Restaurants

Fajitas & ‘Ritas to close: ‘Let’s make these final days unforgettable’

The restaurant owner said the building landlord did not renew their lease, which is why they are closing mid-July.

Fajitas & 'Ritas, a Tex-Mex restaurant in downtown Boston, is set to close this month. Nathan Klima/Boston Globe

updated on July 3, 2024

Fajitas & ‘Ritas, a Tex-Mex restaurant that had been a go-to spot for margarita pitchers downtown for three decades, is closing, according to a Facebook post.

The last day of service will be July 13, the post on social media said.

“We want to thank all our amazing customers for the support and memories we’ve shared over the years,” the post read. “Join us in early July to celebrate and savor your favorite Tex-Mex dishes and margaritas one last time. Let’s make these final days unforgettable!”

In an email, Bradley Fredericks told Boston.com that the landlord at 25 West St. decided to not renew the lease, and the building owners have no future plans that involve a restaurant.

“The decision was not in my hands,” Fredericks said.

The restaurant, near Boston Common and the campuses of Suffolk University and Emerson College, opened 35 years ago. Popular among downtown lunch crowds and as a spot for younger adults in the evening, it served what was in its name — and more — with a long list of margaritas that came frozen, in a glass, or in a liter for sharing, as well as fajitas with various proteins to choose from. Other customer favorites included quesadillas and their tequila wings.

“It has been a very successful restaurant since March of 1989,” Fredericks said in an email. “The space has helped to create the great vibe that Fajitas & ‘Ritas has had. Of course I feel a sense of loss, which is shared by our long-term customers. But life moves on.”

Fredericks is also the proprietor for nearby restaurants Back Deck and French Quarter. In a Boston Globe article from March 2021, Fredericks said Fajitas & ‘Ritas was his only restaurant he reopened at that time of the pandemic because students had finally returned to the city. It had been a popular spot for people in their 20s pre-pandemic; in 2021, they came back to the spot, but in smaller groups and masked up.

“It has a younger target demographic, and I thought there would be benefit, for the sake of the downtown area, so not all places were closed up,” he said.

Tell us: Do you have a special memory of dining at Fajitas & ‘Ritas? What were some of your favorite dishes? Let us know what you’ll miss about the restaurant. Share with us in the survey below or e-mail us at [email protected], and your response may appear in an upcoming Boston.com article.

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