In East Boston, the Spots Open Late Offer More Than a Pint

When Eddie C's closed in Maverick Square in early 2025, the liquor license stayed on the block. Joe Skoczylas and Corinne Balesano took it over for the gray stone building next door at 34 Maverick Square, which Skoczylas's family has owned for more than 100 years, the Boston Globe reported. They gutted the space and dealt with structural problems, including a collapsing roof. The bar they are building, The Spur, plans to stay open until 2 a.m.

That same September, a ten-year-old tavern in Jeffries Point closed. Its owner said fewer people go out for craft beer.

The places staying open late into fall 2026 each give people a reason to come out besides a beer list. Some do it with food, some with music, some by running from morning coffee to a late glass of wine. The pub built around craft beer closed.

The Tavern That Called It Before Winter

Cunard Tavern at 24 Orleans St. served its last night on Sunday, September 27, after nearly a decade in business, Boston Restaurant Talk reported. When it opened, it served global pub food like chipotle mac and cheese, clam-topped burgers and octopus dumplings, along with a lot of craft beer. In 2024, James Beard award winner Tony Messina joined as chef-partner and brought in a gastropub menu.

Owner Phil Frattaroli explained the decision to the Boston Globe in plain terms:

"Eastie has changed a lot in 10 years, and the concept that launched 10 years ago doesn't make a lot of sense right now. It made more sense [to close] rather than prolonging it and hoping for the best during the winter."

He told the Globe that dining tastes have shifted and that fewer people go out for craft beer. "We're worried about this generation not drinking," he said. He also described East Boston as "like an island in a lot of ways."

The Orleans Street building may not stay dark long. Frattaroli owns it, and it once housed his grandfather's woodworking shop. He told the Globe he might open a new restaurant there in the spring and isn't ruling out an Italian menu. For now his focus is a Winchester outpost of Caffe Ducali, and he said Cunard employees could move there.

Frattaroli's own explanation is the starting point. A bar that leads with its beer list now depends on a customer who goes out less often. The places below are answering that with something other than beer.

Pomona Stays Open All Day

Pomona Café & Wine Bar opened in July at 18 Meridian St., where Meridian and Paris streets meet in a V, Boston Magazine reported. Its hours run from 8 a.m. to midnight every day.

That 16-hour day is the business plan. Mornings bring single-origin Colombian coffee from Fazenda in Dedham, and brunch comes out of the kitchen. At night the room switches to cocktails, wine and shared plates. Executive chef Johnatan Pérez runs the brunch and dinner menus, and manager Juan Ruiz runs the wine program. General manager Pablo Isaza told Boston Magazine the goal is to connect people through food, drawing on Colombian food culture.

The owner, Elkin Villegas, was the project's contractor before he became its owner during the buildout. The Meridian Street café is loosely affiliated with the Pomona in Swampscott but owned separately. A midnight wine bar that is also your morning coffee stop doesn't depend on any one kind of customer, and that answers the problem Frattaroli described.

The Spur Is Built Around a Stage

The Spur takes that idea further. Its owners describe it as a cowboy bar, and Skoczylas drew the line clearly for the Globe: "Country is a style of music. Cowboy has roots you can trace back hundreds of years." General manager and entertainment director Steven Mendoza, a former Marine and pro rodeo athlete, has spent months scouting local and national acts. The lineup goes beyond country to rock-leaning sets, jazz, surf rock and throwbacks.

There's a charitable side too. A portion of proceeds, including all merchandise sales, will go to animal rescue organizations, starting with Paws Saving Paws, the Texas nonprofit where the couple adopted their dog, Zero. Every dollar tipped to the bands will be matched with a donation.

The detail that matters most for the square's late hours is the food. The Spur has no kitchen of its own. The owners were seeking permits for a food truck that would serve as the bar's kitchen and as a late-night food stop in what the Globe called "sleepy Maverick Square," where most businesses close early. Skoczylas said he hopes other businesses will stay open later, too. He pictures customers having a few drinks at The Spur and then heading across the street to Taco Mex, whose owner, Luis Vasco, he called a close collaborator and friend. "We're not trying to be the only ones around," Skoczylas told the Globe. "We want to make sure that everybody has a chance to make money."

As of late September, Patch reported that The Spur had not announced an official opening date, and Caught in Eastie said the team hoped to open in the coming weeks. Check that the doors are open before you plan a night around it.

Two Places Already Open Until 1 a.m.

East Boston already has two places open until 1 a.m. Each pairs its bar with food, one for the whole night and one for the dinner hours.

At The Quiet Few, 331 Sumner St., the kitchen closes at 10 p.m. but a rotating grilled-cheese menu runs until 1 a.m. every night. The bar is open daily until 1 a.m. It opens at 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 2 p.m. on Fridays and noon on weekends. The patio closes at 10 p.m. It's dine-in only and first come, first served, with no reservations, takeout or delivery. It no longer accepts American Express. Its official site lists the hours.

ReelHouse, at 6 New St. on the waterfront, splits the night in two. Dinner ends at 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and at 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and the bar stays open daily until 1 a.m., according to ReelHouse's own site.

East Boston's Closing Times This Fall

The Quiet Few keeps its grilled-cheese menu going until its 1 a.m. close. Pomona runs from morning coffee to a midnight close. ReelHouse's dinner service ends hours before its bar closes at 1 a.m. Cunard Tavern, the one place on the list that closed, opened as a craft-beer pub.

What Is Still Unsettled on the Late-Night Map

Three things will decide how East Boston looks after 10 p.m. this winter:

1. The Spur's opening date. It is the one venue aiming to stay open until 2 a.m., and it would put live music in Maverick Square.
2. The Spur's food-truck permit. Without it, the bar has no kitchen, and the late-night food the owners described for the square depends on that truck.
3. The Orleans Street building in spring. Frattaroli owns it and has floated a new restaurant, possibly Italian, without committing to a plan.

Until those are settled, the places reliably open late in East Boston are Pomona until midnight, and The Quiet Few and ReelHouse's bar until 1 a.m.

If you own near Maverick Square or the waterfront and want to know how these changes fit into your property's value, Guy Contaldi can prepare a valuation built on block-by-block local knowledge. Schedule a consultation to talk it through.