According to James Rooney, executive director of the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, The Capital Grille restaurant, a staple of Boston's dining scene for the past 20 years, will move from its Newbury St. location to the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center in 2011.
The move to the nearby Hynes caps a momentous year for the state facility, which had been tasked with enhancing its revenue potential by creating two restaurant or retail spaces on either end of its Boylston St. corridor. The new restaurant will be located at the corner of Dalton and Boylston Sts. and will bookend the Hynes with two new dining spots. Towne Stove and Spirits on the Prudential Plaza was opened earlier this year by local restaurateurs Lydia Shire, Jasper White and Patrick Lyons.
"In 2004, the MCCA was tasked with enhancing the economic performance of the Hynes, and we've now completed that task with this new lease with The Capital Grille," said Rooney. "The move will not only create economic activity and jobs at a time when Boston needs them most, but it preserves this icon of the Boston restaurant scene and moves it just a short walk from the old location. We couldn't be happier."
The move offers several advantages to The Capital Grille. In addition to being just one block away from the previous site, the Hynes Center restaurant will be significantly larger (10,300 s/f compared to the current 5,500 s/f), with an outdoor patio, three private dining rooms with state of the art conferencing technology, and a more spacious bar and lounge. In addition, the new restaurant will be open for lunch, which they aren't able to do in the current location. The restaurant was unable to renew its lease at the old location.
Construction at the new Hynes site is expected to begin in January 2011 and the new restaurant is expected to open by summer. The Capital Grille on Newbury St. will continue to operate until the new restaurant is ready to open.
"While Newbury has been a great location for us over the last 20 years and in many ways it will be sad to say goodbye, we're very excited about the move to Hynes Center, an iconic building in an area that's a hub of downtown activity," said John Martin, president of The Capital Grille. "And the fact that it's just a block away from our current location means we won't inconvenience our existing guests or employees."