Commonwealth's "Chef Nookie" taking over former Subway space

[teko.livejournal.com]

I had missed this news, but Eater reports that the owner/chef of Commonwealth, Steve "Nookie" Postal, has signed a lease to take over the former Subway on Elm St. and create a new restaurant. He hasn't announced what it is yet, but I really like what he's done with the Commonwealth space, so this is awesome news.

Comments

[keithn.livejournal.com]

Incoming resistance from jlauspitz in 3... 2...

[ron_newman]

I believe no zoning approvals are needed because one restaurant is replacing another.

[keithn.livejournal.com]

Are they going to be serving alcohol? If so, what license are they going to be using? If they can't obtain an existing license, that will be a fight. His Commonwealth restaurant does serve alcohol.

[nonelvis]

According to this article from The Boston Globe, the current concept is for a coffee shop. (I guess Davis doesn't have enough of those already.) But the concept is still up in the air, so I guess a liquor license might still be needed.

[teko.livejournal.com]

While I miss having an inexpensive sandwich option in the square, I think it's kind of amazing how much good dining has come to Davis in just a few years. A 'nightmare location' that was a Carberry's, O'Naturals, Boloco, and a couple of other things (I've forgotten) has done great business as Posto; a past-its-prime diner and waaaay past its prime Italian restaurant became the popular Rosebud, and now we're getting some sort of new dining concept from Nookie in a former Subway that's in such bad shape that the Subway company abandoned it.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

That Subway was the first Bertucci's and successful until they closed it, not because it wasn't doing business but because the company was all huge and they insisted on standardizing and that location wasn't big enough to handle the full kitchen and full menu. I guess Subway couldn't handle it, but it was a good location before that.

The Posto location just needed booze.

[teko.livejournal.com]

I was talking with the 'sandwich artist' at the Subway in Powderhouse, and he said he'd worked there for a little bit before they closed; according to him, a pipe broke and flooded the store. Subway came in and fixed the place up, but it flooded again before re-opening, and they gave up.

I'm fascinated by Nookie's comments in that Globe article about it still having a bocce court in the basement!

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Ah, I didn't know why Subway closed. I realize my comment may have been unclear -- I was talking about why Bertucci's closed. I miss the bocce court!

[pakoo.livejournal.com]

wow, so many changes. This does look interesting though. I still wish I knew the reason why the DavisSquare Donut & Bagel place is not going to open...

[serious-noir.livejournal.com]

No inside info at all but from this earlier post (http://davis-square.livejournal.com/3572703.html) it seems that the donut tenant was going to be the owner of the newish gyro shop on Highland. Perhaps that gyro business is not going well? Whenever I have passed by there has been no one in there aside from a counter person.

[mamabunny72.livejournal.com]

I saw some comments on Reddit/Somerville (https://www.reddit.com/r/Somerville/comments/4tmj0u/davis_square_will_not_be_getting_a_doughnut_and/) that were not favorable about the gyro shop.

[teko.livejournal.com]

Sadly I don't think it's doing well; its lack of business was my theory as to why the donut shop isn't opening, as well.

I was very excited to have a dedicated "authentic" gyro shop in the square, but was not impressed by their offerings. The portions aren't large, they're kind of pricey, and not very good. Instead of slicing the meat off the kebabs with a big knife, they use these electric 'meat shaver' gizmos, so you get a pita filled with very thin shavings of meat rather that juicy chunks. And instead of the usual veggies (lettuce, tomato, peppers) they smear the inside with tzatziki sauce and then stuff in a handful of french fries. I don't know if a french-fry-filled gyro is "authentic" or not, but I'd much rather go to Greek Corner or even Cristo's for gyros than Opa. They also have kebabs on the menu, but every time I've seen someone order one, the staff would say "uh... those will take a while... why don't you get a gyro instead?"

[jducoeur]

... french fries? That sounds like a horrible thing to do to a gyro...

[hikermtnbiker.livejournal.com]

Agreed. I'm no gyro expert but theirs was pretty dry and flavorless. The thin slices of pre-cut meat were the root cause. Cold and dry. It was downhill from there. I'll never go back.

Oddly I've encountered the french fries in sandwiches before. This was at a Greek sub/gyro/pizza shop in Denmark. The addition of fries to your sandwich was an option. I was a bit shocked to see them show up in my gyro at Opa's. So perhaps this is some kind of custom elsewhere.