Boston Market | |
Formerly | Boston Chicken (1985–1995) |
Company type | Private |
Industry | Restaurants |
Genre | Fast casual |
Founded |
|
Founders | Steven Kolow Arthur Cores |
Headquarters | , United States |
Number of locations | 27 (March 2024[2]) |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Jay Pandya (owner) |
Products | |
Revenue | US$ 373 million[3] (2020) |
Owner | Engage Brands LLC |
Website | bostonmarket |
Boston Market Corporation, known as Boston Chicken until 1995, is an American fast casual restaurant chain headquartered in Newtown Township, Pennsylvania. Since 2020, it has been owned by Engage Brands, LLC, a company of Rohan Group. Also, frozen meals and side dishes are sold nationally under the Boston Market brand name in food markets. The chain was known for rotisserie chickens, and later branched out into other meats such as turkey, meatloaf, and ham. A common meal had a meat with a few sides such as potatoes, cream spinach, mac n' cheese, and accompanied by a corn bread. Stores sometimes had seasonal specials and they also had a line of sandwiches. It was popular in the 1990s and early 21st century but by the 2020s was in a rapid decline, and by 2024 there was only a couple dozen stores left.
From 1985 to 1995, it was known as Boston Chicken, and had rapid expansion to over a thousand locations. But by the late 1990s it had filed for bankruptcy and had to close many stores, down to a few hundred, and ended up being bought by McDonald's in 2000. It was then sold again in 2007, and again in 2020. In the 2020s it began to encounter more store closures and some legal issues and by late 2024 only small number of locations remained. It is remembered for helping to popularize rotisserie chickens as well as fast casual, which both remain popular nationally.
In November 2020, the chain had approximately 342 company-owned restaurant locations in 28 states and Puerto Rico.[4] It had its greatest presence in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States, but also had a large presence in California, Florida, and Texas. As of August 2024[update], the chain was struggling financially and had closed most of its locations.