This year is shaping up to be a big one for the burgeoning food scene in the Fenway. The neighborhood is exploding with new developments from The Verb Hotel to Van Ness to the Muddy River Restoration, bringing in a wave of new residents and businesses that will call our corner of Boston home. While the Hub’s first City Target and Wegmans have certainly garnered the lion’s share of excitement, incoming restaurants may very well steal the spotlight in 2015. For now, we’ll call them the big three:
Wahlburgers
The famed burger joint from the Wahlberg brothers that spawned a hit A&E television show will open its first Boston location in the Fenway. Eventually, they could open as many as 300 across the country – but it’s nice to know that we’ll have an early taste of their scrumptious burgers. They’re aiming to have it open in the summer.
Image via Steven Guzzardi
Tiger Mama
Just when we thought we couldn’t love Tiffani Faison any more than we already do… boom! She treats us yet again. Once you’ve eaten her creations, you’ll understand why we’re salivating at this one. The Sweet Cheeks owner and former Top Chef Contestant will be taking over the old Barrio space to open a Southeast Asian-inspired restaurant. Faison and her wife Kelly Walsh travel frequently to the region and she has concocted some rather delectable ramen – so we had a sneaking suspicion about the direction she was headed. Faison says Tiger Mama will be “sexier than Sweet Cheeks” and hopes to open by July.
Hojoko
James Beard Award winning chef Tim Cushman and his wife Nancy, owners of O Ya, will open a “high-energy izakaya” in The Verb Hotel this year. The restaurant will be the Cushman’s second in Boston and will have a “fun and funky” vibe that isn’t afraid of karaoke. Expect to be sipping cocktails poolside and enjoying fabulous Japanese pub fare from the patio by spring.
The Fenway is positioned to take the reins of the “destination dining” community in Boston. With Tasty Burger, Citizen Public House, Basho and Sweet Cheeks already settled in, the neighborhood best known for its iconic baseball park may soon be better known as a hotspot for food lovers.
Read more about what’s new in the neighborhood and what’s coming this year.
