants in Massachusetts after a decree from Gov. Charlie Baker in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This has led to mass layoffs in the restaurant industry. To stay afloat, restaurants are trying to make takeout and delivery work, even if it’s not a part of their standard business model.

“We tried that for the first week, but it really didn’t work for us,” Taggart said, although the other locations of The Fours in Quincy and Norwell are doing takeout and delivery.

For The Fours, prime business comes before and after events at the Garden.

“In that area, all the restaurants and bars live and die by the cycle of the Garden,” Taggart said. “So anything going on at the Garden brings business. We were fortunate that we had a really good lunch business for a lot of years and a weekend business, as a lot of government agencies used to be located in that area of Boston because the rent was cheaper. So we had a pretty thriving lunch business. But of course, that has all come to an abrupt end.”

The Fours can’t really rely on local residents’ takeout, either; the neighborhood is rapidly being redeveloped into a luxury housing area, and the population hasn’t quite moved in yet to sufficiently carry the business.

“That area where the Garden is really isn’t a neighborhood yet,” Taggart said. “There aren’t a lot of people living in the neighborhood, and businesses, as they closed down, there are less and less people there. We tried because we wanted to keep the kitchen guys working, but it just wasn’t working out.”

So when the NBA and NHL seasons suddenly came to a halt, their customers literally disappeared overnight. The shutdown came just ahead of expected prime business during Bruins and Celtics playoffs runs, typically the best period The Fours has all year.

“We’re closed right now, so there’s about 70 people who are not employed. It’s a big deal,” Taggart said. “Opposite of most restaurant businesses that are busy all summer long and quieter in the winter, this is our season.”

Thanks for this, and good luck to the Fours.

I would only add, high end residential building in this area and others is KILLING OUR CITY. It makes me sick.

Where are the rest of us supposed to live? With five roommates or on the street. The T? Dont' make me laugh

I blame Walsh. I blame the State House.
 

talkinaway

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I would kill for a Doug Flutie right about now. Or a Bobby Orr. Or a Gronk. Or a Bill Russell, even though I haven't had that yet. But no regular fries, please. Onion rings or sweet potato fries, or bust. And mmmmm beans.
 
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EvilDead

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Thanks for this, and good luck to the Fours.

I would only add, high end residential building in this area and others is KILLING OUR CITY. It makes me sick.

Where are the rest of us supposed to live? With five roommates or on the street. The T? Dont' make me laugh

I blame Walsh. I blame the State House.

The gentrification of Boston is destroying the spirit and character of the city. It sucks.
 

Over the volcano

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Mar 10, 2006
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The gentrification of Boston is destroying the spirit and character of the city. It sucks.
You know real estate investment vultures will be swarming the city to pick its bones when this is over.


Thanks for this, and good luck to the Fours.

I would only add, high end residential building in this area and others is KILLING OUR CITY. It makes me sick.

Where are the rest of us supposed to live? With five roommates or on the street. The T? Dont' make me laugh

I blame Walsh. I blame the State House.
I used to agree - but just by the basics - adding a HUGE supply of housing decreases demand and mitigates rising prices across the board, even if most of it is higher end construction . The real issue is the widening income and wealth gaps and that goes way beyond the city and state lines.
 
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CharasLazyWrister

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Thanks for this, and good luck to the Fours.

I would only add, high end residential building in this area and others is KILLING OUR CITY. It makes me sick.

Where are the rest of us supposed to live? With five roommates or on the street. The T? Dont' make me laugh

I blame Walsh. I blame the State House.

You can blame government all you want. Even if you do, it’s bigger than any state official. What’s crazy is that the lack of regulation makes it so government officials often have their hands tied and can do nothing at all. This is the big money winning (as usual) and the private sector getting its way.

