Vincent’s, on the northwest edge of Kendall Square, closed permanently at the end of February due to financial hurdles, said the Big Dipper Hospitality Group, but its so-called Bodega Brunch, loved for its breakfast tacos, continues at a sister restaurant.
And Big Dipper says it’s not done with the Vincent’s location.
“We will have another concept in this space in the springtime. It will be cool, but we’re not putting the word out just yet,” said Evan Harrison, co-owner of Big Dipper.
Big Dipper, which also owns the nearby Mamaleh’s Delicatessen and State Park Bar, has had a series of admired eateries at 233 Cardinal Medeiros Ave. (technically in the Wellington-Harrington neighborhood). Before Vincent’s, which launched as a pandemic-era grocer in 2020, it held the French-Canadian-themed Café DuPays, which itself ran from 2017 to 2020 by taking over space left empty when Southern eatery Hungry Mother closed July 3, 2015.
“We’ve found good traction at this location at many different times over the last decade and a half, [but recent] major construction projects in the area didn’t help, the loss of foot traffic from the neighboring movie theater for the last few years certainly didn’t help, and being in a public transportation desert doesn’t help,” said Harrison about what took Vincent’s down. “The neighborhood has definitely changed a lot since our restaurant group first opened a restaurant in the space in 2008.”
The closing was announced on Instagram: “When we opened up in May of 2020 selling groceries, wine, used records and breakfast tacos, we didn’t know where we’d end up. It’s been a wild ride, and we’ll always be proud of this little wine bar, bistro and brunch joint that we grew into.”
The restaurant was known for its Southern-inspired dinner menu and weekend Bodega Brunches and its breakfast tacos. Commenters on the post lamented the loss of this favorite restaurant. “Thanks so much Evan and team for the wonderful space you created, the amazing food and the fantastic wine! You should be so proud of yourselves! I hate not to be there for your last night!” one wrote.
Despite Vincent’s closing, Bodega Brunch, which started back in Vincent’s first pandemic summer of 2020, lives on: this past weekend, State Park hosted Bodega Brunch for the first time.
State Park is a playful bar space with pinball machines and fun cocktails; Mamaleh’s is an old-school cool Jewish deli serving traditional fare such as bagel-and-lox sandwiches and creations including babka French toast. (It has great latkes too, and locations in downtown Boston and in Brookline.)
“It’s a really natural fit. It was awesome! I’m so pleased to keep that service going,” Harrison said of brunch going to State Park, at Building 300 at One Kendall Square, a complex also know as Alexandria Place.
Brunch is served 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. The State Park brunch menu is ever so slightly different, but has most of the same breakfast tacos we enjoyed last January. Harrison added that another Vincent’s feature – Friday Takeout Lunch brown bags, which included a rotating sandwich, chips and a homemade soda – might come back around.
A stronger
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