September 12, 2024
Scobie’s Café & Bar, Boston’s newest Irish pub and restaurant, opened its doors and pulled its first pints for the public on Sept. 6. Husband-and-wife owners John and Anne Lydon have created a space that seeks to bring a bit of Ireland’s West Coast to Dorchester’s most identifiably Irish business district, Adams Village. The cozy eatery has two fireplaces, a 17-seat bar, and room for 120 people along with a take-away café counter.
“Since I was a child, my heart has been split between my mother’s Dorchester roots and my father’s Irish roots,” said John Lydon, who lives in Savin Hill. “Scobie’s is a place where Anne and I would like to try to bring the two together.”
The Lydons are already well-versed in the rigors involved in running licensed establishments. They are the owners and operators of Shamrock Pub in South Boston. John and Anne, who have children ages 5 and 3, travelled to Ireland last summer and brought home a hearty list of ideas that will inform the look and feel of Scobie’s.
The vision, John and Anne say, is “a place where you can get a pot of tea and have a long chat with an old friend; catch a broadcast game from Ireland over an Irish breakfast or get together for a community fundraiser.” The space in question originally housed a bank called Minot Cooperative and was most recently occupied by the Butcher Shop and Deli, which just relocated to a smaller space two doors down. The restaurant conversion is the latest in several improvements made to 512 Gallivan Blvd. by the Lydons in recent months. Other tenants in the building include China Sky, PS Gourmet Coffee, Top Shelf Cookies, a dental office, and Attorney Michael P. Doolin.
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