When you step inside The Liberty Hotel for the first time, it hardly seems like a prison. Adorned with elegant light fixtures and contemporary designs, the luxury hotel certainly doesn’t leave us wanting to escape. If anything, the fact that it used to be the Charles Street Jail makes it all the more intriguing. And Thrillist seems to agree.

The website recently compiled a list of 21 restaurants in America that were converted from “very different buildings.” The Liberty Hotel’s five restaurants, along with Steel & Rye, made the list.

The article exclaims:

“The Liberty jams a shiv into the idea of what a jail can be. Following a massive renovation, the place is now one of Boston’s best luxury hotel complexes, and includes five upscale restaurants and bars, including Alibi, Catwalk, and CLINK. Now people are trying to break in.”

The building that currently houses Steel & Rye, a Milton restaurant, was once a car dealership and then an ambulance garage. The article states: “While you’ll still find an industrial vibe – exposed brick, pine planks, and steel trusses make up the decor …” The garage now turned restaurant (below), is one of the most well-regarded (and well-reviewed) suburban eateries in the Boston area.

From prisoners and ambulances – to cocktails and bites, these two locations have certainly undergone quite the transformation. To read about other restaurants in America that were once different buildings, check out the article here.

Images via Liberty Hotel website and Thrillist