It’s Eastern Standard Time: The Iconic Restaurant Has Been Reborn

The bar at the new Eastern Standard. / Courtesy photo

After a nearly 15-year run and a devastating COVID-era closure, Eastern Standard is back. It’s in a new space, albeit a short walk from its old one in Kenmore Square: “This is my neighborhood,” restaurateur Garrett Harker recently told Boston, reflecting on opening the original restaurant back in 2005. Eastern Standard was a key part of the neighborhood’s transformation in the early aughts.

Located in the Bower, a duo of apartment buildings on Beacon Street, the new space has some things that feel the same as the old, like the exceptionally long bar (this one has room for an extra seat or two). The mirrored backbar, too, is a throwback—and will the Eastern Standard team be scrawling the late-night specials on the mirror like old times? “What do you think?” Harker teases. As for that eye-catching red couch? It’ll be back, too, once Harker and the team figure out exactly where to put it. (For now, it’s safely stored in the space that will become a café next year, the fourth and final piece of Harker’s new quartet of businesses at the Bower development.)

While there’s plenty of nostalgia to be found, this isn’t a cookie-cutter repeat of what was. We’ll take you on a deeper dive into the design process of the new restaurant later this month, but don’t arrive at the space expecting it to look and feel exactly the same as before. It’s still got those cozy brasserie vibes—a welcoming sort of space that seamlessly transitions from casual brunch to date-night dinner to late-night industry haunt, and everything in between. But this time around, there’s been lots of attention paid to beautiful materials and artisan makers. Think fancy varieties of marble, carefully hand-poured terrazzo tiling, and intricate millwork.

To eat: comforting brasserie fare, influenced by the bounty of seasonal New England goods. Culinary director Nemo Bolin is overseeing a menu that includes a mix of past favorites and newcomers. Diners will find plenty of raw bar and charcuterie items; the original Eastern Standard was particularly known for its love of offal and charcuterie at a time when those weren’t on many menus. (As Harker mentioned in a 10^th anniversary retrospective for the original location, he received a handwritten note a couple months in from a diner who looked up the definition of offal after dining at the restaurant and then threatened to call the authorities. Harker knew the team was onto something.) Also on the menu at the new spot: frisée aux lardons, salt cod fritters, steak tartare, baked rigatoni, butterscotch bread pudding, and lots more. And while there’s seafood here—note the aforementioned raw bar, for instance—fish lovers will also want to check out Eastern Standard’s sibling right next door, All That Fish + Oyster, which opened last month, for more of a seafood focus.

On the beverage side at Eastern Standard, longtime Harker collaborator and industry vet Jackson Cannon is back onboard, overseeing a collection of creative cocktails as well as a globe-trotting selection of unique wines and beers. Some favorite cocktails from the past have returned, like the Old Cuban and whiskey smash, and the beer list includes a special Eastern Standard pilsner made in collaboration with Narragansett Beer. (It’s the first time Narragansett has collaborated with a restaurant on a brew.) Interested in exploring cocktails even more? Equal Measure, Eastern Standard’s sibling cocktail bar, will be just down the hall and is set to debut on October 19.

Whether you’re a fan from the early days or an Eastern Standard novice, there’s sure to be something for you at the new restaurant—what is a brasserie if not built for all customers and all occasions? The team will be focusing on dinner to start, with late-night, lunch, and weekend brunch services coming soon, not to mention an expansive pergola-shaded, three-season patio.

Opening menu:

775 Beacon St. (in the Bower), Fenway/Kenmore, Boston, 617-530-1590, easternstandardboston.com.