[UPDATED] Rattlesnake Bar & Grill to Close in Back Bay

The Rattlesnake Bar & Grill. / Photo provided

UPDATE, Nov. 14, 1:30 p.m.: Well, it turns out there’s no time to say goodbye to Rattlesnake. A representative with the restaurant confirmed that it is closed for good. A previous version of this article mentioned a sendoff—time and details TBD—but it actually will not be open to the public. So, so long, Rattlesnake, and thanks for the rooftop memories.

PREVIOUSLY:

After a 26-year run, a Back Bay mainstay is calling it quits: Rattlesnake Bar & Grill will soon close the doors for good, the Boston Globe reports.

The restaurant gave notice on Friday, but didn’t cite a reason for the closure. A representative for the Boylston Street grill confirmed the restaurant’s lease is up, and that an exact closing date has yet to be finalized.

Rattlesnake had stood as an iconic restaurant and bar for the Park Plaza area. Guests flock to its roof deck—so much so that lines queue up—for post-work drinks and Brian Poe’s plates. Since the chef took over the kitchen in 2009, Rattlesnake took an offbeat, Southwestern-inspired turn with offerings like antelope tacos, chili-dusted calamari, chipotle wings, and wild boar burritos. The restaurant just started serving weekend brunch this spring.

If you’ll miss Poe’s kitchen whims, he is also involved with Bukowski Tavern in Cambridge, as well as the Tip Tap Room in Beacon Hill.

The Globe reported in August that partner Gordon Wilcox dreamt up the restaurant’s name while he was living in California in the 1980s. Per its neon signage, the restaurant served deep-fried, buttermilk-marinated snake in its early days of business, too.

There’s a lot of history to toast to at the downtown restaurant, so grab a drink and an antelope taco while you still can.

Rattlesnake Bar & Grill, 84 Boylston Street, Back Bay, 617-859-8555, rattlesnakebarandgrill.com.