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April 25, 2016 Briefing

Niche expands Fix; looks at new venture on Shrewsbury Street

The new location of the Fix Burger Bar on Grove Street in Worcester will feature meeting spaces and seating for more than 200 patrons, a 190-percent increase over the capacity in its current location.

Niche Hospitality will open its new location for the Fix Burger Bar in the former Northworks Bar & Grille space this June, more than doubling the seating for the restaurant and adding space for private functions.

Construction is currently underway at the location at 108 Grove St. in Worcester. Once completed, the Fix Burger Bar will move from its Shrewsbury Street location with roughly 70 seats to one with around 200. The Fix is part of the restaurant group's five Central Massachusetts locations.

“We were looking to expand The Fix, and Northworks came along, and it was a perfect fit for us,” said Michael Covino, president and CEO of Niche. “We feel it's a great street with a lot of traffic and plenty of parking in the lot across the street.”

The new location will also have two private function rooms for around 40 people and more than 20 lines of beer on tap. Covino said the location has a long history of being a restaurant and is located in an upcoming part of the city with access to the west.

Covino is playing his cards close on the plans for the former Fix location on Shrewsbury Street. Not because he doesn't want to reveal the plans for the location Niche owns, but because the plans have not been entirely firmed up. In talking to Covino, it appears that there are two major options being floated for the space.

The first would be an incubation model similar to what occurred with The Fix and Mezcal Tequila Cantina before it. Niche would create another new restaurant concept at the same price point and then let it develop until it is time to move to a bigger venue.

The other option would be to create a more upscale dining experience with plates in the $22 to $28 range that would allow the organization's chefs to really play around.

“We have really solid culinary talent right now, and we want them to be able to express it, but in a way that fits into our core values of a quality product and a quality value,” Covino said.

Both of these options are being discussed with the Niche team, staff and customers, he said.

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