There’s no notice on their website but this real estate listing confirms weeks of speculation. The Rox Diner in Newtonville will not be reopening.
RIP the Rox Diner in Newtonville
by village14 | Jun 30, 2020 | Newton | 27 comments
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That’s too bad. There will surely be many more in Newton and other towns and cities. The Rox was my backup if I couldn’t get into Brewers Coalition. I didn’t like it as much as BC, but the food was solid, the beer was tasty and the service was friendly.
Hearing Station Diner is next
Greg do you know what is up with Station Diner in Newton Centre? No sign of life.
Aww crud. One of our go-to places.
You have to wonder if the sidewalk reconstruction in Newtonville played a role? Rox reopened, but on the very next day it lost access to use of its front door. They were forced to use their back entrance on Phillip Bram (?) way for take out services. Really unacceptable to a business like this. Just as the City might do more to help with open air dining, I have to wonder if the haphazard nature of this reconstruction did in Rox, and hurt the other storefronts on Walnut at an already difficult time? Few have commented on this, but it’s been difficult for the businesses, pedestrians, etc with very little in the way of updates to the neighborhood from the City or Ward elected officials.
NO! I was hoping they’d come back. More than hoping. This is just horrible news. My family went there all the time, and the waitstaff were just terrific, nice people.
Michael Slater, I don’t think the sidewalk reconstruction had anything to do with it. The restaurants were mostly closed when the sidewalks were being done, and I doubt it was a two week loss of their sidewalk. Ranc’s next door was using their front door soon after. And take out makes sense from the back of Rox, it was where the parking and the kitchen was located.
As for updates, there is a weekly update on the construction:
http://www.newtonma.gov/gov/dpw/nep.asp
Most of the businesses I talk to in the Village have been happy that the Village rehab is being done now. It was always going to be painful, but the city managed to concentrate the work in a short period of time due to Covid. Sidewalks are all in now and open.
I’d be interested in knowing more about why they closed. But really it is a loss to the village. I really like the other diners/brunch places, but Rox was just a great place.
Gah, one of our favorite breakfast spots. Loved the home fries.
@Michael – given how quickly it’s being re-let, I would guess that they were in a place in their lease where they had flexibility to exit and they took advantage of it rather than burn cash for another year. Construction didn’t help, I’m sure, but it’s a footnote compared to the capacity reductions from the public health situation. No restaurant paying pre-COVID rents has a business model that works at half capacity, even less so if it can’t transition regular business to take-out. It’s still useful to operate as loss-mitigation if you think you can survive the next 6-12 months, but if you have a way out of your lease and the landlord would rather take his chances with the current market than give short-term relief… it’s closure for sure.
Jonathan, agree 100%. I think this is just the start of a wave of closures. Even if things reopen, Newton restaurants aren’t typically large spaces, we’ve got very little outdoor dining available, and take-out just doesn’t pay the bills. I would have hoped that the landlords would give some relief, but I’d also be very scared about re-upping a restaurant lease in the current environment.
I’m very sad about this.
This is a bummer. The Rox was stronger for breakfast and lunch and likely had less takeout demand. I think they might have been late to launch take-out? We didn’t make it there in time.
I would highly recommend take-out from our rotation of The Local, Rancs, Dunn Gaharin’s, and Bills (with occasional Village Cafe breakfasts). Very user-friendly web ordering and pickup.
So sorry to hear that the Rox is gone and even more so that Comedor is gone.
@Jack Prior – We’ve recently moved from Dunn Gaherins take-out, to dining in their parking lot. They do a good job of spacing people out and abiding by the protocols to the point we feel very confident and safe … and man is it good to be eating somewhere other than our kitchen once in a while.
How did DG get barn demolished in a historic area???
The Newtonville construction may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back, even if other factors were economically larger.
Go talk to the the business owners on Walnut (not just restaurants) and ask them how helpful it was for their customers to literally have to walk a plank over setting cement to access their stores? You’ll hear a lot of frustration aimed at our City, DPW, etc. over communications. The absence of marked crosswalks, many other construction related issues all contributed. My point is that Covid didn’t give the City a pass not to plan well and minimize disruption.
Worried about Johnny’s too. Just drove by and they were closed. So I called and their automated message said they are open Sun -Thurs 8AM-3PM, Fri and Sat 8AM to 8PM. They haven’t made use of the on street space that was carved out. Can’t see how they can make it with those limited hours. Not even offering evening takeout
Question: Would it have helped restaurant owners in Newtonville, if a portion of Walnut between say – Austin Street – Cabot had been closed off to traffic and outdoor dining areas set up? Would that have negatively impacted the other businesses in that stretch?
This is horrible. I loved Rox – for breakfast, brunch, or dinner and a beer. Paul was a great guy and always said hi if he was in. I wish him so much luck in whatever he does next.
@Jerry – Comedor was my favorite “fancy” place in Newton. A double bummer.
I’m sad but not surprised. I enjoyed plenty of meals at Rox but the construction and detours in Newtonville have made the area decidedly unfriendly so I try to avoid it. I did have to go to the UPS Store last week and still can’t understand why I had to navigate 3 feet of crushed rock to get to the sidewalk. I’m sure there’s a great final plan for this, but at the moment I can’t quite envision what it is.
