Au Bon Ache in South Station closes, reportedly the final Boston location of the cafe chain

Meals Information

The cafe chain began in Boston in 1978, however within the final a number of years, Au Bon Ache’s many areas within the area have shuttered.

There are reportedly no extra Au Bon Ache areas open within the Boston space, after information circulated that the South Station (pictured right here) and Worldwide Place areas shuttered. Erin Clark / The Boston Globe, File

The South Station location of Au Bon Ache has closed, seemingly marking the tip of the once-popular Boston-born cafe chain’s run within the metro space, in response to experiences.

The information was first shared by a member of the Fb group Buddies of Boston’s Hidden Eating places, run by meals author Marc Hurwitz. He additionally wrote in regards to the closure on his weblog, Boston Restaurant Speak.

Although Au Bon Ache had not publicly introduced the closure, the shop is completely closed, in response to Google. The situation can be not listed on Au Bon Ache’s web site. 

Au Bon Ache at South Station in Boston Has Closed; Solely One Location Now Stays in Massachusetts
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There have been additionally no different Boston areas listed on Au Bon Ache’s web site, and Hurwitz reported that the South Station eatery was the final of a series that after had a powerful foothold in its dwelling metropolis.

The corporate began in Boston in 1978 and as soon as had greater than 300 areas, together with many in Boston and Cambridge. The chain’s shops had been usually discovered inside workplace buildings, hospitals, and airports. 

Au Bon Ache was additionally twice linked to Panera Bread in its historical past — first in 1993 when the corporate bought St. Louis Bread Firm and expanded the Missouri-based bakery below its eventual family identify, Panera. The corporate then offered off its Au Bon Ache shops in 1999 to broaden Panera, then reacquired Au Bon Ache in 2017.

It was round that point that a number of Boston-area Au Bon Ache had been shuttered. A yr earlier than in 2016, the flagship Harvard Sq. location — additionally the setting of a “Good Will Searching” scene — closed its doorways for good, and by 2019, all Cambridge areas had been closed, Eater Boston reported. 

It isn’t instantly clear when Boston’s final shops closed, however in response to the Au Bon Ache web site, just one cafe stays in Massachusetts, a franchise location at Stonehill Faculty.

Its present homeowners, Texas-based Ampex Manufacturers, acquired Au Bon Ache in 2021. Ampex instructed The Boston Globe that they had plans to develop the model because the nation got here out of the worst of the pandemic and COVID-19 lockdowns. Boston.com tried to verify the current Boston closures with Au Bon Ache however couldn’t attain their crew.