Dot eateries prep for restaurant week specials

Tico Burgos has worked the bar at Savin Bar + Kitchen since it opened, offering up craft beers and managing a 30-bottle tequila stock. Photo by Pat Tarantino

Dorchester diners looking for an inexpensive three-course meal at some of the neighborhood’s best eateries should clear their planners and palates in preparation for the third annual Dorchester Restaurant Week.

From January 15-30 on Sunday through Thursday evenings, patrons can dine on a three-course meal offered on a special Restaurant Week menu for $30.12 per person at nine restaurants found throughout the neighborhood as a way to bolster business during the slow Winter months and show of Dorchester’s culinary chops to locals and visiting diners alike.

Joining the eight restaurants who began offering discounted menus in 2010 is newcomer Savin Bar + Kitchen, which has gained serious traction in the Savin Hill area since opening in March last year. Other participating restaurants include The Ledge, 224 Boston St., Blarney Stone, Tavolo, Ashmont Grill and dbar in Dorchester, and Abby Park and 88 Wharf in Milton.

Ashmont Grill general manager Tara O’Riordan has been involved in Dorchester Restaurant Week since 2010 and said local restaurateurs began the program as a way to show the rest of the city that there is great food to be found south of Washington Street.

“Boston has their restaurant week, but none of the restaurants this far out really participate,” O’Riordan said. “We thought this would be a great way to showcase all the new places that have opened up in the past couple years. We see an uptick in reservations for that period of time and I think it creates a little bit of buzz amongst our guests.”

Dbar co-owner Brian Piccini said the Dorchester restaurant scene is definitely on the right track and hopes the two-week celebration gives newcomers and regulars alike a reminder that you don’t have to leave the neighborhood for a solid meal.

One of the biggest compliments I get from customers is ‘this feels like South Boston 15 years ago,” Piccini said. “It’s great to be on the cutting edge of an up-and-coming neighborhood like this and the more great restaurants open up, the happier I am.”

Savin Bar + Kitchen owner John Murray said his business’s first year in the neighborhood has been extremely promising and said he hopes the low-cost menu will add to the kitchen’s already strong following.

Originally from Jamaica Plain, Murray spent his high school and college years living in Dorchester and said he was impressed with the growth of the restaurant industry since his return to the area - and thankful that residents are just as outspoken as he remembers them.

“The restaurant scene has improved dramatically as the demographics of the area have changed,” Murray said. “We have a lot of educated palates and they know what they want - and they aren’t shy about telling you.”

Murray has yet to finalize his pre-fixe menu, but said the Filet Mignon and duck dishes served during New Years events have been a big hit, as well as the egg roll of the day which can range from chicken parmesan to a cubano-style roll-up.


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