Boulevard Burger & Brew reopens with bigger patio, new menu items

Boulevard Burger & Brew (1300 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd.) reopened this past Monday after four months. The closure was due to a car plowing straight through the front of the building and ripping up the concrete patio, damaging the interior tiled floor, shattering the single-paned glass windows and generally destroying the place. The crash took place on Oct. 11, 2024.

Chris Tsui, president of Eat Restaurant Partners, said, “The rebuilding process took a little longer than we thought. One of the processes which took a long time was getting new windows with custom frames in. That took quite a bit longer than we thought.”

Boulevard Burger’s building was built in the “doo wop” era and predates McDonald’s. It was deemed historically significant and was protected under historic preservation standards. When Boulevard Burger & Brew originally opened in 2016, Tsui and his team had to renovate the building to look exactly the same as it did in the 1950s and Tsui said the total cost was in the six figures.

“We brought back every single detail to reflect the 1950s down to the flooring, the exterior and even the windows had to be single-paned glass, which is what the historic society wanted. Back in the 1950s, there was no double-paned glass. We had to use a lot more utilities to warm it up or cool it down.”

After five years of ownership, the historic standards were phased out, allowing Tsui to renovate however he wanted. At nine years of ownership, the building was fully his to reimagine — and perhaps the crash was just the excuse he needed to give the space a facelift. He was able to get double-paned windows to make the space more efficient. He was also able to expand the front of the restaurant, making the interior space bigger, add a milkshake room that allowed guests to order milkshakes to go, or to drink their milkshakes in the presence of other milkshake drinkers. They then expanded the patio — it’s three times the size that it used to be and, said Tsui, “I think it’s the biggest patio in the city now.”

He also revamped some of the menu which was put together by chef Frank Miranda. Now they are offering the addition of fish and chips, more non-alcoholic milkshakes and extended the list of cocktails available. “We really didn’t want to mess with the legacy, fan favorites on the food—and the menu items that people come back for,” said Andrew Bonita, vice president of Eat Restaurant Partners.