Picture this: It's 1998 and your mom has just come home from work. When she asks what you want for dinner, your mind immediately goes back to her crispy rotisserie chickens spinning around on skewers behind a slew of hot side dishes at her market in Boston. . The family piles into the car, you drive to the nearest location, and dive into a perfectly portioned plate stuffed with chicken breast, sweet potatoes, creamed spinach, and cornbread.
No, this is not an advertisement. This is my lived experience as a child of her '90s growing up in Trumbull, CT.
Fast forward to April 2024, and here I am, 32 years old, listening to a recent episode of The Ringer's podcast, “Food News.” Admittedly, I've never been to Boston Market (or actually thought of going to Boston Market) in nearly two years, but I've heard one of the organizers say, “Boston Market, I froze when he said, “Gone!” So we turned to Google for more answers. Local news outlets in Connecticut reported that the remaining seven stores in the state had closed as of November 2023, and a store search for the chain proved that to be true.
As I researched the top line further, I came across a candid headline from Restaurant Business Magazine. “Boston market reduced to 27 restaurants.” My heart tightened, like when I watched a customer in front of me take the last bite of sweet corn right in front of me.
My first thought was, “Why didn't I notice?” My next thought was, “But macaroni and cheese?!” The third and fourth thoughts are “I'm sad” and “I have to call my mom.”
I heard her gasp on the other phone when I told her the chain might be on its last legs. She and my father still live in my childhood home, where the Boston Market was only a 10-minute drive away. The space is now a hibachi restaurant.
“Dark meat, mac and cheese, grilled vegetables,” my mom recalled when I asked her what she often ordered.
“Do you remember anything else?” I asked, hoping it would help her relive my own childhood memories.
Her mind began to cook. She said we don't go to her market in Boston often, and that she probably goes about once a month. She remembered how my yiayia used to buy her chicken pot pie to eat together at her house. She remembered buying a chicken dinner and getting a coupon. That motivated her next visit and always came back for more.
The moment burned into her memory like brown sugar in a sweet potato casserole. Those were moments that I was definitely there for, but I don't remember them in the same way.
We both reminisced about breaking cornbread, but I realized that our relationships with Boston Market were very different. What remains in her mother's memory are specific moments while caring for her two daughters as a mother. As for me, I vaguely remember feelings from childhood: feeling safe, cozy, warm, happy, and home. But both are rooted in the importance of family dinners, a sentiment that resonates within the origin story of Boston's She Market.
The chain first opened as Boston Chicken in 1985, according to the New York Times. In the '90s and his 2000s, it became a novelty (and some might argue it still is). Boston Market's meats, especially rotisserie chicken and accompaniments, have become an upscale version of TV dinners. The commercials put the family at the center of the experience and promoted the chain's dining options as “real food.” By cooking less, we can spend more time together. still Eating cozy home-cooked meals? It was revolutionary, until it wasn't.
Since then, supermarkets across the country have jumped on board with the to-go rotisserie chicken trend, selling chicken at a lower price point than buying it at Boston Market. Grocery stores carry a wide selection of hot side dishes that are ready to eat at any time. My love for roasted chicken legs definitely stems from my childhood spent at Boston Market, but I can't deny the convenience of being able to pick up a Nature's Promise rotisserie chicken at Stop & Shop .
The last time I set foot in Boston Market was in the summer of 2022, on my way to Pennsylvania. When I saw the ad for the new rotisserie chicken, the concept sounded pretty innovative to a huge skewered chicken fan like me. I decided to record a taste test for fun, but the takeaway was anything but. It was dry chicken with a delicious dipping sauce and was edible.
Before that, in the summer of 2021, my husband and I went to the Boston Market Rest Area. I thought I'd stop by for a snack on the way. It was a long sip after all. The place ran out of rotisserie chicken (although we were told there would be another one), there were very few sides left and the staff looked like they wanted to hang up their aprons.
Over the past few years, I've been subconsciously picking up on red flags, but like a can of soup saved for a rainy day or a hamburger patty frozen in the freezer, Boston Market always… I thought it was there.
Do I take chain restaurants for granted? Am I as responsible for its demise as any other self-proclaimed fan who hasn't stepped through Boston Market's doors in years?
The truth is that this chain's seemingly sudden decline has been a slow burnout over the past few decades. In 1998, Boston Market filed for bankruptcy. It was later acquired by McDonald's in 2002 and sold to a private equity firm called Sun Capital Partners in 2007. In 2013, Nation Restaurant News reported that Boston Market opened its first location since Sun Capital Partners took over, and so far about 200 locations have opened. It's closed. In 2020, the company was acquired by the Lohan Group, owned by Jay Pandya, who was reportedly accused of failing to pay employees, commercial property owners and food distribution giant US Foods. He has been sued several times.
When asked by TODAY.com about reports that only 27 stores remain open, Pandya, which still owns Boston Market, denied this number and claimed that more than 50 stores are currently open. (TODAY.com could not confirm this number.) He says he is optimistic the chain can “recover to over 100 restaurants by the end of this year.”
At its peak, Boston Market reportedly had 1,200 stores, but after so many years of events, only 5% of that number remains. As an adult, I believe a revival is unrealistic, but my inner child once ate at Boston Market, even if that version of the restaurant hadn't existed for decades. I hold out hope that that blissful experience may return.
Perhaps Boston Market could lower its price range and be cheaper than the supermarkets. Perhaps a new appreciation for rotisserie chicken will sweep across the United States. After TikTok goes viral, Gen Z may make this chain trending again.
Maybe…the time has come to say goodbye.
who knows? But for now, I'm just googling the closest location in the Bronx, about 35 minutes away, and planning my last drive to Boston Market. With my mother, of course.
