Grafton, We Hardly Knew Ye

Harvard Square became noticeably drier last Friday night as Grafton St., the beloved Mass. Ave. restaurant and bar, closed its doors for the last time. Amidst hundreds of Harvard students and Cantabridgians, the last gin and tonic was stirred, the last margarita shaken.

The evening represented the end of a long struggle for Patrick Lee, the entrepreneur who debuted the restaurant four and a half years ago and fought an extended battle to keep it open despite increasing rents and the hostility of the landlord. But the closing of Grafton was more than a personal loss—it was also a loss to the residents of Harvard Square, particularly the students. At a time when astronomical rents have driven most small businesses out of the square, Grafton was an anomaly—a privately-owned business that catered to the likes and lifestyles of Harvard students.

Grafton will likely reopen in the fall in the location formerly occupied by the Bow and Arrow Pub, a prospect which we await with great anticipation. In the meantime, however, its closing serves as yet another reminder of the gentrification of Harvard Square, the replacement of beloved establishments with banks and PacSuns and impersonal Abercrombies. The trend is one we would not like to see continue.

And so, we raise our glasses to Grafton for a battle well fought, for a new beginning next year and for the hope of a more friendly Square in the future. Cheers.