A Decades-Old Fenway Sports Bar Abruptly Shut Down This Week

Thornton’s Fenway Grille, a longtime anchor of the mini restaurant row on Peterborough Street in Fenway, called it quits this week. The restaurant’s ownership announced on Instagram this week that the casual bar and grille, popular with Red Sox game day crowds, is closing down, effective immediately. “After almost 33 years in the Fenway neighborhood, we’re sad to announce that we’ll be closing our doors this afternoon,” the announcement reads. “Thank you to our neighbors, friends and family for making Thornton’s so special.” Eater has reached out for more information on the closure.

Celtics stars honor two local Black food entrepreneurs with $100K in grant funding

Celtics starters Jaylen Brown and Jrue Holiday, alongside Jrue’s wife and former national soccer star Lauren Holiday, picked two Black food entrepreneurs — Tracy Skelly of Little Cocoa Bean Co., a cafe for toddlers in Jamaica Plain, and Emmanuel Mervil of Everybody Gotta Eat — to be among 10 Black small business owners receiving $100,000 in grant funding to help supercharge their businesses over the next three years, the Boston Globe reports. The group of 10 entrepreneurs is the first cohort recognized by Brown’s new nonprofit, Boston XChange, which aims to close Boston’s racial wealth gap and create a Black Wall Street in the city by helping to create $5 billion in generational wealth among Boston’s communities of color.

There’s a buzzy new restaurant debuting in Salem next month

Here’s a reason to book a train ticket to Salem after the October crowds fade: Bernadette, the second Salem restaurant from Settler owners Aaron and Shanna Chambers, is readying for a November opening, Boston Magazine reports. Aaron, who was previously the chef de cuisine at acclaimed French chef Daniel Boulud’s now-closed Bar Boulud in Boston, is grounding Bernadette’s menu in French traditions while still following the New England seasons. Look out for butter-poached Marblehead lobster and pâté en croûte with meats sourced from nearby farms on the opening menu.

Boston’s first Latino beer festival kicks off next weekend

Roundhead Brewing Company in Hyde Park is hosting the city’s first Latino beer festival, ContigoFest 2024, on Friday, October 25 and Saturday, October 26, the Boston Globe reports. Ten breweries, including Peruvian spot Cerveza 7 Vidas and Puerto Rican brewery Cervecería del Callejón, will be showcasing their beers at the festival, plus there’s a ticketed salsa dance party with live music from local performers Timba Messengers that starts at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday. Grab tickets here.