The biggest issue is the existence of residential REIT’s. Or Real Estate Investment Trusts that build “luxury” apartment buildings. These are massive pools of money gained on the stock market by large companies which can buy up huge swaths of land and construct rental properties which essentially control the rental market. Increased landlordism was already a problem. Now all the landlords are becoming huge corporations which can raise the cost of living at will to the point where you cannot live within the city limits without forking over much of your salary IN RENT every month.

The fact that these businesses still aren’t doing great in normal circumstances says a ton. The cost of living in the city has become so high in relation to salary that stopping by for a drink or bite to eat at a local restaurant is reserved for people specifically attending a one-off event or the rare individual who isn’t up against the wall for rent every month. So, the possible “saving grace” of this gentrification (in the fact that it could help certain local industries) doesn’t pan out.

All of this activity in the city of course pushes people out of the city to the suburbs to buy, thus knocking out “starter homes” at any reasonable price and I could go on and on and on...

This is why you can’t tie a high number on the stock market to the good of society. That’s just an indication of the cash flow in the biggest corporations. The more they rob from individuals, the higher that number climbs.

Did I digress a little?
 
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rfournier103

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I’m hoping that this doesn’t drive up the price of real estate in New Hampshire too much. Mrs. 103 and I have had enough of living in Massachusetts for several reasons and were planning our exfil. when the pandemic came along.

People looking to get out of Boston and other densely populated areas in Mass. might be looking to migrate up north to mitigate the effects of another virus when it inevitably comes along.

It seems to be happening more often these days than I used to remember...
 
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GordonHowe

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You know real estate investment vultures will be swarming the city to pick its bones when this is over.



I used to agree - but just by the basics - adding a HUGE supply of housing decreases demand and mitigates rising prices across the board, even if most of it is higher end construction . The real issue is the widening income and wealth gaps and that goes way beyond the city and state lines.

Fair enough. We live in a deeply sick society.
 

Seidenbergy

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I’m hoping that this doesn’t drive up the price of real estate in New Hampshire too much. Mrs. 103 and I have had enough of living in Massachusetts for several reasons and were planning our exfil. when the pandemic came along.

People looking to get out of Boston and other densely populated areas in Mass. might be looking to migrate up north to mitigate the effects of another virus when it inevitably comes along.

It seems to be happening more often these days than I used to remember...

I can see a ton of companies not renewing their boston office leases if this whole working remotely thing works out. If people can secure boston salaries while living and working from places with cheaper real estate like nh (or down south - hopefully me in a few yrs), look out.
 

BigGoalBrad

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I can see a ton of companies not renewing their boston office leases if this whole working remotely thing works out. If people can secure boston salaries while living and working from places with cheaper real estate like nh (or down south - hopefully me in a few yrs), look out.


Doubt it. I think high paid people working remote will be soon jettisoned.

What you will see is a comeback for office parks around 495 vs downtown.

I can’t imagine training someone remotely.
 
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Fenway

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Boston today is not the city I knew growing up.

East Cambridge 30 years ago was still affordable but when Cambridgeside opened in 1990 suddenly the area exploded.

What's driving this is a shift of where college students decide to live after graduating. For generations, Harvard and MIT would train the supposed best and brightest and then they would leave for NY, California or DC but now they want to stay here. Just look at how Somerville has totally changed as have Medford, Malden and now Everett.
 

Seidenbergy

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Doubt it. I think high paid people working remote will be soon jettisoned.

What you will see is a comeback for office parks around 495 vs downtown.

I can’t imagine training someone remotely.

The large law firms are already doing it. All on-boarding is done via zoom and/or Skype. Everyone gets laptops and docking stations on day one instead of fixed desktops.

Part of my job is training case assistants and paralegals and I have been doing it all remotely with screen sharing from my home office with zero issues.

Office space will always be necessary to some extent for certain client meetings and functions, but most of our jobs can be done virtually. It's really just a matter of getting the old school partners to embrace it.
 

Kalus

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Thanks for this, and good luck to the Fours.

I would only add, high end residential building in this area and others is KILLING OUR CITY. It makes me sick.

