A suburban Italian restaurant that has been in business for more than 15 years is closing, and a new restaurant and bar is moving in.
According to a post from Your Arlington, Town Tavern is looking to replace Ristorante Olivio on Mass. Ave. in East Arlington, with a PDF file that links to a Town of Arlington page indicating that the new spot will offer "contemporary American pub fare" with seating for approximately 120, and the place is currently seeking a full liquor license. Little other information has been given on the proposed restaurant other than the fact that George Mullan is behind it, and while a menu has been included in the PDF file, these menus are often placeholders so we will hold off mentioning some of the items on it for now.
Ristorante Olivio, which first opened in 2002, offers a variety of Northern and Southern Italian dishes in a casual upscale environment.
The address for Olivio (and the new Town Tavern) is 193 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington, MA, 02474.
[June 28 update: The Arlington Advocate mentions that Town Tavern will be a 120-seat restaurant with an outdoor patio, and that it hopes to open in mid-August; in addition, a source also tells us that Ristorante Olivio could remain open into at least a part of July, though it will be closed for a few days around July 4.]
[July 6 update: A Facebook post from the place indicates that Ristorante Olivio will close later this summer and that the owner is planning to retire.]
[July 24 update: A new Facebook post states that Ristorante Olivio closes for good on Sunday, July 29.]
[September 10 update: According to a source, Town Tavern is now open, with a Facebook post from the place confirming this while its website (which is at https://towntavern.net/) shows that the place offers a mix of classic American and New American dishes such as chicken meatballs, pastrami sandwiches, burgers, fried chicken, ratatouille, seared salmon, chicken bao, sirloin, Mongolian French dip, and fish and chips.]
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[A related post from our sister site (Boston's Hidden Restaurants): List of Restaurant Closings and Openings in the Boston Area]
