Anthony's Pier 4 was a restaurant on the

South Boston South Boston (colloquially known as Southie) is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay (Boston Harbor), Dorchester Bay. It has under ...

waterfront opened in 1963 by restaurateur Anthony Athanas. In the 1980s, it was one of the highest-grossing restaurants in the United States. It closed in 2013, and the site was scheduled for redevelopment.

History

Restaurateur Anthony Athanas opened Anthony's Pier 4 in 1963 and lived in an apartment above it. It served traditional American food emphasizing locally caught seafood; the dining room, with seating for 500, overlooked

Boston Harbor Boston Harbor is a natural harbor and estuary of Massachusetts Bay, located adjacent to Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Port of Boston, a major shipping facility in the Northeastern United States. History 17th century Since its dis ...

on three sides. In 1968, Athanas bought a 1927 former

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

cruise ship, the SS ''Peter Stuyvesant'', and brought it from New York to Boston, where a specially built concrete and steel cradle held it in place adjacent to the restaurant; it served as a private bar and dining room and held a wine cellar as well as art works and mementoes collected by Athanas. The ship broke free, turned turtle, and sank during the Blizzard of February 1978; after unsuccessful efforts to salvage it, in 1979, all but the hull was removed. The restaurant shot to prominence when

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was an English and American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 19 ...

and

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his mellifluous baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s and gave a memor ...

ate there in 1964 while '' Richard Burton's Hamlet'' was at the Shubert Theatre. It was a prominent restaurant throughout its first two decades, attracting both out-of-town celebrities and Boston politicians. By the early 1980s, it was grossing about $12 million annually, making it one of the five highest-grossing restaurants in the United States. Athanas died in 2005; the restaurant closed in 2013. A condominium tower was erected on the site of the parking lot, and in 2016–17, the restaurant building was demolished, and the remains of the ''Stuyvesant'' were dredged up for scrap in early 2017. A multi-use complex on the site, including offices and condominiums, opened in 2018.

Winter Hill Gang murders

In 1982, Brian Halloran and Michael Donahue were murdered in the restaurant's parking lot by Whitey Bulger and another associate of the Winter Hill Gang. In 2014, Anthony's Pier 4 having closed, this murder was recreated at the Porthole in

Lynn, Massachusetts Lynn is the eighth-largest List of municipalities in Massachusetts, municipality in Massachusetts, United States, and the largest city in Essex County, Massachusetts, Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line ...

for the 2015 film '' Black Mass''.

Filming Location

Norman Jewison Norman Frederick Jewison (July 21, 1926 – January 20, 2024) was a Canadian filmmaker. He was known for directing films which addressed topical Social issue, social and political issues, often making controversial or complicated subjects acces ...

's '' The Thomas Crown Affair'', a 1968 film, was shot here for one of its dinner date scenes between

Steve McQueen Terrence Stephen McQueen (March 24, 1930November 7, 1980) was an American actor. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of counterculture of the 1960s, 1960s counterculture, made him a top box office draw for his films of the late ...

and

Faye Dunaway Dorothy Faye Dunaway (born January 14, 1941) is an American actress. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Faye Dunaway, many accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, ...

References

{{Restaurants in Boston 1963 establishments in Massachusetts 2013 disestablishments in Massachusetts Defunct restaurants in Boston Defunct seafood restaurants in the United States Restaurants in Boston Seafood restaurants in Massachusetts Seaport District