Rosebud Diner totally gutted

[ron_newman]

The interior of the Rosebud Diner has been totally demolished. It's unrecognizable now.

One of the diner's front windows has two city permits displayed -- one for the demolition, the other for a dumpster. The permits were issued on January 31, so this work happened fast once it started.

If anyone has any news or even relevant rumors about what the owner's plans are, please post them here.

Comments

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

IIRC the Rosebud has some kind of historic landmark designation? Does that cover the inside as well, or just the outside?

[ravingwanderer.livejournal.com]

The Rosebud is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (Wikipedia link (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rosebud_%28diner%29)). This does not confer any sort of protection (against modification up to and including demolition); local or state legislation and designation is required for that.

[ron_newman]

Being on the National Register provides some limited protection, in that governmental funds can't be used to demolish the building or remove its historic characteristics.

The Rosebud is a Somerville "local historic district", which protects the exterior (including the painted Rosebud logo on the front and the neon sign above). State law does not give any municipality other than Boston the power to protect interiors.

Also, the Rosebud's interior wasn't really historic -- the décor we have become fond of dates back only to the late 1990s, when it was last renovated.

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

Thanks Ron; didn't know the interior was that recent. Thought maybe the booths and stuff were original.

[ron_newman]

I'm not sure, but they may have been moved into the Rosebud from some other diner that was closing at the time.

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the information; I wasn't aware just what was and wasn't protected.

[smammy]

Yeeeah! I'm glad something's happening other than it just sitting empty for years.

(And quite honestly, the Rosebud regularly disappointed me. I'd convince myself that diner food + gin'n'tonics was a winning combination, and then re-discover that the neither the food nor the drinks were that great.)

[keithn.livejournal.com]

They are lucky they have Rosebud's existing liquor license to work with, otherwise we'd have Alderman Gewirtz holding redevelopment hostage unless they created an organic gluten free co-op for battered white rhinos.

[courtney o'keefe (from livejournal.com)]

Ha ha...

[bluesauce.livejournal.com]

Oh noes, another drinking hole's about to come into the square. Won't someone please think of the children?

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

"Nothing good ever happens after 9:00pm."

[littlecitynames.livejournal.com]

How I Met Your Mother Boston

[gothic-ham.livejournal.com]

Don't have any way to confirm this - but I heard the owner of Posto & the Painted Burro might be opening a place in that spot. There's also a Painted Burro that's going to open up in Downtown Crossing, apparently.

[sd210.livejournal.com]

I also heard that the folks from Posto & the Painted Burro were taking this place over. I just did some digging online and it appears that a new corporation named Rosebud Restaurant Inc. was formed last fall, and the President of that corporation is the same guy who runs Posto & the Painted Burro (all part of the the Alpine Restaurant Group). All I can say is HURRAY!!! I love both of those restaurants and I welcome them opening another in Davis Square!

[teko.livejournal.com]

I'm a little confused -- when the Rosebud closed, all the news articles (like this one (http://somerville.patch.com/groups/business-news/p/rosebud-diner-to-get-new-owner-updated-look-and-food)) spoke to the new owner, Marty Bloom of Vinny Testa's, who said that he was planning on doing a major update on the interior while keeping the outside the same. As I remember, the historic commission-protected exterior is why Tasty Burger pulled out of purchasing the place, since it limited what they could renovate.

Did Marty Bloom sell the place to The Alpine Group? And if so, should I be worried about the future of Out of the Blue, which sits right between Rosebud and Painted Burro?

[sd210.livejournal.com]

According to the registry of deeds, a corporation called 381 Jumbo LLC bought the property last June for $1.3 million (all public record). If you look up that corp, Martin Bloom is memeber of Jumbo LLC. So, looks like Martin's compay still owns the property. I'm guessing he is leasing to The Alpine Group (although no Notice of Lease has been filed, which would be typical of a long term lease).

[teko.livejournal.com]

As a follow-up, the rumors were true -- Eater is reporting (http://boston.eater.com/archives/2014/02/25/painted-burro-owner-to-turn-rosebud-into-a-roadhouse.php) that the Painted Burro folks (Alpine Restaurant Group) are going to turn the Rosebud into a "roadhouse diner". It'll still be called The Rosebud.

[ron_newman]

Thanks! Sounds like the place may become an ironic hipster version of its former self, but that's better than having it sit empty or slowly deteriorate.

[10engines.livejournal.com]

Can't wait to see what they do with it. J

[living life happier (from livejournal.com)]

Here's a small update, fwiw:
http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2014/02/25/restaurateur-joe-cassinelli-to-open-the-rosebud-with-a-new-roadhouse-concept/

[francescadavis.livejournal.com]

My understanding from someone in the food and beverage biz is that they will be serving comfort food. Still a bit vague...but given Posto and Painted Burro...maybe interesting macaroni and cheese, stews, grilled cheese? Hoping "comfort food" creates a diverse offering v. what is currently offered at the existing American bar/restaurants in Davis (Foundry, Orleans, Joshua Tree, Five Horses Tavern, etc...) It doesn't appear they will be taking advantage of the entertainment license? Does anyone know otherwise?

[ron_newman]

I hope you're wrong about the entertainment license, because we can always use more live-music venues.