A New Southie Restaurant That’s All About the Craft

The Stillroom at Common Craft in South Boston. / Photo by Rachel Leah Blumenthal

The possibilities feel endless at Common Craft, opening March 17 in South Boston. One might bring a date and dig into the themed menu of the moment, with an acclaimed chef at the helm. Friends will no doubt lounge in the cocktail bar area, dubbed the Stillroom, to share cava via porrón, the festive Spanish wine pitcher. Or families could gather on the patio for, say, a summertime oyster fest or nostalgic hot dog cart. One idea ties together the new restaurant’s various personalities and spaces—honoring the craft that provides the backbone for restaurants. An oft-changing menu pays homage to everyone from artisanal food and drink producers to fishmongers to knifemakers. There’s always something new to discover at this more food-focused spinoff of Burlington’s spirited multi-bar Common Craft, which opened in 2022.

Executive chef and partner Tony Messina in the kitchen at Common Craft in South Boston. / Photo by Rachel Leah Blumenthal

In the kitchen at Common Craft in South Boston: Chef de cuisine Patrick Lipscomb, center, and executive chef and partner Tony Messina, foreground. / Photo by Rachel Leah Blumenthal

Craft is a funny word when it comes to food and drink; it’s easy to reduce it to an overused buzzword, especially in the beer world. But the Common Craft team, led by founder Larry Leibowitz (who previously co-owned Salem restaurants Bambolina and Kokeshi), uses it earnestly. Beard-winning chef Tony Messina, who came onboard as executive chef and partner for the new location, and chef de cuisine Patrick Lipscomb, a Menton alum who worked under Messina at Uni, will serve a special rotating menu called the Current. Changing about every six or eight weeks, the Current showcases a producer, ingredient, process, or even tool. Up first is Cold Harbor, a celebration of cold-water seafood and shellfish, as sourced by century-old local wholesaler Wulf’s Fish. One dish, for instance, features seared day boat scallops with apple pie puree, brown butter, and endive; another is grilled hamachi collar with vegetable escabeche and Thai herb salad. The next menu, Edge, will highlight a beloved Boston-area knifemaker through dishes that require precise knife techniques.

Seared tuna and foie gras with pine nut risotto, pickled mushrooms, and green chermoula, part of the first Current menu at Common Craft in South Boston. / Photo by Rachel Leah Blumenthal

Common Craft in South Boston. Painting by Roscoe Lamontagne; array of tools and more by Andrew Bablo (Steez Design). The art installation will change with each new Current. / Photo by Rachel Leah Blumenthal

Each Current translates to art, too, with an eye-catching mixed-media display by local artists spanning a large wall near the restaurant’s entrance. Roscoe Lamontagne painted a Cold Harbor-themed image, while Andrew Bablo (Steez Design) put together an array of vintage tools and other items that surround the painting and evoke a feeling of an old, weathered fishing village. The display will change when the menu does.

Common Craft in South Boston. / Photo by Rachel Leah Blumenthal

In the full-service main dining room—which includes plenty of standard seating, plus two bar areas and a space suitable for semi-private events—the Current is available alongside a larger core menu that include anything from farro risotto with smoked mushrooms to steak frites with salsa verde and duck fat fries. It’s a wide-ranging menu that Messina doesn’t want to describe as “eclectic” but rather “American,” broadly, with the goal of “feeding everybody all the time.” He’s particularly excited about a grilled cabbage dish, he says, as it’s “an underutilized vegetable” that the kitchen is “treating in a way where it’s not just a piece of cabbage on a plate.” It’s cooked slowly with garlic oil and dill sprigs and finished with Emmentaler, a “really beautiful” Swiss cheese, and sauerkraut vinaigrette. “It’s a fun, playful dish.”

Grilled cabbage with rye pangrattato, sauerkraut vinaigrette, and Emmentaler at Common Craft in South Boston. / Photo by Rachel Leah Blumenthal

Charred koginut squash with brown butter caramel, pomegranate, and pumpkin seed gremolata at Common Craft in South Boston. / Photo by Rachel Leah Blumenthal

The drinks in the main section of the restaurant are also something-for-everyone, with some local options (a Dorchester Brewing sour or an Aeronaut session ale, for example, and spirits from GrandTen, Privateer, Deacon Giles, and more) and well-known options from afar. It’s all about craft, says Leibowitz, but that doesn’t necessarily mean small and local. “We feature people who are really doing it well,” he says. “One of the best examples is Sierra Nevada, which we have on draft. Every time I talk to a brewer or anyone in the beer industry, that’s their North Star, because of the consistency and the passion of making that beer. It’s those stories that we’re really after.”

The greenhouse-like entryway from the main dining room into the Stillroom at Common Craft in South Boston. / Photo by Rachel Leah Blumenthal

To the right of the dining room, through a greenhouse-like entryway, is the Stillroom, a botanical-focused cocktail bar area full of greenery. “We took a departure from the ubiquitous dark bookroom-style [cocktail bars] and went light and crisp,” says Leibowitz. The décor, and the philosophy, is “a nod to the botanicals of spirit production and cocktail-making.” The drink list puts elegant spins on classics, such as a Last Word with caramelized pineapple puree and a blueberry Bee’s Knees. Some snacks carry over from the menu in the main room—warm Parker House rolls with garlic butter and Cape Ann sea salt, hot honey Brussels sprouts, and such—with the addition of some Stillroom-specific specialties like house-made Slim Jims. “They’re a play on the Polish dried, smoked sausage cabanossi,” says Messina. “It’ll be a playful vibe in there.”

Parker House rolls, served warm, with garlic butter, parmigiano, and Cape Ann sea salt at Common Craft in South Boston. / Photo by Rachel Leah Blumenthal

He’s also thinking playful for the patio, which he predicts “will be a lot of fun in the summertime.” A hot dog cart is among potential ideas for the space. “Nostalgia is becoming lost, and we need to have more of that,” says Messina. “Bring us back to our childhood and smile.”

A cocktail on the Stillroom bar at Common Craft in South Boston. / Photo by Rachel Leah Blumenthal

Despite Common Craft’s more drink-focused roots at the Burlington location, the company’s aim has always been to “highlight the producer, the product, everything behind the food and beverage industry,” says Leibowitz. “We’re excited to show this iteration, how we expand on the ‘craft’ theme here. And just as important as the word ‘craft’ is ‘common’—for everybody, for all.” It serves as a metaphor for the hopeful future of the brand, expanding to more locations. “We want to find ways to push it further and celebrate the craft behind food and drink.”

Whole grilled lobster with miso-garlic butter at Common Craft in South Boston. / Photo by Rachel Leah Blumenthal

The Stillroom at Common Craft in South Boston. / Photo by Rachel Leah Blumenthal

Opening March 17, 2026. 85 Damrell St. (ground floor of the South Standard apartment building), South Boston, commoncrafthospitality.com.