While the owners of Chez Vous roller rink make their living moving on wheels, the family-owned business isn’t going anywhere. The smell of fried chicken, a freshly polished maple wood floor, and the sound of rolling wheels set to hip-hop and R&B classics defines a community staple at the nexus of Dorchester and Mattapan that is recognizable to many at a glance.

Nowadays, the rink is getting even more attention from fresh eyes as pop culture turns in favor of Chez Vous.

Founded in 1933 at the intersection of Morton Street and Blue Hill Avenue, the rink has been a Black-owned family business since the 1990s when Edward Toney, Sr., purchased it from Bernard Leventhal, a long-time family friend with whom he had worked before the sale. Coming out of the pandemic, the business has been passed on to Toney’s children, Derick Foster-Toney and Edward Toney, Jr. Now the two brothers are accommodating a new generation of jammers and wheel dancers.

Foster-Toney was virtually born with skates on his feet; he started skating when he was 10 months old. “That’s tradition,” he said in an interview. “If you’re a skater, it’s almost against code to not get your child up on skates as soon as possible.”

Chez Vous co-owners Derick Foster-Toney, left, and Edward Toney, Jr., right, with friend Cleon Byron, who helps to promote some skating events at the rink.

In 2014, he was the first to come on board with his father and make his own move by starting a side business called Boston Swerve to promote roller skating regionally and around the country.

“I took the first interest because I have a personal love for roller skating that goes beyond owning the place,” said Foster-Toney. “I’ve been at the forefront and then my siblings came along and now we are all running it every day without my parents. We started together just before the pandemic, and then had to shut down for a long time, and now we’ve been back up and are running it together full speed.”

Foster-Toney notes that there are many in the community and beyond who don’t know the dynamic history of Chez Vous, as it has always been known. Beyond the classic, high-quality floor that isn’t found just anywhere, there also are the remembrances and the community that has sprung up around this unique Dorchester/Mattapan-based business.

“Chez Vous goes back so many generations,” said Foster-Toney. “There are so many different eras of Chez Vous you can speak of. It’s truly a pillar, not just of this community, but of Greater Boston, the state, and New England – not to mention the celebrities who have passed through or performed concerts here. People look at Chez Vous as more than the average skating rink.”

When the Toney family took over the rink in the 1990s, it adapted to its current persona – colorful lighting, the graffiti wall, school field trips, and an extensive food menu that includes fried chicken, hand-made pizza, even full dinners.

The facility perhaps has been taken for granted at times, but today it’s starting to be discovered regionally, said Foster-Toney, who suggests that the new recognition has a lot to do with roller skating’s sudden popularity in the media, where teen-agers and adults young and old are being hooked into the roller rink scene.

The roller-skating culture was alive and well before the pandemic, he said, but during rink lockdowns, people tried different things, one of which was to take their old skates out of the closet, put on their headphones, and skate on tennis or basketball courts.

“It’s a good thing that could be a great thing,” said Foster-Toney. “Skating never went away, but it also never had that media push that kept it in front of people like it is now…It helps to have that newfound interest and people see celebrities roller skating and they want to do the same thing…I just hope rinks like ours benefit from this moment.”

The Toney brothers said they do everything they can to present their product in new ways, from increasing the base of school groups to promoting young adult skates to doing themed parties. The work to keep people’s attention on the business is non-stop. Part of that challenge, Foster-Toney said, is being a Black-owned business in Dorchester.

“It’s harder for a Black-owned business to keep this business afloat because our neighborhood has a stigma, and we’re underestimated and underrated,” he said. “You don’t get the same praise for Dorchester as you would for Boylston Street or downtown. They have the same issues as we do but they highlight their successes and only highlight our issues. Many times, outsiders don’t want to come here because of the stigma.”

Expert skater Brendley Guerrier shows off some of his moves during a recent open skate at Chez Vous roller rink. Seth Daniel photo

For all that, the legacy of Chez Vous keeps the family moving forward with fresh ideas and constant reinvention. While some in the neighborhood and beyond might bristle at the thought of coming to Blue Hill Avenue to skate, more people these days are focusing on the near-perfect skating floor that has just enough grip, and ample slide, to provide the best skating Boston has to offer.

“I’d rather not have it easy and master what I do than just be appreciated for being here,” said Foster-Toney. “We don’t plan on going anywhere. That’s more important now because at the same time we have people coming in from every neighborhood and throughout Greater Boston – and states like Rhode Island and Connecticut. It’s much more diverse now than it ever has been. That’s a good sign that people everywhere want to come here and be a part of this unique thing we have in Dorchester.”

Chez Vous is located at 11 Rhoades St., Dorchester, 02124. For detailed hours of operation and special events, visit chezvousrollerrink.com.