My general reaction to the structural and road changes in Newtonville are that this is intended to make travel to Newtonville by car more difficult.
Since I have mobility issues, this sadly makes Newtonville decidedly unfriendly destination for me. C’est la vie!
The plans show that those gravel areas will become permeable (to water) paver-block sections, allowing rainwater to go into the soil instead of into the storm drain, and allowing trees planted in those areas to get enough water.
I would rather say that the road changes are intended to make car traffic *through* this section of Newtonville travel slower, and make drivers more aware that this is a stretch where others may do something other than just drive through — slow down to park, open a car door, stop for a pedestrian. In the end I’m optimistic it’ll be a nicer experience for everyone.
Unfortunately without some sort of continued federal assistance we will see many small businesses close.
It used to be senators would “bring home the bacon”.
I don’t know if that was a good or bad system, but the small businesses could use some bacon from our senators….
Given that Bram is “open,” I wonder why tables haven’t been set up and restaurants allowed to be serving there. One of the sell points is that Bram would be closed for special events. Or special circumstances.
@Doug L-
Thanks for the info! Much obliged.
As a random aside, a trick I learned that can help avoid the incidence of bikes getting doored is instead of opening the car door with your arm closest to the door, reach across with your other arm. This essentially forces you to twist your torso and brings your side view mirror directly into sight as well as your peripheral vision which can alert you to an oncoming bike.
Not sure why your post made me remember that, but it did! 🙂
@Jane from what I understand, there are a couple of business/ property owners that have access on Bram Way and have resisted closing it off to traffic.
I think the city’s program of putting out tables is great, and very necessary. But it’s a far cry from what is happening on Moody Street and with O’Hara’s in Newton Highlands. Though, Brewer’s seems to be getting some action happening in the parking lot.
I’m bummed to lose Rox, it was one of those places that you really need around. And I always liked that odd painting of the helicopter.
Doug L, I agree it will be much nicer, especially when they plant the trees and put up the light poles. More overall seating, and hopefully each little cafe or coffee shop or take out place can put out a few small tables as well, even after covid.
As for Bram Way, what a disappointment that has been. The city completely has blown it on the the alley. They should have shut down the alley from Austin Street, closed off the section of Bram way until the parking (the part now with pavers) and put out tables and chairs. The only stores hurt by that are Starbucks and the dry cleaner. I can’t believe starbucks cares. The dry cleaner might.
At a minimum, the city should actually put out chairs at the senior center. Lots of tables, no chairs, no umbrellas. And yet, a Newton Al Fresco sign out front…
Regarding Comedor, I loved that place too. Loved it. I have high hopes to the couple that is filling the lease though, the new place is apparently called Thistle and Leek and the folks running it have worked at some of my favorite restaurants.
Sadly, I think this is just the beginning of the restaurant turnover.
I got the scoop on Station Diner. They are planning on opening, maybe this week. They have been doing remodeling inside including reducing the size of the bar. I would think that their better bet would be to maximize outdoor dining because many people are still very reluctant to dine indoors. They actually have quite a bit of sidewalk and the overhang for shade. That, if coupled with getting some jersey barriers in the parking spaces in front of the building and they would have extensive outdoor dining space.
Good job to whoever came up with the idea of the sidewalk expansion!!!!! It’s a business killer,no parking etc….
Very sad. Hopefully Sending positive thoughts to all of Newton’s wonderful restaurants and small businesses during this time.
Jim S., the overall parking in Newtonville due to the sidewalk project has shrunk by…6 spaces total I think. And parking over the last few months has not been a problem anywhere. And Rox had a private parking lot, which is also no longer fully used. In the last few months, every village has been a ghost town. I’ve been in both Newton Center and Newtonville most nights last week, and at prime time for restaurants, the streets were empty. Parking wasn’t an issue. The Newton Center lot was half full at best.
I’m certain the Newtonville overhaul was a pain, but it happened in record time, and during when most places were shutdown due to Covid. Parking is back up and open. And the city was smart to push all of the rehab work in a short time. It was supposed to take months longer. They were working full days when the village was completely shut down.
Believe whatever you want of course, but I want to make sure folks know that the other restaurants in Newtonville need our help to stay in business. The issue with Rox wasn’t a short term issue. It wasn’t parking or sidewalks or streets. It was Covid. And I’d hate to lose Ahi, Brewers, Lobster Wok, Cook, George Howells, LeDu, Great Harvest, Newtonville Pizza, Amigos, Ranc’s, Rice Valley and others. The ones that are open are struggling. A lot of restaurants used their PPP money already. The next few months are key. And a lot of places are just keeping the lights on to pay costs including rent.
This is going to get worse before it gets better. Even if we have few cases in MA, I don’t predict restaurants returning to normal for a year or more. The margins are thin, and the rents are sized for a certain usage. And a lot of folks aren’t going to return to dining indoors outside the home for a long time.
Damn. They had great Jambalaya on their dinner menu.