Boston Market facts for kids
Current logo (April 2018–present)
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Boston Market restaurant
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Trade name
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Boston Market |
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Formerly
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Boston Chicken (1985–1995) |
| Private | |
| Industry | Restaurants |
| Genre | Fast casual |
| Founded |
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| Founders | Steven Kolow Arthur Cores |
| Headquarters |
Newtown Township, Pennsylvania
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United States
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Number of locations
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20 (March 2025) |
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Area served
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United States |
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Key people
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Jay Pandya (owner) |
| Products |
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| Revenue | US$ 373 million  (2020) |
| Owner | Engage Brands LLC |
Boston Market Corporation, also known as Boston Market, is an American restaurant chain. It was called Boston Chicken until 1995. The company's main office is in Newtown Township, Pennsylvania.
Boston Market is famous for helping to make rotisserie chickens popular. They also helped popularize "fast casual" dining, which is a type of restaurant that serves food quickly but is a step up from traditional fast food.
The restaurant's main dishes include rotisserie chicken, turkey, meatloaf, and ribs. Meals usually come with sides like mashed potatoes, creamed spinach, or mac & cheese, plus cornbread. You can also find Boston Market frozen meals and side dishes in supermarkets.
Contents
The Story of Boston Market
How Boston Market Started
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Boston Chicken was started in 1985 by Steven Kolow and Arthur Cores. They opened their first restaurant in Newton, Massachusetts, which is a town near Boston. The chain grew very quickly in the early and mid-1990s.
Changing the Name and Menu
When it first started, Boston Chicken mainly sold rotisserie chicken and different side dishes. In 1995, the company added new foods like turkey, meatloaf, and ham to its menu. To show these new options, they changed the name to Boston Market in the fall of 1995. The company's official name became Boston Market Corporation in 1997.
In 1995, Boston Chicken also helped create the Einstein Bros. Bagels chain, which sells bagels and other baked goods.
Growth and Challenges
Boston Market grew very fast, but this growth also led to financial difficulties. The company borrowed a lot of money to open new stores. In 1998, the company faced big financial problems and had to close many of its restaurants.
Since 1999, you could find some Boston Market-branded foods in supermarkets across the United States.
In May 2000, McDonald's Corporation bought Boston Market. McDonald's kept the restaurants open and even helped them grow more. However, in 2007, McDonald's sold Boston Market to another company called Sun Capital Partners.
New Foods and Recent Times
In 2013, Boston Market opened its first new restaurant in seven years in Florida. In 2015, they added ribs to their menu.
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In 2018, Boston Market started offering rotisserie prime rib nationwide on certain days of the week. In 2019, the chain closed 45 locations. In 2020, they introduced baby back ribs with Sweet Baby Ray's sauce.
In April 2020, Sun Capital Partners sold Boston Market to Engage Brands, LLC. After this, the company faced many challenges. It had problems paying its suppliers and employees, which led to many stores closing. By the end of 2024, the number of Boston Market restaurants had dropped significantly.
What's on the Menu?
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Boston Market offers a variety of meats and side dishes. Their main item is rotisserie chicken, which you can get as a whole, half, or quarter chicken. They also serve roasted turkey, meatloaf, and ribs.
Popular side dishes include:
- Mashed potatoes (with gravy)
- Mac n' cheese
- Creamed spinach
- Steamed vegetables like broccoli
- Cornbread
- Sweet potato casserole
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You can also find sandwiches, soups, salads, and desserts like chocolate cake or cookies. For a while, they even offered rotisserie chicken nuggets.
During holidays like Thanksgiving dinner, Boston Market offers special meal packages. These can include a whole rotisserie turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, and pies.
The Boston Market brand of frozen foods sold in supermarkets is made by Bellisio Foods. These products include chicken pot pies and mashed potatoes.
Trademark Dispute
In 2002, Boston Pizza, a Canadian restaurant chain, started a legal case against Boston Market. This was about using the word "Boston" in their names in Canada. The two companies settled their disagreement in 2008. Boston Market agreed not to use "Boston" or "Boston Market" for restaurants or most food products in Canada for five years.
Recent Financial Challenges
In 2023 and 2024, Boston Market faced serious financial problems. Many of its locations closed down. For example, in July 2023, a Boston Market in Danbury, Connecticut, was evicted because it owed a lot of money for rent.
In August 2023, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development ordered 27 Boston Market stores in New Jersey to stop working. This was because the company owed money to its employees. The employees were later paid, and the stores were allowed to reopen.
By November 2023, many Boston Market locations in areas like Detroit and Connecticut were permanently closed due to unpaid rent. The company also faced legal issues related to its financial difficulties.
In January 2024, Boston Market announced that people could open a Boston Market franchise without the usual fees. However, the company continued to face legal and financial challenges, leading to more store closures.
See also
- List of casual dining restaurant chains
- List of chicken restaurants
