Boston chef Barbara Lynch is closing all of her restaurants

Boston's Barbara Lynch era is officially coming to an end. Lorraine Tomlinson-Hall, Lynch's chief operating officer, confirmed to Eater today that Lynch is closing all remaining restaurants after other local outlets reported the Rudder's sole closure in Gloucester this morning: The Rudder is closing, but so is Lynch's flagship in Beacon Hill, no. 9 Park and B&G Oysters in the South End. The rudder is closed with immediate effect, the No. 9 Park will close at the end of the year and B&G's exact closing date has not yet been determined.

“I am very proud of what I have accomplished over three decades creating these beloved establishments where so many of you celebrate your special occasions,” Lynch said in a statement about the closures. “The harsh reality of the global pandemic and the many difficulties require significant investments that neither I nor my fellow shareholders are prepared to make.”

The group is working to complete the sale of the space while restaurants close. Tomlinson-Hall says she is in advanced discussions with a buyer for No. 9 Park and the group hopes no jobs will be lost at the restaurant if ownership changes. “A lot of hard work has been done to find a buyer interested in developing this iconic space, with a desire to build on the legacy that is No. 9 Park for 26 years,” Tomlinson-Hall said in an email.

If everything goes according to plan, the sale will be completed and the restaurant will be renovated starting January 2, 2025. The group is planning the closure to allow for one final holiday season at the restaurant, including the last annual holiday lunch gift card redemption period before closing after service on Dec. 31.

The news comes less than a year after Lynch closed Sportello, Menton and Drink in Fort Point and Butcher Shop and Stir in the South End. When the group announced the closure in early January, the group was also looking for buyers for the space. The Butcher Shop space was originally intended for a Lynch protégé, but that deal fell through and the space has since been taken over by the South End's Mazi Food Group (Kava Neo-Taverna, Ilona, ​​Gigi), which plans to open one All-Stores plans one-day gastropub in a few months. The future of the other rooms is still unknown.

The last few years have been turbulent for Lynch and her restaurants. Over a dozen employees spoke up Boston Globe and the New York Times that Lynch promoted toxic workplaces after the deaths of two Menton employees, which she has denied. Separately, a group of employees sued Lynch last year over alleged withholding of tips during the pandemic, which she has also denied. (That lawsuit is ongoing.) Lynch was also arrested and charged with drunk driving in 2017.

Still, Lynch is a well-known figure in Boston's restaurant scene. The South Boston native has been a chef since the late 1990s, when her James Beard Award-winning restaurant No. 9 Park opened in Beacon Hill, a driving force in putting Boston restaurants in the national spotlight. She went on to open five more restaurants in Boston, cementing her status as one of the city's most well-known (and prolific) restaurateurs. Projects ranged from the gourmet destination Menton to Drink, Lynch's underground cocktail bar where there was no menu and each drink was made to the guest's taste. The latter was a leader in the industry, ushering in a new era of craft cocktail bars in the US when it opened in 2008.