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Boloco's last restaurant survives closing date, gets reprieve

Boloco's last restaurant survives closing date, gets reprieve

Built World Boston, MA local

A Boloco-fan developer gives the chain until Oct. 16 to find a new home

Today: Developer grants three-week reprieve

Overview

Updated 3 hours ago

Boloco's last restaurant was set to close Sept. 25 when a developer converts its Congress Street building into apartments. Then the developer turned out to be a Boloco fan, and the chain got three more weeks.

Owner John Pepper now has until at least Oct. 16 to decide Boloco's future. He's exploring a return to the chain's former Federal Street location, but says he's not sure he has the energy to keep going.

Why it matters

A 29-year-old Boston chain survives or dies by Oct. 16 unless owner John Pepper finds a new home.

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Key Indicators

Oct. 16
New closing deadline
Boloco's last location stays open until at least this date
1
Locations remaining
Down from 22 at the chain's peak
22
Locations at peak
Across Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maryland and Washington, D.C.
169
Residential units planned
In the building being converted, including 34 income-restricted units

Voices

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People Involved

Organizations Involved

Timeline

June 1997 September 2026

5 events Latest: Today
Tap a bar to jump to that date
  1. Developer grants three-week reprieve

    Today Development

    Patrick Mahoney gives Boloco until Oct. 16 to relocate

  2. Scheduled closing date passes

    Milestone

    Boloco's last location stays open past closing date

  3. Boloco announces last location closing

    Announcement

    Posts that 50 Congress St. closes Sept. 25, 60 days away

  4. Rebranded as Boloco

    Milestone

    The Wrap rebrands to Boloco

  5. Under Wraps opens in Boston

    Founding

    Restaurant opens, later rebranded Boloco

Scenarios

1

Boloco reopens at Federal Street

Possible Resolves by End of 2026

Discussed by: Boston.com's reporting on the potential deal

Pepper and Mahoney work out terms for the former Federal Street location. Pepper said he hopes to open shortly after the Congress Street store closes. The chain survives in some form.

2

Boloco closes for good after Oct. 16

Possible Resolves by Oct 31, 2026

Discussed by: Boloco's own September closing announcement

No new space materializes and the Congress Street location closes after Oct. 16. The building converts to 169 apartments and the chain's 29-year run ends. Pepper's employee-ownership dream goes unrealized.

3

Boloco gets another extension

Possible Resolves by Oct 20, 2026

Discussed by: Mahoney's willingness to work with Pepper

As Oct. 16 nears, Mahoney grants more time if a Federal Street deal is close. Boloco stays in limbo while negotiations continue past the current deadline.

Historical Context

2 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

2013

New Belgium Brewing employee ownership (2013)

New Belgium Brewing of Fort Collins, Colorado, completed a transition to 100% employee ownership in 2013. The craft brewery, founded in 1991, became one of the largest employee-owned companies in the United States.

Then

The employee-ownership model made workers partial owners and the company continued expanding.

Now

In 2019, New Belgium sold to Lion, owned by Japan's Kirin Holdings, showing that employee ownership can end in a conventional acquisition.

Why this matters now

Pepper has long dreamed of making Boloco employee-owned. New Belgium's path shows both the appeal and the limits of that model.

2022

Howard Johnson's last restaurant (2022)

The last Howard Johnson's restaurant, in Lake George, New York, closed in 2022. The chain, founded in Quincy, Massachusetts, once had over 1,000 orange-roofed locations before shrinking to a single outlet serving fried clams and ice cream.

Then

The closure ended the restaurant brand, though Howard Johnson's hotels continued operating.

Now

The brand now survives mainly through its namesake hotels, a shadow of its mid-century dominance.

Why this matters now

Shows how an iconic New England-born chain can dwindle to one beloved location before vanishing, echoing Boloco's shrink from 22 locations to 1.

Sources

(3)

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