Acclaimed Restaurant Group Lets ‘Food Freak Flag Fly’ at New Beacon Hill Spot

From left: Andy Cartin, Jamie Bissonnette, and Babak Bina of BCB3 Hospitality, photographed at Zurito. / Photo by Brian Samuels

Beacon Hill is missing a certain kind of neighborhood restaurant, as far as the owners of Charles Street pintxo bar Zurito are concerned. But not for long: The award-winning BCB3 restaurant group will fix that, opening Willie’s next to Zurito in the early spring. The “neighborhood pizza joint,” as co-owner and chef Jamie Bissonnette describes it, will be a sit-down destination also serving pasta and more—with an eclectic smattering of culinary influences from the group’s other spots and interests.

Sure, pizza and pasta suggests an “Italian-American” label, but the name Willie’s, rather than something more Italian-sounding, is meant to give Bissonnette and co-owners Andy Cartin and Babak Bina the liberty “to do whatever we like to do,” says Bissonnette. “Our other projects have been intentionally culturally specific,” he says. “Somaek is a non-fusion Korean restaurant; Sushi @ Temple Records does unabashedly Japanese food with no fusion. At Zurito, I’d say we’re 95% classic Basque and Spanish, without trying to put too many spins on things. I think Boston lost that [cultural specification in restaurants] in the last 15-20 years, and I was part of that, saying, ‘Hey, let’s just do all this fusion; it doesn’t matter anymore!’ So [more recently] I wanted to do these hyper-specific, hyper-intentional restaurants. But with Willie’s, it’s going to be more like, ‘Let’s let our food freak flag fly.’”

And fly it shall as Bissonnette and the team plan to use pizza, pasta, and small plates as the framework for doing whatever they damn well please. For example: a pasta dish with a Korean-inspired sauce; a couple Spanish-y pizzas that could fit right in at Zurito next door. (More on those dishes below.) “If we decide we want to put a Persian rice dish on the menu for a weekend, we will,” says Bissonnette. “As long as we’re consistent with our staples of having good pizza, good pasta, and good salad to make everybody happy, we can be flexible with the rest.”

So while BCB3 avoids labeling Willie’s Italian-American, Bissonnette similarly doesn’t want to get too specific labeling the pizza style: “Let’s say ‘American,’” he says. “I grew up in Connecticut, so for me, pizza is life. The best pizza in the world comes from in and around the New Haven area,” and a bit of that Wooster Street spirit seems to lurk under the surface here as he promises live-fire char and a crispy crust “without a lot of flop.” (That means it won’t resemble the Neapolitan-inspired pizzas that have become prevalent around Boston in recent years.) There’ll be one size available, about 10-11 inches, he says.

As for toppings, there’ll “obviously” be a classic margherita, says Bissonnette. “As a New Englander, I like a mix of fresh mozz[arella] and shredded mozz,” he notes. “The fresh mozz is a nice addition, but that low-moisture shredded mozz is the king of pizza.” Also in the works on the pizza menu, a couple nods to neighboring Zurito. The fancy-ham-topped Margherita Royale 5J features Spanish Ibérico ham from producer Cinco Jotas, which has been doing pizza collaborations at several restaurants in New York and Atlanta. And a gilda pizza will deconstruct the classic gilda pintxo, a hallmark on the next-door menu, with olives, anchovies, and quindilla peppers. “We’ll probably do some sort of bone-marrow pizza, too,” says Bissonnette, “because I love that richness. And then for my wife—if we don’t put this pizza on, I won’t have a wife—we’re going to do a vodka-sauce pepperoni pizza with sun-dried tomatoes, pepperoni à la vodka.”

Bissonnette also hints at a couple ideas on the pasta side, including a non-traditional bucatini amatriciana that uses yak-gochujang (Korean chili paste stir-fried with minced meat) as a base. “I make it at home all the time,” he says, along with another home-kitchen favorite that’ll likely make the menu: “Noodle to be determined,” he says, “but this one will basically have bottarga butter with yuzu kosho [a citrus-y Japanese chili condiment], lemon, and a little bit of mentaiko [seasoned pollock roe]. It’s got a carbonara/cacio e pepe-like smoky spiciness, but coming from yuzu kosho and fish eggs.”

Beyond pizza and pasta, there’ll be a variety of small plates. “I’ll definitely do some version of a crunchy salad,” says Bissonnette. “I keep envisioning going here for lunch—to me, this is a super-awesome lunch spot—and what’s better than getting a simple little salad with a couple crunchy vegetables and then pizza and beer?” Also, there’ll likely be a crudo of some kind, and something with sea urchin. “I just like sea urchin so much that I want to put it everywhere,” says Bissonnette. “We’ll play around.”

The genre-hopping flexibility of the food menu calls for drinks to match. “We want to incorporate some fun stuff from all of our places to create a lively, uncomplicated beverage program,” says Cartin. “We’ve got lots of complicated beverage spots already. I think this one is going to be a fresh, simple, fun experience.”

Adds Bissonnette: “With pizza, I want beer. And when I want beer, I want soju. So, we’ll probably have soju so people can make somaeks,” the Korean beer-plus-soju drink that lends its name to the group’s Michelin-recommended Korean restaurant in Downtown Crossing. “I also like Lambrusco or an easy-drinking light red with pizza. Nader [Asgari-Tari, director of wine for BCB3] is working on the list; it’ll be concise and easy to navigate, [featuring] things you’d want when you have pizza, pasta, and small plates.”

The team intends for the Charles Street space to really embody that neighborhood-joint feel, with “very warm, very welcoming, very cozy” vibes, says Bina, with Bissonnette noting that the design will be “kind of funky and not too precious.” They’ll offer reservations as well as walk-in space, and they expect there’ll be a bit of play between Willie’s and Zurito. Can’t get a seat at one? Try the other. “We’ve sort of perfected that side-by-side concept,” says Bina of the group’s Temple Street empire downtown.

Unlike most of BCB3’s other spots, though, Willie’s will offer takeout and delivery. “I love delivery food,” says Bissonnette. “Pizza travels the best; it’s the most forgiving. We’re going to lean into having pizza [for takeout/delivery] but also offer some other things on the menu.”

Also in the plans: brunch-y specials on weekends, “but we’re not trying to make omelettes,” says Bina. As Bissonnette puts it, “The people who do brunch on Charles Street already are so busy and well-known for it, like the Paramount; we love those guys. Offering the same thing would be like bringing sand to the beach. Even on weekends, we’ll do what we do.”

That appreciation for, and knowledge of, Beacon Hill runs deep, especially for Bina, who operated Bin 26 Enoteca in the Zurito space for nearly 20 years and Lala Rokh on Mt. Vernon Street for two dozen. “Charles Street is missing this neighborhood spot,” says Bina. “There’s a void with [restaurants such as] Panificio and Figs gone. Having been here so long, I’ve got a pulse on what the neighborhood wants. The fun things [BCB3 wants to do] also translate to, hopefully, what people want to eat; it seems to be working, so we’re going to stay on that track.”

Bissonnette adds: “This is something that’s going to be good for the neighborhood, and making this kind of food is good for my soul.”

Opening early spring 2026. 20 Charles St., Beacon Hill, Boston, williesboston.com.