Where are the rest of us supposed to live? With five roommates or on the street. The T? Dont' make me laugh

I blame Walsh. I blame the State House.

I agree it is unfortunate. I remember going to the garden from the suburbs as a kid in the late 80s and feeling like I entered this other authentic (and charmingly grimy) world. Now you head in from the suburbs and Boston feels just as antiseptic as the suburbs, but with taller buildings.

Cities like Cambridge put a lot of pressure and mandates on developers to provide low income housing and area amenities as components of new projects (I know this first hand), but even that is just a drop in the bucket when it comes to addressing the problem.

The fact of the matter is, this gentrification has happened in pretty much all world-class premier cities like Boston. It is unfortunate, but the truth is that living in these types of cities is a privilege at this point. People who can't afford it have been successful transitioning to seconday/tertiary cities like Providence, Worcester, and whole swaths of the country in smaller cities in the South and Widwestern US.

If someone wants to work in Boston or live near it, they target more affordable places to commute from like Quincy or Dorchester. I commuted in from Quincy for years because I didn't want to pay the rents in places like the North End and Southie where a lot of my contemporaries lived.
 
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JRull86

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@Fenway is probably sick of me posting essentially the same few things in his threads (Boston changes, NESN ticker lol) but it's just something that needs to be discussed.

I grew up in Milton, but my parents were divorced and my dad lived in Southie until the mid 2000's, and I stayed there every weekend. My paternal grandparents were both born and raised in Southie. Hell, my grandfather's brother has a square named after him across from the L St bathhouse.

It's an absolute travesty what's happened to the neighborhoods in Boston, and the greater metro area. My Pa, who is almost 94, hasn't been back in years because it breaks his heart seeing his old neighborhood turned into what it is now. Gone are all the Irish families and in their place, are rich little shits on mommy and daddy's dime, and post-grads who call it "SoBo".

There's no identity anymore, because everyone who's family has roots there has either left, or will eventually leave, because they've been priced out. Obviously it's not exclusive to just Southie, but other areas as well. West Roxbury and Roslindale, when I was in high school, were decent areas, but still nowhere near what they are now. Dorchester has completely changed. The Lower Mills area by my parents house, went from being a strip of rundown businesses that lead down Dorchester Ave, and not a place you really wanted to be, to having tons of great options to eat, and high priced condos and apartments.

How many times have we posted on here about an establishment that's been around for decades, getting shut down for condos. It sucks.

Obviously times change, but Boston's charm has always been it's identity as a no bullshit area. An area that had distinct neighborhood identities. Those are gone, and anyone who says otherwise is lying.

Boston feels so stale and cookie cutter, and I hate going there now.
 

Scruffy

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The large law firms are already doing it. All on-boarding is done via zoom and/or Skype. Everyone gets laptops and docking stations on day one instead of fixed desktops.

Part of my job is training case assistants and paralegals and I have been doing it all remotely with screen sharing from my home office with zero issues.

Office space will always be necessary to some extent for certain client meetings and functions, but most of our jobs can be done virtually. It's really just a matter of getting the old school partners to embrace it.
I got lucky with a receptive boss a few years back. I work in Medical Device Quality and there's nothing that I do that needs to be done onsite. Most of my team was on the other side of the country, so I asked my boss to give me a 2 week trial as full remote. He loved it and now my entire team is remote.

I personally love being remote, but it's not for everyone. They definitely will still need physical office space for some functions, but corporations will be able to downsize the offices they need and hopefully that land can be re-purposed for other useful endeavors.
 

GordonHowe

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I agree it is unfortunate. I remember going to the garden from the suburbs as a kid in the late 80s and feeling like I entered this other authentic (and charmingly grimy) world. Now you head in from the suburbs and Boston feels just as antiseptic as the suburbs, but with taller buildings.

Cities like Cambridge put a lot of pressure and mandates on developers to provide low income housing and area amenities as components of new projects (I know this first hand), but even that is just a drop in the bucket when it comes to addressing the problem.

