Durgin-Park ( ) was a centuries-old

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

at 340

Faneuil Hall Faneuil Hall ( or ; previously ) is a marketplace and meeting hall located near the waterfront and today's Government Center, in Boston, Massachusetts. Opened in 1742, it was the site of several speeches by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others ...

Marketplace in

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

Boston. The Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau stated that it had been a "landmark since 1827", and it was a popular tourist destination within

Quincy Market Quincy Market is a historic building near Faneuil Hall in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It was constructed between 1824 and 1826 and named in honor of mayor Josiah Quincy, who organized its construction without any tax or debt. The market is ...

. The restaurant had entrances on both of its facades (Faneuil Hall and Clinton Street). On January 3, 2019, the owners announced that their last day of service would be January 12, 2019; the restaurant closed permanently on that date. A satellite location at Boston's

Logan International Airport General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport , also known as Boston Logan International Airport and commonly as Boston Logan, Logan Airport or simply Logan, is an international airport that is located mostly in East Boston and partially ...

remains open as of that date.

History

The first restaurant at this former warehouse was opened in 1742 and was purchased in 1827 by John Durgin and Eldridge Park, becoming a Boston landmark. By 1840, Durgin & Park took on John G. Chandler as a third partner. It was this trio that established the concepts of food and service that have remained essentially unchanged. During the

Reconstruction era The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebuild the country after the bloo ...

—after the deaths of Durgin and Park—Chandler continued to run the operation and his family owned it until 1945, when it was sold to James Hallett, who ran the operation until 1977, enhancing the restaurant's national reputation. The restaurant was purchased by the Kelley family in 1972, and sold by them to Ark Restaurants in January 2007, although Seana Kelley remained the general manager until 2012. The general manager later became Patricia Reyes, who had worked for Ark Restaurants since 1999. For a time, Durgin-Park had an additional location at

Copley Place Copley Place is an enclosed shopping mall within the mixed-use Copley Square in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It features direct indoor connections to several nearby destinations including four office towers, and the Bosto ...

in Boston. The original Durgin-Park, as well as the one in Copley Place, was included in an "old Boston" dining review by

Alexander Theroux Alexander Louis Theroux (born 1939) is an American novelist and poet. He is known for his novel ''Darconville's Cat'' (1981), which was selected by Anthony Burgess for his book-length essay '' Ninety-Nine Novels: The Best in English Since 1939 � ...

of ''

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'' in 1985. In the late summer of 2010, Durgin-Park opened a beer garden in their basement bar, called "The Hideout". In late 2016, the basement bar began hosting a weekly stand-up comedy showcase under the name Hideout Comedy. Shows ran Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays featuring local and nationally touring comedians. Durgin Park had only one female chef in its long history, Melicia Phillips, who worked there in 2012 and 2013. In December 2017, an episode of the

Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, which had previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in New York, New York, United S ...

's ''

Man v. Food ''Man v. Food'' is an American food reality television series. It premiered on December 3, 2008 on the Travel Channel. The program was originally hosted by actor and food enthusiast Adam Richman. In each episode, Richman explores the "big food" o ...

''—

season 6 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

episode 2—hosted by Casey Webb, included a segment at Durgin-Park. In early January 2019, the CEO of Ark Restaurants announced that Durgin-Park would close on January 12, due to the restaurant not being profitable. The restaurant did permanently close on that date. In February 2019, an internet auction was initiated to sell over 200 items from the restaurant.

Logan Airport location

In January 2013, it was announced that Ark Restaurants had licensed a sub-location at

at which Durgin-Park would be offering soups and sandwiches; located in Terminal E, it opened in March 2013. The airport restaurant survived the closure of the Faneuil Hall location, but was no longer listed on the

Massport Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) is an American port authority in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It owns and operates three airports—Logan International Airport, Hanscom Field, and Worcester Regional Airport—and public terminals in ...

website as of 2022.

Ambiance

In keeping with its long history, the concept of Durgin-Park maintained the tradition of communal seating at long tables. The menu was designed to offer traditional New England-style fare with a concentration on

seafood Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of molluscs (e.g. bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters and mussels, and cephalopods such as octopus an ...

chowder Chowder is a thick soup prepared with milk or cream, a roux, and seafood or vegetables. Oyster crackers or saltines may accompany chowders as a side item, and cracker pieces may be dropped atop the dish. New England clam chowder is typically ...

s, broiled meats and boiled dinners. The service was also a partial hold-over from the time of its founding, as the waitstaff were encouraged to adopt a "surly" attitude and "backtalk" the clientele. Another sign of its heritage was that it only changed head chefs a handful of times in its history.

Honors and awards

*1998:

James Beard Foundation Award The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media award ...

for America's Regional Classics

Photos

File:Durgin_Park_1956.jpg, Durgin-Park in 1956 File:Durgin_Park_North_Market_Stree_c1960.jpg, Durgin-Park on North Market Street, c.1960 File:Faneuil Hall.JPG, Clinton Street entrance in 2008

References

External links

Durgin-Park - Boston, MA
at Roadfood.com {{Restaurants in Boston Defunct restaurants in Boston Restaurants established in 1827 Restaurants established in 1742 Restaurants disestablished in 2019 1742 establishments in Massachusetts 2019 disestablishments in Massachusetts James Beard Foundation Award winners