All of Barbara Lynch’s Restaurants Are Closing

Barbara Lynch. / Photo by Michael Prince

Barbara Lynch is closing her remaining three restaurants, following the early 2024 closure of her three businesses in Boston’s Fort Point and the sale of two others. The Rudder in Gloucester, her newest restaurant, is already closed, with No. 9 Park on Beacon Hill to follow at the end of the year. A closing date has not yet been set for B&G Oysters in the South End.

The Rudder’s closure was announced on the morning of October 9 with a statement posted on the restaurant’s website and social media accounts and attributed to the South Boston-born chef and restaurateur: “After three years in this beautiful space on Rocky Neck, I have made the very personal decision to close The Rudder with immediate effect. I would like to thank the community for all of their support. Gloucester has always been and will remain very dear to my heart.” (The restaurant operated for about a year and a half; Lynch, who moved to Gloucester in 2016, presumably bought it about three years ago.)

For No. 9 Park, Lynch and her team are reportedly in “advanced discussions” with a buyer, according to Eater, “who is interested in developing that iconic space with a desire to build upon the legacy that has seen No. 9 Park operate for 26 years.” It will close just after the holiday season, including holiday lunch (and, hopefully, a Tom & Jerry or two, as long as we see some snow in December). The restaurant—Lynch’s first—debuted in 1998 and picked up numerous accolades along the way, paving the way for the growth of her empire over to the South End and Fort Point. In 2000, we gave it a Best of Boston award for Best Restaurant, General Excellence, in praise of the vibe (“elegant and haute without any pretension”) and “the food, oh, the food,” from spaghetti with meat sauce (“elevated to higher ground”) to more ambitious dishes like an “ethereal” prosciutto-wrapped foie gras terrine.

B&G Oysters opened five years after No. 9, a collaboration between Lynch and Garrett Harker—hence the B and the G—whom she bought out soon after. (Harker, of course, went on to open Eastern Standard and more.) Since then, it’s been a South End favorite for elevated seafood, including top-tier spins on classic New England lobster rolls and fried clams, plus caviar flights, whole fish preparations, and more. No word yet on a specific closing date or potential sale.

Lynch is seen as a trailblazer in Boston’s culinary industry, albeit one whose legacy has been marred by allegations of widespread workplace toxicity that came to light in simultaneous New York Times and Boston Globe exposés last year. She abruptly closed her trio of Fort Point restaurants at the start of 2024. Cocktail bar Drink, fine-dining gem Menton, and Italian restaurant Sportello led the charge in revamping Congress Street into the bustling destination it is today. Lynch’s representative cited an “uncooperative landlord” in those closures.

At the same time as the closures, Lynch sold the Butcher Shop and Stir, both in the South End, “to former protégés,” retaining ownership in No. 9 Park, B&G Oysters, and the Rudder, which she opened in mid-2023. (The Butcher Shop deal ended up falling through; now, the team behind Kava Neo-Taverna and more will open a gastropub there.)

The Rudder dated back to 1957, changing hands over the years and closing several years before Lynch’s takeover. Her last opening had been Menton in 2010, so her newest project got a lot of attention. It wasn’t meant to be a fish house, the Globe reported in 2022, but rather a “seasonal, personal” project, “defined by the marine landscape and the life that takes place on and around it.” And not just a restaurant, either—Lynch had ideas for a fish canning, curing, and smoking operation; for classes in agriculture, foraging, entrepreneurship, and more; for salon nights and cooking classes; for podcasting. These didn’t come to pass, and at the time of its closing, the Rudder was simply a restaurant serving dinner five nights a week, dishes such as a buttery seafood soup with caviar and honey foam; classic chowder with oyster crackers; gnocchi Bolognese; salmon niçoise; and Ipswich fried clams.

For now, No. 9 Park and B&G Oysters continue to operate as usual.

No. 9 Park, 9 Park Street Pl., Beacon Hill, Boston, no9park.com; B&G Oysters, 550 Tremont St., South End, Boston, bandgoysters.com; the Rudder, 73 Rocky Neck Ave., Gloucester, therudderrockyneck.com.

This story has been updated. The original version indicated that the Rudder has closed but No. 9 Park and B&G Oysters would remain open. In fact, all three restaurants will close.