BeBop Burrito Gives Way to Chowda Company

After more than five years, local Mexican restaurant Be Bop Burrito has closed its doors to customers and given up its Garage location to the Boston Chowda Company, which plans to open a branch in the space on September 1.

The new restaurant will serve homemade pot pies in addition to sandwiches and their trademark chowder.

"We specialize in soups and chowders and we also have numerous sandwiches--lobster rolls, seafood rolls," said Sam F. Petrovich, who directs retail store operations for Boston Chowda Company.

Petrovich said his firm--formerly called the Bay State Chowda Company--is expanding throughout the area and was attracted to the Harvard Square market.

"We're looking for nice, popular areas where feel that our food is going to sell," Petrovich said.

According to Be Bop Burrito owner Gary A. Stoloff, his restaurant--which served inexpensive meals for take-out and sit-down in a festively colored corner of the Garage--will not reopen in the future.

Stoloff said the restaurant, which served its final meals on June 13, had begun to experience declining revenues several years ago.

"There wasn't enough business to justify keeping it open," he said.

"It's sad for me of course," he added. "I was hoping to be successful there. We invested a lot."

Stoloff said that food suppliers had told him that restaurants throughout the Square had been doing less business in recent years.

"It's not just me, it's all over the Square," Stoloff said. "Not as many people are coming to Harvard Square and I would guess also that not as much business is generated by the Harvard community, either."

But Petrovich says he expects his store will attract plenty of customers.

"We give a quality product, and that's what sells," Petrovich said. "We feel like people will come from a block or two away to get our product because of the quality of it."