Locke-Ober facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Locke-Ober Restaurant
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Locke-Ober Restaurant as it appeared in 2009
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| Location | 2 Winter Place, Boston, Massachusetts |
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| Built | 1832 |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 86001911 |
| Added to NRHP | July 24, 1986 |
Locke-Ober was a famous restaurant in Boston, Massachusetts. It opened around 1875 and closed in 2012. It was known for its delicious French cuisine, which is a fancy way of saying French food, and fresh seafood. It was one of the oldest restaurants in Boston, after places like the Union Oyster House and Durgin-Park.
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History of Locke-Ober
The building where Locke-Ober was located was built in 1832. It was designed in a style called Greek Revival, which means it looked like old Greek temples. A restaurant has been at this spot for a very long time.
In 1862, Adrien Destre ran a restaurant at 2 Winter Place. By 1868, F.A. Blanc was in charge. Then, around 1879, records show that Luis Ober owned the restaurant. It had already been open for more than twenty years by then. From the very beginning, this restaurant was known for its French food. It was also an important place for Boston's business, government, and smart thinkers.
Louis Ober was born in 1837 in Alsace, a region in France. When he was 14, Ober moved to New York. He worked many jobs, like a barber and a book seller. He also helped trade goods between the United States and France.
Ober lived and worked in several cities before settling in Boston. He worked at the restaurant when Blanc owned it. There, Ober learned a lot about French food, fine wines, and fancy decorations.
Ober's Restaurant Parisien
By 1875, Louis Ober bought the restaurant. He asked the city for permission to make it bigger. He got money from Eben Jordan, who helped start the Jordan Marsh Company, a big department store. The restaurant then reopened as Ober's Restaurant Parisien.
Over the next 20 years, the restaurant grew even more. It was filled with very fancy imported items. These included beautiful Honduran mahogany wood, French furniture, and Italian and French statues and paintings. There was also English silver and sparkling Bohemian crystal lights. These luxurious items were typical of the Gilded Age, a time in American history when many people became very rich and enjoyed fancy things.
For a long time, until 1970, only men were allowed to eat in the main dining room.
Later Years and Closure
By the late 1900s, Locke-Ober still looked grand with its original decorations. However, it was not as popular as it used to be. In 2001, a Boston chef named Lydia Shire and an investor named Paul Licari took over the restaurant. They carefully restored the main dining rooms. They also added two more modern rooms.
Even with these changes, the restaurant closed in 2012. The owners planned to sell the building. Today, a new restaurant called Yvonne's is in the same spot.
The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. This means it is recognized as an important historical place.
Locke-Ober in Pop Culture
Locke-Ober was a setting in several books and movies.
- In 1980, the restaurant was featured in the opening scene of Looking for Rachel Wallace. This was a detective novel by Robert B. Parker that starred the character Spenser.
- It was also the setting for the ending of Death in a Tenured Position (also called A Death in the Faculty). This book was written by Amanda Cross in 1981. The detective, Kate Fansler, solves the mystery while at the restaurant.
- In the movie Good Will Hunting, Professor Lambeau took Robin Williams' character, Sean, to Locke-Ober. He tried to convince Sean to work with the main character in the film.