The fact of the matter is, this gentrification has happened in pretty much all world-class premier cities like Boston. It is unfortunate, but the truth is that living in these types of cities is a privilege at this point. People who can't afford it have been successful transitioning to seconday/tertiary cities like Providence, Worcester, and whole swaths of the country in smaller cities in the South and Widwestern US.

If someone wants to work in Boston or live near it, they target more affordable places to commute from like Quincy or Dorchester. I commuted in from Quincy for years because I didn't want to pay the rents in places like the North End and Southie where a lot of my contemporaries lived.
;

Valid points all.

I would only add that I lived in Uphams Corner, and Savin Hill, both areas of Dorchester. And the rent was sky high. With rommates. JP? Five housemates and a slum lord.

I can see living outside Boston proper to work there, assuming you still want to live in MA.

What I can't see is a city like Boston becoming a playground for the rich, and the hell with everyone else.

Again, I blame Walsh for this, and Menino before him, though of course the problem predates both.
 
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GordonHowe

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Can't disagree on many of your points, though I still believe there's a spirit to the town. It's still a small *town* as well as a big city. Change over the past thirty years has been immense, some of it good, a fair amount of it bad.

Boston used to be "a city of sports, politics, and revenge." Tribal. Not so much now. Far more diverse and open than it used to be.

Wish I had the $ to move back to MA.
 

JoeIsAStud

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Doubt it. I think high paid people working remote will be soon jettisoned.

What you will see is a comeback for office parks around 495 vs downtown.

I can’t imagine training someone remotely.

It really depends on where your target market of workers is. If you are looking to build a workforce heavily focused on top talent 35 and under, you are going to want to be in Cambridge Boston. I work for one of the most major software companies, and probably 75% or more of our talent would choose not to work there if we were in Framingham, etc.

WFH is easy, and most on my team do it between 20-30% of the time under normal circumstances, but I must admit that every one I have misses the teamwork and social aspect of coming into the office, and is looking forward to getting back into the office.

Remote training, I'm sure it depends on the industry, but again in Software it really is pretty easy. Maybe it takes longer, and it is not ideal, but we're still actively doing it and in different roles and levels.
 

Kalus

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;

Valid points all.

I would only add that I lived in Uphams Corner, and Savin Hill, both areas of Dorchester. And the rent was sky high. With rommates. JP? Five housemates and a slum lord.

I can see living outside Boston proper to work there, assuming you still want to live in MA.

What I can't see is a city like Boston becoming a playground for the rich, and the hell with everyone else.

Again, I blame Walsh for this, and Menino before him, though of course the problem predates both.

Just curious, what measures do you think Menino and Walsh should have taken here?
 

BigGoalBrad

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Just curious, what measures do you think Menino and Walsh should have taken here?

New construction of public housing. The few low income units in each luxury high rise doesn’t cut it. We are generations removed from valuing building public housing boomers have never wanted it though the greatest generation demanded it. But again that’s now where our values are let’s just cut the military industrial complex a blind check and let them take up most of our spending and everything else can fight for the scraps.

Boomers are never leaving their houses after this no chance anyone goes to a nursing home willingly so the property market and prices won’t dip who is gonna sell unless it’s a foreclosure?

We just have to value it. Sad thing is the people complaining about luxury buildings will also complain harder about a project going up near them bringing crime and traffic etc etc.
 

Gee Wally

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Its gonna sad where so many businesses will go under.

Here in my one horse town we have one pizza/ sub shop.His food really sucks.But we’re doing takeout there a couple times a week.

Why? Because ‘Lucky’the owner is one of the most generous guys Ive ever come across in my life. No matter what the cause here in town he’s the first one to donate food and paper goods. Every time.

If your kid gets all As and Bs bring the report card to him and get a free small pizza .

He even gives a small scholarship every year to student that does kind of community service.

So while his pizza blows Ill be buying a few every week this goes on.
 

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