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Abby Park
Eyes Aug. 3 Opening

By Scott MacKeen
Staff Writer
7/30/09
A full-service restaurant, capable of serving up to 160 patrons, is set to open in the town’s busiest business hub.
With workers still busy putting on the finishing touches, restaurateur Vance Welch told Selectmen last week he is ready to open Abby Park to the public Aug. 3. A special event will be held for a smaller, select crowd two nights earlier.
The establishment will open at the former Video to Go space at 550 Adams St. in East Milton Square.
“We’re very excited about this. This is really going to look stunning,” said Welch, who formerly operated Java Jo’s Coffee House a few doors down until a fire forced him to close in 2007.
Abby Park has more or less been in the works since that time. After a series of public hearings, the Selectmen granted Welch’s business a liquor license in the fall. It will be one of two spots in town offering a chance to buy a drink with a meal. The new 88 Wharf restaurant, occupying ground-level space at the Wharf Street condominiums, also will serve alcoholic beverages and offer patrons indoor and outdoor settings along the Neponset River.
Welch, who continues to operate Java Jo’s in Jamaica Plain, said Abby Park’s menu will be “economically friendly,” with a broad range of American-style meals.
“You’ll be able to get a good meal for $9,” he said. “The prices don’t go much higher than $20.”
Recently, there has been a flurry of new activity at the restaurant site, with new furniture being brought in and construction kicking into high gear to have the restaurant open as soon as possible.
“When I drove by a couple of weeks ago, it didn’t look like it could possibly be open until sometime in October,” Selectmen Chair John Shields said.
“A lot has happened in the past few days,” Welch told the board July 22.
Conceptualized by designer Steve Tedesco, Abby Park’s dominant feature at the main level is a circular bar area, which will serve the full menu. The majority of the seating is upstairs, but a more intimate, 32-seat room was carved out of the basement space.
Tedesco’s prior works includes designing the Davio’s restaurants at Park Square in Boston and at Patriot Place in Foxboro.
According to the licensing guidelines, Welch can stay open for business until 11 p.m. from Sunday to Wednesday nights and midnight on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. With hours between 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. available, Welch plans to add a lunch menu during the week of Aug. 10.
“Certainly we wish you the best of luck. I think the community has been rooting for both of these restaurants,” Shields told Welch and John Collings, a manager for 88 Wharf.
For more information on Abby Park, visit www.abbypark.com. For information on 88 Wharf, visit www.88wharf.com.