At 11 William E. Mullins Way, the rum bar's tropical cocktails now come with green papaya salad and krapow gai dumplings in toasted chili oil. The chef cooking them worked for the group that owns the bar, and he came back for its final months. Shore Leave, its sushi sibling No Relation, and Bar Mezzana around the corner at 360 Harrison Avenue all close on New Year's Day 2027.
That gives the Ink Block about nine weeks from today. Across the South End's Harrison and Tremont corridors, the changes this fall follow lease terms that were announced well ahead, and each room is passing to someone with ties to the block or to an owner looking for exactly that kind of successor.
A ten-year lease, read to the end
Bar Mezzana marked ten years in June. Shore Leave opened eight years ago, and No Relation is its sushi bar. All three belong to Colin Lynch's Traveler Street Hospitality, which he runs with Heather Lynch and partner Jefferson Macklin. When the Boston Globe reported the closings in July, Lynch tied the decision to one document:
"It's a decision based on resigning the lease and whether we thought it was prudent. The new lease would have entailed a strain on the business. We would have limped along. Leases go up. It's not like we didn't see it coming."
He told the Globe that he has a strong relationship with the landlord, National Development, and that the group's investors "got paid back and then some." These restaurants are leaving at the end of a full lease term. They paid back their investors, and the next lease didn't make sense for them.
The timing was planned too. Lynch announced the closings six months ahead so employees had time to decide whether to stay through the end or find new jobs. He told the Globe he made that choice knowing it could leave the restaurants short-staffed. Ryan Lotz, beverage director and managing partner for Shore Leave and No Relation, gave the Globe a fair summary of the run: "Eight years of Shore Leave is nuts for a weird little rum bar with occasional drag shows."
Black Lamb, the group's South End brasserie, will stay open. No new tenant has been named for 360 Harrison Avenue or for 11 William E. Mullins Way.
Shore Leave gives its kitchen to a former cook
Shore Leave's last season shows the handoff pattern most clearly. Chef Veo Robert's Lao pop-up, Phaeng & Phiu, moved in on September 15 for a residency that runs through December 31. Shore Leave's old menu is gone. Robert worked at Traveler Street Hospitality from 2021 to 2024, and his own site calls the invitation back "a real homecoming."
Boston Magazine described the residency as Robert taking up residence for the bar's final few months. It also noted his focus on local sourcing, such as the pad kee mao talay, a rice noodle dish made with New England seafood. Boston.com added fried chicken wings with a sauce of chili jam and padaek, a fermented fish condiment, and said the heat plays against Shore Leave's sweet drinks.
The residency's own page lists service Tuesday through Saturday, 5 to 10 p.m., with takeout and delivery. Boston.com printed a different schedule, Tuesday through Sunday until December 21. Check the current schedule with the restaurant before planning a late-December dinner.
The rooms on Harrison and Tremont that already changed hands
The Ink Block's closing date is the furthest out. Elsewhere in the neighborhood, the same cycle is already further along.
| Address | Previous tenant | Status as of late October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| 600 Harrison Ave. | Atlántico | C'Yool Yemeni Cafe & Bakery, open since September |
| 416 Tremont St. | Rome Pizza, about 30 years | Roma Pizza & Company, open since mid-October |
| 553 Tremont St. | Banyan Bar + Refuge | Open; owner looking for a local operator to take it over |
| 360 Harrison Ave. | Bar Mezzana | Closing January 1, 2027; no successor named |
| 11 William E. Mullins Way | Shore Leave, No Relation | Closing January 1, 2027; no successor named |
At 600 Harrison Avenue, Boston Restaurant Talk reported in September that C'Yool had taken over the former Atlántico space. The menu includes Yemeni mountain coffee, qishr made from coffee husks and spices, honeycomb bread and manakeesh. WhatNow Boston identified the concept lead as local restaurateur Ahmed Mahmood, owner of Bab Al-Yemen.
The handoff at 416 Tremont Street was the fastest. Boston Restaurant Talk reported on September 24 that Rome Pizza had closed after thirty years. Three weeks later, the same outlet reported that Roma Pizza & Company was open in the space. It serves pizza, steak tips, chicken milanese and pasta for lunch and dinner every day.
At 553 Tremont, Rebecca Roth Gullo of the Gallows Group is choosing her successor. She told the Boston Business Journal that she plans to sell Banyan Bar + Refuge while she raises money to take Blackbird Doughnuts national. As Boston Restaurant Talk summarized, she wants to pass the business to a local restaurant person. "It's my neighborhood," she said, adding that "some great local operator will take it over." Banyan is still operating while she looks.
Nine weeks, in order
Both closings and openings on these corridors fall on fixed dates, so the season can be planned. Here is the stretch from this week to New Year's Day:
- October 31 to November 22: Front Porch Arts Collective's The Wash at the Wimberly Theatre, 527 Tremont St. Tickets are pay-what-you-wish, $10 to $60.
- November 6: SoWa First Friday at 450 and 460 Harrison Ave., 5 to 9 p.m., free. It happens on the first Friday of every month.
- November 12 to 22: The Beauty Queen of Leenane at the BCA Black Box Theatre, 539 Tremont St. Tickets are $58, with 3 p.m. Sunday shows.
- November 15: The last SoWa Open Market of the season, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 500 Harrison Ave. The organizer hasn't listed any winter dates.
- November 20: The SoWa Christmas Market opens at the Power Station, 550 Harrison Ave., 4 to 9 p.m. Matt Koelsch plays from 5 to 9 p.m. Admission is $10 and free for children 12 and under. The market runs through December 27 and is closed on Thanksgiving.
- December 3: Country night at the Christmas Market, with line dancing and a mechanical bull, 5 to 9 p.m.
- December 31: The last scheduled night of the Phaeng & Phiu residency.
- January 1, 2027: Bar Mezzana, Shore Leave and No Relation close.
During December, the Christmas Market stays open until 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. That makes it easy to pair a market visit with dinner a few hundred feet away on William E. Mullins Way.
Booking the last tables
None of the three restaurants has announced a farewell menu, a last-service event or New Year's Eve plans. For now, each is running its usual service with its usual reservation links. Bar Mezzana still lists its regular menus and private-event information. No Relation still seats its 17-course omakase Tuesday through Saturday. The Phaeng & Phiu residency takes bookings through OpenTable from its residency page.
Lynch told the Globe that announcing early could leave the restaurants short-staffed by the end, so booking ahead for December makes sense.
This past summer, the change in the neighborhood was on Washington Street, where residents were opening restaurants of their own. This fall, the turnover is on Harrison and Tremont, as leases end and the spaces go to their next operators.
If you want to know how this season's changes along Harrison and Tremont relate to a property you own or are considering, David Mackie can talk it through privately and keep you informed about South End properties, including off-market opportunities as they come up.
