Fajitas & ‘Ritas closure marks turning point for city centre restaurants

The hole this creates, the size of a margarita mug, will be difficult to fill in many ways.

For decades, Fajitas & ‘Ritas served as a welcoming haven for young professionals and students in the area looking for cheap, hearty food and drinks, especially in an area surrounded by upscale establishments like Estella, Legal Sea Foods and the Ritz-Carlton’s Artisan Bistro. It was — and increasingly has been in recent years — a stable, lonely island in a downtown that has seen its fortunes rise and fall.

After the restaurant closed its doors for good on July 13, the city center once again faced a turning point: where can you still have a quiet meal and a few drinks without spending hundreds of dollars?

Part of Fajitas & ‘Ritas’ unique appeal was the fact that its prices have barely changed since it opened in 1989. Adjusted for inflation, a plate of steak fajitas cost almost exactly the same as it did then. That’s remarkable, considering that food prices have outpaced core inflation.

“As new places get built, they may not be able to build at the price point that Fajitas and Rita’s had,” owner Brad Fredericks said. “The whole project is so much more expensive, so how casual can you go?”

Fredericks stressed that his restaurant was not closing for financial reasons; the landlord had chosen not to renew the lease, likely as a first step toward eventually putting the building on the market.

It’s not inconceivable that in a few years, another restaurant will occupy the same space. That’s the hope of Michael J. Nichols, president of the Downtown Boston Business Improvement District, who noted that downtown vacancies are declining; he says there are more dining options (including indoor food stalls) now than there were before the pandemic.

At the same time, he acknowledges that the cost of doing business for the restaurant industry has increased since the pandemic, and that retail rents are still largely where they were four years ago, when offices were full and foot traffic was booming.

That limits the flexibility of restaurant owners who want to open a new full-service eatery that’s both casual and affordable. As for rents, Nichols said he’s encouraged landlords to think outside the box when attracting potential retail tenants, such as offering below-market rents in exchange for a percentage of sales. But some hurdles, including construction costs and the inaccessibility of new liquor licenses, make it particularly difficult for independent, non-chain restaurants to get a foothold.

Nichols would argue that Downtown is doing better in that regard than expensive neighborhoods like Back Bay and Seaport, noting that the pressure on the restaurant industry is being felt “absolutely everywhere else.” But Fajitas & ‘Ritas isn’t the only Downtown fixture to close in recent months; Silvertone Bar & Grill called it quits last month, citing the fallout from the pandemic.

And while there are still a few affordable, sit-down options open in the city center, like Beantown Pub and Elephant & Castle, Nichols acknowledged that Fajitas and ‘Ritas was “one of our few full-fledged Mexican restaurants.”

“We hope that a similar concept will return to (the city centre) in the future,” he said.

That would be welcome news for the unexpected legions of devoted Fajitas & ‘Ritas fans. Many of the loyal customers would swear, as Gregory Payne does, that the restaurant had some kind of “special sauce” that set it apart in the changing ecosystem of downtown (and he’s not referring to the wings).

“The authentic Mexican restaurants that aren’t Chipotle and aren’t fast food chains are part of an era that we should cherish, and I think we should try to preserve that as best we can,” said Payne, the chair of the communication studies department at nearby Emerson College, who was on hand the first day “Ritas” opened.

The closure leaves a sparse area for cheap Mexican food downtown. Before the pandemic, Herrera’s Grill was around the corner on Temple Street and Papagayo’s was literally next door; now the closest options are a couple of Chipotles and an El Jefe’s Taqueria.

Fajitas and ‘Ritas was never located in the most affluent or energetic part of downtown — even pre-COVID it was on a sleepy side street lined with empty storefronts. But wedged between the Theater District and Downtown Crossing, it was a prime spot to witness the neighborhood’s transformation, from the notoriously seedy “Combat Zone” to luxury condos and the “new” Ritz-Carlton.

For now, Fredericks has ditched the idea of ​​reviving his restaurant elsewhere (though he did say he’d be open to leasing the name). But that hasn’t stopped Payne and others from trying to preserve the space and its character in some way, filing a petition with Mayor Michelle Wu’s office.

Payne, who has hosted numerous lectures and events at the restaurant over the years, says there was something unique about the place, as happy to host Senators Ted Kennedy and Joe Biden as it was to host humanities students on a budget.

“To me, it’s a very real world,” Payne said. “It just is what it is, and it doesn’t matter if you like it or not.”

Now he will have to look for that spirit elsewhere.

Camilo Fonseca can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @fonseca_esq and Instagram @camilo_fonseca.reports.