By Andrew Berlanstein
Boston’s beloved Bob’s Southern Bistro, located on Columbus Avenue, will close Nov. 25. For more than 50 years the restaurant has been a home for soul food in Greater Boston and beyond. It leaves behind a m’eacute;lange of hearty memories.
There is meaning imbued in the Creole jambalaya, the black-eyed peas, the collard greens, the fried chicken and waffle, the red beans and rice, the macaroni and cheese, the “soul fish,” the catfish, the barbecued spare ribs, the chitterlings, the meat loaf and the southern sweet potato pie.
Bob’s has always been a gathering place for Boston’s black community – including athletes, musicians, actors, civic leaders and celebrities – said owner Darryl Settles. He can remember seeing musicians like Rob Haynes and Natalie Cole. For decades, under the well-known name Bob’s the Chef, the restaurant was visited by Martin Luther King Jr. and Jesse Jackson.
For the past 17 years, Settles has been putting in 12-hour days and hundred-hour weeks, he said, trying to keep Bob’s open, thriving and jazzy. He wanted to sell the Bob’s name to a buyer in the community who would keep the tradition alive, but was unsuccessful after keeping the business on the market for more than a year.
Besides the delicious soul food, Bob’s is known for it’s nightly jazz sessions. But it will soon be transformed into an upscale lounge for college students and young professionals.
Bob’s was sold to Malcolm Aalders, a Cleveland Ohio native, who plans to open a new restaurant called Night Town in its place. Night Town will feature a trendy atmosphere and American cuisine. Aalders plans to keep live music as part of the establishment – the legendary Sunday Jazz Brunch will keep on bopping – but Aalders will no longer limit performances to solely jazz.
“The loss will be real,” Settles said. “It was just too bad we couldn’t find someone to step up to the plate and keep it going.”
Settles is focusing on his newest project, the Beehive, a popular new South End jazz club at 541 Tremont St., with a modern menu that is a bit more upscale and pricey than Bob’s. Appetizers like steak tartare ($12) and entrees like seafood basquaise stew ($24) sprinkle the menu, instead of Bob’s fried catfish strips ($8) and gravy smothered pork chops ($14).
Settles attributes the need to sell to a 25 percent decrease in sales and customers.
“The cost of food went up seven percent this year and six percent last year,” he said. “But customers have not seen a 13 percent increase in price on their menus. I also have two children to care for and that takes a lot of time.”
It’s not just the local community that is suffering from the loss: Northeastern students have grown a true affinity for the restaurant, which is contiguous with the Roxbury side of campus. Much of Bob’s notoriety with the college crowd in Boston came after he threw a jazz block party in 2000, which has become an annual celebration here known as The Beantown Jazz Festival.
“I think Bob’s has the best food near campus and our community will feel a definite loss once it’s gone,” said middler engineering major, Tim Rusteika, while eating there Tuesday.
Middler anthropology major Pete Genova transfer student added, “Being that I’m new to the area, I’m upset that I didn’t have the time to go more often and enjoy it as much as everyone else has.”
Bob’s has become a cornerstone of the South End and Lower Roxbury and, in recent years, the Northeastern community as well. Students and citizens will not only miss the tastes and sounds of Bob’s, but also the overall attitude and sense of enjoyment Settles and the original owner, Bob, brought to Columbus Avenue and its residents.
