Durgin-Park

Restaurant information

Faneuil Hall entrance (2009)

Established	1742, 1827
Closed	January 12, 2019
Previous owner(s)	• Ark Restaurants (2007–2019) • Kelley family (1972–2007) • James Hallett (1945–1977) • Chandler family (1840–1945) • Durgin & Park (1827 – c. 1870)
Head chef	Roberto Reyes
Food type	Seafood & Roast Prime Rib
Rating	★★★ (Frommer's)
Street address	340 N Market Street
City	Boston
State	Massachusetts
Postal/ZIP Code	02109
Country	United States
Coordinates	42°21′38″N 71°03′18″W / 42.3605°N 71.0551°W / 42.3605; -71.0551
Seating capacity	250 at mostly communal tables
Other locations	Logan International Airport (2013–between 2019 and 2022)

Durgin-Park (/ˈdɜːrɡɪnˌpɑːrk/ DUR-ghin-park) was a centuries-old restaurant at 340 Faneuil Hall Marketplace in downtown Boston. The Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau stated that it had been a "landmark since 1827",^[1] and it was a popular tourist destination within Quincy Market. The restaurant had entrances on both of its facades (Faneuil Hall and Clinton Street).

On January 3, 2019, the owners announced that their last day of service would be January 12, 2019;^[2] the restaurant closed permanently on that date.^[3] A satellite location at Boston's Logan International Airport remained open but closed before June 2022.^[4]^[5]

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History

The first restaurant at this former warehouse was opened in 1742^[6]^[7] and was purchased in 1827 by John Durgin and Eldridge Park,^[8] becoming a Boston landmark. By 1840, Durgin & Park took on John G. Chandler as a third partner.^[9] It was this trio that established the concepts of food and service that have remained essentially unchanged. During the Reconstruction era—after the deaths of Durgin and Park—Chandler continued to run the operation and his family owned it until 1945,^[9] when it was sold to James Hallett, who ran the operation until 1977, enhancing the restaurant's national reputation.^[6]

The restaurant was purchased by the Kelley family in 1972,^[10] and sold by them to Ark Restaurants in January 2007.^[11]

For a time, Durgin-Park had an additional location at Copley Place in Boston. The original Durgin-Park, as well as the one in Copley Place, was included in an "old Boston" dining review by Alexander Theroux of The New York Times in 1985.^[8]

In the late summer of 2010, Durgin-Park opened a beer garden in their basement bar, called "The Hideout".

In December 2017, an episode of the Travel Channel's Man v. Food—season 6 episode 2—hosted by Casey Webb, included a segment at Durgin-Park.^[12]

In early January 2019, the CEO of Ark Restaurants announced that Durgin-Park would close on January 12, due to the restaurant not being profitable.^[13] The restaurant did permanently close on that date.^[3] In February 2019, an internet auction was initiated to sell over 200 items from the restaurant.^[14]

Logan Airport location

In January 2013, it was announced that Ark Restaurants had licensed a sub-location at Logan International Airport at which Durgin-Park would be offering soups and sandwiches; located in Terminal E, it opened in March 2013.^[15] The airport restaurant survived the closure of the Faneuil Hall location, but was no longer listed on the Massport website as of 2022.^[4]^[5]

Ambiance

In keeping with its long history, the concept of Durgin-Park maintained the tradition of communal seating at long tables. The menu was designed to offer traditional New England–style fare with a concentration on seafoods, chowders, broiled meats and boiled dinners.^[16] The service was also a partial hold-over from the time of its founding, as the waitstaff were encouraged to adopt a "surly" attitude and "backtalk" the clientele.^[17] Another sign of its heritage was that it only changed head chefs a handful of times in its history.^[8]