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Image courtesy of Doyle's Cafe
Jamaica Plain’s red-hot real estate market will claim a neighborhood landmark with the departure of Doyle’s Cafe, a Washington Street fixture since 1882.
“The real estate in Jamaica Plain is as high as it’s going to get. And I can’t afford to stay here anymore,” owner Gerry Burke Jr. told The Boston Globe, adding that the bar could close within two months.
The landmark cafe has agreed to sell its liquor license for $455,000 to Davio’s Northern Italian Steakhouse, which has leased 15,000 square feet at the 50 Liberty condominium tower in the Seaport District.
A realty trust affiliated with the Burke family owns eight parcels along Washington and Williams streets in Jamaica Plain totaling over 25,000 square feet, including the cafe and a parking lot. Seven of the eight are contiguous. The future of the property was not immediately clear. Burke was not available for comment. A document filed with the Suffolk County Registry of Deeds indicates that the cafe has a lease that runs through June 30, 2020.
Equal parts Irish pub, sports bar and political hangout, Doyle’s served up slices of Boston history along with its pizza, pub grub and pints of Samuel Adams. Murals depicting scenes of Colonial-era life hang above newspaper clippings and political campaign paraphernalia.
The pending departure was greeted with dismay on social media, as patrons lamented the loss of another Boston institution.
City Councilor Matt O’Malley, whose District 6 includes Jamaica Plain, called Doyle’s departure a “titanic loss” for the neighborhood. “It was my unofficial district office and the home of more civic associations, groups and JP orgs than I can list,” O’Malley tweeted.
Davio’s owner Steve DiFillipo is opening the latest outpost of his Italian steakhouse chain in a two-level space at the Fan Pier tower, where many condos have sold for over $2 million.
