By Donna Goodison
Wednesday, December 7, 2005
Legal Sea Foods has a lot on its plate, from a new quicker-service concept to an expansion of its top-grossing restaurant.
Roger Berkowitz, president and CEO of the Boston-based chain of 31 restaurants, is scouting locations for Legal C Bar and Grilles, expected to debut in the Greater Boston area in about a year.
The new concept is a formalization of what Legal does at its 7th Street and Reagan National Airport locations in Washington, D.C. Those restaurants feature lower-priced menus that are 75 percent seafood, with service geared to time-constrained customers.
“A lot of our guests want good food and just don’t have the time,” Berkowitz said. “You can get in and out in 30 to 35 minutes.”
Next up is the second Legal Test Kitchen restaurant, expected to open in April or May in the new Park Lane Seaport apartment complex in Boston’s Seaport District. The 120- to 130-seat, bistro-type restaurant will be similar to the first Legal Test Kitchen at Logan International Airport, with a lower-priced menu that’s 35 percent seafood and heavier on other items, such as soups, salads, beef and poultry.
“This adds a little bit of choice,” Berkowitz said. “You might see a Thai beef salad there, and you are going to see some items cooked on a wok there.”
Legal Sea Foods also will add up to 60 seats at its 285-seat restaurant at the Shops at the Prudential in Boston — its highest-grossing location with $12 million in annual sales. The expansion is planned in conjunction with the late 2007 opening of the new Mandarin Oriental Hotel and Residences. It will put an all-glass facade on the restaurant that will front a new retail arcade connecting the Shops at Prudential with Lord & Taylor. |
