The owner of Doyle’s has said the iconic restaurant that first opened in 1882 is closing, and that he has sold the liquor license to a steakhouse.
“It’s very sad,’’ said Doyle’s owner Gerry Burke Jr to the Boston Globe. “I grew up here and I’ve had a wonderful childhood. It’s been my identity for as long as I can remember. It’s a terrible thing and I’m as sad as I can be. But the real estate in JP is as high as it’s going to get and I can’t afford to stay here any more.’’
Burke said he was not sure when the restaurant would close. The Globe reports that Davio’s Northern Italian Steakhouse will purchase the seven-day all-alcohol license for $455,000, according to records. Davio’s would use the license for its new restaurant in the Seaport.
Located at 3484 Washington St., Doyle’s was originally a one-room bar, and grew into a three-room restaurant, and was the first place Sam Adams beer was poured when Jim Koch, founder of the Sam Adams Brewery, approached Doyle’s to try out his personally brewed batch. Nowadays Doyle’s is a definitive tourist attraction, and there is a constant stream of trolley tours that go from Doyle’s to the brewery.
Burke’s father bought Doyle’s in 1970, and through the years it became even more of an institution in Boston, as countless politicians ate, drank, served up beer to patrons. The restaurant was a place politicians had to stop at — and did — such as Senator Elizabeth Warren, former Senator Scott Brown, governors, city councilors, and oodles of candidates.
