East Coast Grill Reopens Today in Cambridge

East Coast Grill. / Photo provided

The year begins with some spicy news: East Coast Grill reopens its doors in Cambridge today, Eater Boston reported.

The Inman square restaurant had been in business for over 30 years before it closed it down last January. Cambridge residents and regulars were bummed about the closure, including Highland Kitchen owners Mark Romano and Marci Joy. The two met when they were previous employees at ECG in the 1990s. So, when they heard the restaurant was for sale, they connected with previous owners Jason Heard and Chris Schlesinger to purchase it and bring it back to life.

“We’ll keep the feel and vibe the same. We’ll try to modernize the bar program a little, and spiff it up a little bit,” Romano previously told Boston.

Romano is keeping most of ECG’s notable dishes around, like the Jerk Wings From Hell and grilled mahi mahi, while also branching out into new territory. A few staple dishes from Highland Kitchen will also make their debut, including the restaurant’s buttermilk fried chicken. Check out the revamped menu in full below.

Romano intends to focus less on seafood at ECG, but assures the breadth of spicy food is there to stay. That could include the restaurant’s Hell Night, a multi-course barrage of spicy entrées and a tough ticket to get. Romano expressed interest in reinstating the event, but said the team would need some time to situate themselves before doing so.

ECG’s bar program is also getting a facelift from revered bartender Joe McGuirk, who helped launch Highland Kitchen’s cocktail program. He tested out a few of his new cocktails in late December, offering options with gin, whiskey, and an agave-based mixer. That “drink lab” helped shape his upcoming menu at ECG, which will largely be influenced by tiki cocktails, and easy-drinking “boat drinks” like hurricanes and Moscow mules.

Now that the space is fixed up, we can finally taste all of these spicy and boozy creations in action. The new East Coast Grill is open nightly from 5-11 p.m., and the bar stays open until 1 a.m.

East Coast Grill, 1271 Cambridge St., Cambridge, eastcoastgrill.net.

The revamped menu at East Coast Grill. / Click to view larger.