Boston Restaurant Talk reports Boloco is closing its outlet on Boylston Street near Berklee College at the end of the day and that it plans to close its other Boylston Street location and one on Congress Street downtown by the end of the year.
John Pepper, owner of the Boloco chain, has put up a GoFundMe page for people who'd like to donate to the care and feeding - especially the feeding - of people on the front line in the fight against Covid-19. The money will go to send meals to workers at hospitals in Boston (and Hanover, NH, where the chain has an outlet).
Ron Newman spotted this sign at the Boylston Street Boloco today. Read more.
When news broke last week that Chick-fil-A had an agreement to move into the Boylston Street location now occupied by a Boloco, it was news not just to fans and haters of the chicken chain, but to Boloco.
The Swellesley Report tells us that Boloco will close its Wellesley and Natick locations this Wednesday, October 19, turning the locations over to b.good. Boloco CEO John Pepper wrote a long letter to his MetroWest customers.
Boloco is also closing its Northeastern University location on Huntington Avenue, as well as its stores in Burlington, VT and Concord, NH. These also will become b.good.
(hat tip to Boston Reddit for bringing all of this information together)
The Boloco outlet at 1940 Beacon St. sent mail to customers today that today's its last day ever, more than 18 years after it opened and despite the continued patronage of singer James Taylor and the sale of an estimated 2 million burritos: Read more.
John Pepper, who started Boloco, then left, then returned, explains how he wound up back at Boloco, what's been going on at the chain, why he had to close the School Street and Newbury Street outlets. And he gives a taste of what he's planning.
For years, our own Boloco has sold a Nutella milkshake. Soon, no more. Seems Big Hazelnut objects to the use of the name, to the point of threatening legal action, so Boloco's now looking for alternative, preferably locally sourced, hazelnut spreads.
Andrew Sellars, a lawyer, explains why Boloco could actually have a case, although he allows as how it's probably not worth all the trouble - and legal fees. Still, he adds:
The Medford Green Line Neighborhood Alliance posts e-mail from Boloco honcho John Pepper about the Boston Avenue Boloco:
We opened our Medford restaurant 5 years ago in great part due to the knowledge that the Green Line was "coming" and would add vitality to Boston Ave. We heard it could be 4-5 years which sounded crazy at the time. Sadly, we’ve recently decided not to renew our lease and we'll be out November 30.
It began, John Pepper says, with a phone call Wednesday from City Hall: Could one of his Boloco restaurants supply burritos for a major announcement the mayor wold be making in front of City Hall on Thursday?
John Pepper, founder of the Boloco chain, is ripping into the city on Twitter tonight for what happened with the burritos the mayor's office promised bicyclists who showed up at the Hubway bike-rental announcement in front of City Hall today:
City of Boston threatened 2 shut down fed st Boloco b/c City of Boston didn't pull food permit for their own event. We donated 200 burritos.
Although first it would have to find a suitable location, Third Decade reports.
Megan Johnson, who admits to stealing toilet papers from public loos in her current unemployment, still tried to help out the panhandler who asked her for change at Boylston and Charles today. She gave him what she had, which was a bunch of pennies - which he then threw at her. But the Boloco people who saw the whole thing gave her a free smoothie - and she reports her regular panhandler, at Beacon and Charles, volunteered to go find the first guy and beat him up after she told him what had happened.
Boloco CEO John Pepper tweets:
Just in - our landlord wants to raise Newbury St rent 25% to $122/sq ft. Speechless. Who will break the news to him that 2007 is gone?
It's that simple, really; Boloco owner John Pepper explains the situation and answers every last person on Davis Square LiveJournal who posted why they never eat there.
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