Back Bay Restaurant Group

Back Bay Restaurant Group

Company type	Public (formerly)
Industry	Restaurant
Founded	1992
Founder	Charles Sarkis
Defunct	2018
Fate	Privatized in 1999; sold majority of restaurants in 2011; ceased operations by 2018
Headquarters	Boston , United States
Area served	East Coast, United States
Key people	Charles Sarkis (founder)
Products	Premium dining restaurant chains (including Abe & Louie's, J.C. Hillary's, Atlantic Fish Co., Coach Grill, Joe's American Bar & Grill, Papa Razzi)

Back Bay Restaurant Group was a Boston-based American restaurant enterprise specializing in premium dining chains predominantly located along the East Coast, with a focus on the New England region.

History

Established in 1992 as a division separated from Charles Sarkis's Westwood Group, Back Bay Restaurant Group launched its initial public offering at $17 per share and was traded on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol "PAPA". At the time of its IPO, the company operated 14 dining establishments. By 1999, the share price had dropped to $3.50, leading Sarkis to privatize the business again through a $38 million acquisition. By 2002, the group oversaw 35 restaurants across the East Coast, including well-known names such as Abe & Louie's, J.C. Hillary's, Atlantic Fish Co., Coach Grill, Joe's American Bar & Grill, and Papa Razzi.

In 2010, Sarkis encountered health challenges alongside financial difficulties following the shutdown of his other enterprise, Wonderland Greyhound Park. The subsequent year, Back Bay divested 33 restaurants—comprising 15 Joe's American Bar & Grill sites, 12 Papa Razzi locations, and Abe & Louie's—to Tavistock Restaurants, LLC. In March 2012, seven Papa Razzi venues were transferred to Newport Harbor Group. The last two Massachusetts-based outlets ceased operations in December 2013, while the remaining two in New Jersey closed by March 2018.

Charles Sarkis passed away on March 11, 2018, at age 78. As of early 2018, Tavistock retained ownership of six Joe's American Bar and Grill locations—five situated in Massachusetts and one in Fairfield, Connecticut. By early 2020, two of these had shut down: one in Massachusetts and the Fairfield establishment.