Monday, October 03, 2011

C. Tsar's in Newtonville Has Closed

A casual Mediterranean restaurant in Newtonville that replaced an upscale Mediterranean and Asian-influenced dining spot about a year ago has closed its doors.

According to a couple of emails we received as well as a Newton Patch article, C. Tsar's on Walnut Street is shuttered, with one of our readers mentioning that furniture was being taken out of the place today. The Patch article indicates that the eatery struggled because of poor economic conditions as well as high rent and utility costs, and it appears that Groupon (a deal-of-the-day website) may have played a role in the restaurant's demise as well. In the article, one of the owners says just that, mentioning that the restaurant had a second Groupon issued in response to a successful Groupon in late 2009, but most of the Groupon checks turned out to be less than $40, which was apparently a good amount less than expected.

In September of 2010, the owners of Ariadne changed the restaurant to C. Tsar's, a more affordable Mediterranean restaurant The dining spot featured such dishes as squid salad, chicken souvlaki, pizza, sea bass, grilled pork chops, and moussaka.

The address for this now-closed restaurant in Newtonville was: C. Tsar's Mediterranean Bistro and Bar, 344 Walnut Street, Newton, MA, 02460.