Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Olives in Charlestown Plans to Reopen

Two months after we reported that the Boston Licensing Board had been looking into why Todd English's Olives restaurant was still closed months after a fire hit the place, it now appears that the Charlestown eatery may be on track to open fairly soon.

According to the Charlestown Patch, Olives should be ready to open by September, based on a letter that the celebrity chef sent to the board. The City Square eatery had been damaged in a grease fire in the spring of 2010 and has been closed ever since, prompting the Boston Licensing Board to get involved. In a hearing last month, the board decided to allow Olives to keep their liquor license for 45 days (until the end of this month), with the board deciding on what to do about the license at that point.

A call placed by the Patch to the dining spot more or less confirms the possibility of the reopening of Olives after Labor Day, as the Patch was told that it should be open by the end of the summer.

[July 1 update: According to The Boston Globe, the Boston Licensing Board has basically set a deadline of September 13 for Olives to open, at which point the board will have another hearing, possibly taking away the restaurant's liquor license if it is not yet in operation.]

[September 14 update: According to The Boston Herald, Todd English told the Boston Licensing Board yesterday that Olives will "re-open for the holidays." (Thanks to Grub Street Boston for bringing this to our attention.)]

[December 14 update: According to Universal Hub, Olives is now hoping to reopen in January.]

[February 15, 2012 update: A new post by Universal Hub mentions that Olives is still not open and that Todd English appeared before the Boston Licensing Board once again yesterday, explaining that (in Universal Hub's words) "the restaurant itself now passes muster with the Fire Department, [but] the City Square building it's in did not." Olives will be applying for occupancy and place-of-assembly permits within the next few days, and assuming that things go smoothly, it is possible that the eatery may be able to reopen soon after that. Stay tuned for more updates....]

[April 4, 2012 update: A new post by Universal Hub mentions that Todd English faced the Boston Licensing Board once again this week, stating that the last fire inspection for Olives is scheduled for tomorrow (Thursday, April 5). If the inspection goes well, the restaurant could be reopening very soon, as everything appears to be in place.]

[April 25, 2012 update: It appears that Olives is on the verge of reopening, as the Charlestown Patch reports that the restaurant now has all permits needed to open and it had a hiring day earlier this week.]

[April 30, 2012 update: The Boston Herald is reporting that Olives is now open once again.]

The address for Olives is: Olives, 10 City Square, Charlestown, MA, 02129.