Announcing #Thanks4Boston, Our Boston Restaurant Rescue Program

At Boston magazine, we not only celebrate the Best of Boston®—we support the Best when the going gets tough. This week, to encourage our fellow Bostonians not to stay in, we’re pumping $10,000 directly to restaurants that have been impacted by Boston’s worst winter in a century—and we hope you’ll join us.

As we reported last week, this month’s historic string of winter storms is wreaking havoc on Boston’s restaurant industry. January and February are typically tough months for restaurants to begin with, but between the blizzards, snow emergencies, and MBTA shutdowns, even established New England chefs like Tony Maws admit they’re just trying to hang on. Many have tried to stay open through the storms—and we’ll continue to update you when they do. But the truth is that the real burden of these storms often falls to those at the bottom—the low-wage employees who count on picking up shifts and tips at Boston’s restaurants.

Things got even worse this weekend, when yet another blizzard plowed through on the one night restaurants count on in February: Valentine’s Day. And that means there are some very, very tough times ahead at many of our favorite eateries.

So here’s what we’re doing. This week, we’ll be armed with $10,000 worth of gift cards at 10 locations—six restaurants and four spas—all of them previous recipients of our annual Best of Boston® awards. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for clues to where we’ll be next. Join us at any of these locations and see if Boston magazine picks up a portion of your tab as a thank you for your support. (You’ll know you’re in the right place if there’s a Best of Boston® logo painted on the snowbanks.)

If you’re out and about this week, please help us support the restaurant and service industry by tagging your social media posts with #thanks4boston. We’ll be RTing our favorites.

WHERE: Ten locations over three days in Kendall Square, Back Bay, Fort Point, Inman Square, and the Fenway. (All of these locations are Best of Boston® winners. Many have been hit harder because they’re difficult to reach by public transportation. And many have supported our charitable events in the past.)

WHEN: Monday, February 16, through Wednesday, February 18, 2015

WHY: As of February 9, Boston set a record for the most snow recorded in a 30-day period, with 71.8 inches, breaking the record of 58.8 inches set in February 1978. The snow is wreaking havoc on businesses and we’re committed to showing our support by encouraging residents to get out show their support.