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Failed JP dumpling joint to become second outlet of local taco place

By adamg on Fri, 12/30/2016 - 9:41am

Boston Restaurant Talk reports that Chilicates on Amory Street is planning to open a second outlet in the Centre Street space where Pink Samurai briefly opened for a few days earlier this year.

Neighborhoods: 
Jamaica Plain
Topics: 
Dining
Free tagging: 
Mexican food
Centre Street


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Comments

By MC Slim JB on Fri, 12/30/2016 - 9:50am.

I like that place a lot. Gave it an award last summer for its steak torta, too.

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By anon on Fri, 12/30/2016 - 10:42am.

oh yessssssss

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By erik g on Fri, 12/30/2016 - 10:54am.

Chilicates is seriously amazing. I'm glad to see they're doing so well, and may they spare us from the mediocrity of Purple Cactus. (That's right, I said it)

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By anon on Fri, 12/30/2016 - 10:56am.

purple cactus and casa verde are just so..... not worth it. just can't quite get it together.

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By Kinopio on Fri, 12/30/2016 - 12:09pm.

I dig Casa Verde. Great beer selection and even my meat eating friends dig the chipotle cauliflower taco.

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By anon on Fri, 12/30/2016 - 12:41pm.

The food is fine but just feels really overpriced. Service is super hit or miss. Again, don't dislike it, but they just can't seem to get it together.

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By crd on Fri, 12/30/2016 - 2:59pm.

I adore Chilacates and am so psyched for Socrates and co- they're my go to for burritos and meatless tamales, something I've requested numerous times from Casa Verde but have not seen materialize. Casa Verde is a nice later night option- they win my favor in terms of meatless tacos and are very, very reasonable from 10:00 PM on when tacos are half off and little else is open.

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By erik g on Fri, 12/30/2016 - 2:12pm.

Yep, I don't mean to throw any shade on Casa Verde, I've been very happy every time I've been. They're also applying for a full liquor license, which will be nice. Like someone else upthread mentioned, though, they're in a different price bracket for me.

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By Kmacjp2 on Fri, 12/30/2016 - 1:32pm.

I respectfully disagree about Purple Cactus. It like it! Most of all, I'm so grateful for place to get affordable quick food with actual nutrition in it! And they keep the storefront nice.

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By Hillary on Fri, 12/30/2016 - 1:44pm.

This is fantastic news, especially because Purple is so mediocre, both in food quality and overall experience. (The way they reconfigured the place a few years ago was a disaster.) We stopped going there altogether once Chilacates opened, even though it's not as convenient. Chilacates is outstanding and they deserve every success.

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By Sally on Fri, 12/30/2016 - 6:18pm.

and every time I go, I'm like "how hard is it to make an edible burrito? Really? Unless you have triplet toddlers and are just exhausted and willing to eat anything you don't have to cook yourself, I don't get why you'd go there. I'm amazed it's been there as long as it has.

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By monkeynaut on Fri, 12/30/2016 - 7:48pm.

I will second that excited squeak.

Chilacates is some good, good stuff. They are one of the first places I take out of town visitors, as they are relatively cheap and super tasty.

Heck, I dug out my Uhub login just to say that. I like it that much.

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By Scumquistador on Fri, 12/30/2016 - 11:53am.

how long was that pink samurai place open ?

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By adamg on Fri, 12/30/2016 - 12:59pm.

Two weeks.

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By erik g on Fri, 12/30/2016 - 1:22pm.

Like Adam said, two weeks from soft opening to papered-over windows. Even during that span, they kept erratic hours--I tried to go there for lunch a week after they opened, and there were people inside but the door was locked.

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By Scumquistador on Fri, 12/30/2016 - 1:40pm.

thats really sad, even by restaurant standards. and also interesting. i smell a story

but its probably just incompetence

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By MC Slim JB on Fri, 12/30/2016 - 2:39pm.

failure. It originally started recruiting staff in May 2015, began talking to the press in July 2015, did some pop-ups at The Frogmore in November 2015, originally set its opening for December 2015, presumably started running into renovation and maybe licensing issues, lost its original chef in July 2016, finally opened on September 6, 2016, closed about two weeks later, was rumored for a short while to be eventually re-opening under new management, looked done for good by mid-October. The last nail was the transfer of the liquor license to the forthcoming Shake Shack in the Seaport.

A fiasco, apparently, but presumably a less expensive one than the $3M blown by Gwen Butler and her contractors at Zita back in the early 2000s.

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By deepfreeze on Fri, 12/30/2016 - 11:11pm.

Wow, I knew they were doing well, but not that well! I live on the current location's block and they just tore down the wall to connect the new dining room. So I won't likely visit the new one much (living on the other's doorstep), but I'd take a Chilacates chain over gentrified dumplings any day. Plus all the out-of-towners can get a taste and stay off my block!

Viva Chilacates.

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