Roslindale losing Nigerian restaurant to Roxbury

By adamg on Thu, 01/29/2015 - 9:18pm

Suya Joint on Poplar Street in Roslindale Square closes for good on Friday and will re-open at 185 Dudley St. in Roxbury, according to a post on its Facebook page.

Before Suya Joint, the space on Poplar Street was Roslindale's only Thai restaurant and, before that, its only roti outlet.

Via Eater Boston.

Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Ad:

Comments

Maybe they will do better

By MR
Thu, 01/29/2015 - 9:31pm

Maybe they will do better better in Roxbury with straight up rude and terrible service.

Huh!

By adamg
Thu, 01/29/2015 - 9:37pm

I never had a problem in there.

And I'll miss their jollof chicken with rice.

They were always unfailingly polite and solicitous to me, too

By MC Slim JB
Fri, 01/30/2015 - 12:45am

I didn't love the obgono, but the rest of their menu was delicious. Hope they find a strong audience in their new spot. My review from Stuff Magazine.

What will go in there next? I don't get the retail dynamics of that strip across from the park, everything seems so grimy and sketchy - except the Greek fish place. With the new business that will come from the redeveloped power station perhaps it will pick up and get some fresh tenants.

Retail dynamics of that strip

By kvn
Fri, 01/30/2015 - 8:05am

Retail dynamics of that strip? Three businesses that I see ,John's Bakery , Diane's Bakery ,and Wallpaper City , have anchored that block for a million years. There has always been some sort of bargain joint where Jerusalem Trading is. All you need is Joslin's back and there you do , deja vu !

John's Bakery?

By adamg
Fri, 01/30/2015 - 8:31am

Hasn't that place been closed for a gazillion years now? Or is it only open between 10 and 10:30 a.m. on alternate Tuesdays?

Me, I'm disappointed the barber shop changed its name from Symphony, because I used to like its slogan, "We'll orchestrate you a masterpiece!"

A-Man, I went by Google Earth

By kvn
Fri, 01/30/2015 - 9:39am

A-Man, I went by Google Earth. According to another internets , '' Yelpers report this location has closed ''.
But I am surprised it lasted longer than A. Boschetto's. There should be a law that bake shops can't go out of business, it aint right. But with respect to that block, it has always survived. What do you think the life expectancy of a Nigerian restaurant that isnt in Nigeria is?Next in its spot , a Rhodesian Ridgeback specialty shop. There is no long time loyalty anymore , cant even get a Schlitz, and Pabst Blue ribbon went yups. And would you believe , no more Haffenreffer , its been upscaled to a Sam Adams batching semi brewery.Who knew....

Disagree

By anon
Fri, 01/30/2015 - 10:21am

There are ethnic food places popping up all over the parkway which seem to be doing fine. I don't think this is a big reach location-wise unless the food was bad, which apparently it wasn't.

The food was pretty bad, at

By anon
Fri, 01/30/2015 - 3:41pm

The food was pretty bad, at least to my tastes. I got the sense that they weren't foodservice professionals. The whole thing really felt like somebody's mom was back there making it up as they went along. I know some people find that sorta dining experience exotic or even cute, but to me if felt really off. I think it was probably a good thing for the Nigerian community, but maybe not so much for the rest of the dining public.

As for that block - meh. It feels like a bus stop ashtray with ugly metal shutters. Seymore Green? Yeah...

Good.

By Just Sayin'
Fri, 01/30/2015 - 4:26am

They had zero vegetarian options on their menu. Good riddance.

I'm pretty sure they were

By chairlife
Fri, 01/30/2015 - 7:26am

I'm pretty sure they were unaware they had to suit your vegetarian needs.

What?

By anon
Fri, 01/30/2015 - 8:04am

They also didn't have sushi or cheeseburger- good riddance.

I've been veg for ages

By mrotown
Fri, 01/30/2015 - 8:05am

That's a really stupid reason to want a local unique business out of the square. I'd love to see some veg options in Roslindale and will throw my money at the first restaurant to offer it. But I'll take something unique like Nigerian food over a cell phone store, subway or Jerusalem trading company any day.

Not that I think it's any restaurant's responsibility to

By MC Slim JB
Fri, 01/30/2015 - 8:07am

accommodate your dietary restrictions / taboos / aversions, but did Suya Joint take akara, egusi, taushe, ogbono, vegetable stew, beans & plantains, and moi moi off the menu?

Good riddance?

By Sally
Fri, 01/30/2015 - 8:15am

You sound like just the kind of vegetarian who inspires restaurant staff to add a dollop of pork fat into your chickpea risotto. Just sayin'.

FWIW, as a fellow vegetarian,

By Rob Not Verified
Fri, 01/30/2015 - 8:42am

FWIW, as a fellow vegetarian, I too would have liked some options. That having been said, there's no reason to wish ill on the place. That doesn't help.

Did Suya Joint cook everything in lard and tallow?

By MC Slim JB
Fri, 01/30/2015 - 9:08am

As I noted above, about half the menu appeared to be centered on vegetables, legumes and grains. What was the issue for vegetarians?

My comment was actually more

By Rob Not Verified
Fri, 01/30/2015 - 9:04am

My comment was actually more a general one about the person's attitude but Suya itself does have a couple options as far as I know so I'm not sure what the commenter specifically meant.

I mean , in a pinch , cant

By kvn
Fri, 01/30/2015 - 9:34am

I mean , in a pinch , cant you just pluck the pieces of meat out of the food? If you went there and it didnt have a meatless plate , you didnt do you homework. Its not the restaurants fault. I dont eat meat on Fidays , but I know there is one every week, so I plan accordingly.

If it's cooked with meat,

By anon
Fri, 01/30/2015 - 11:35am

If it's cooked with meat, regardless if you pick out the meaty bits, it's not vegetarian. As someone who for religious reasons restricts themselves from eating meat on Fridays, I would think you would be a little bit more understanding. Would you eat beef stew on a Friday if you picked out the beef chunks? Probably not I assume...

I know that some of the dishes at Suya Joint made it easy to

By MC Slim JB
Fri, 01/30/2015 - 12:10pm

omit meat; they simply added a couple of skewers of chicken or beef at the end. But again, I think it likely had more true-vegetarian options than the original complainer here lets on.

I don't think you get Lent

By Waquiot
Fri, 01/30/2015 - 12:23pm

Yeah, you can pick the meat out of your meal and still observe the Lenten fast. I was stuck at a pizzeria in the Midwest one Friday that had 2 options for pizza- pepperoni and sausage! The solution- ronis can be plucked easier, so I observed. And I also pondered who doesn't sell just cheese pizza?

That's probably where kvn is coming from. If it is a dietary thing, it would work, maybe. If it is an ethical thing, not so much.

If you've followed some of what he has written like I have, you'd know that kvn is on the older side of old school, or at least he plays it well.

Thank you , I think. I didnt

By kvn
Fri, 01/30/2015 - 3:44pm

Thank you , I think. I didnt mention the reason why I do it , but alas I am uncovered.I am not knocking the vegetarian life style, but you got to take some personal responsibility here. I am sure if you went into an establishment and explained nicely to the operator that you require a vegetarian dish but its not on the menu, most would whip something up, maybe even consider adding it to the menu. But is a place dont have it , it dont have it. Do your homework to find out. I wouldnt walk into a china restaurant and look for a pizza. The key word was in a pinch. If you were on a deserted island, like Gilligan starving , and the USN showed up with food , but it had meat in it , just take it out. But if you can just go somewhere else , please do.

All respect to you

By Waquiot
Fri, 01/30/2015 - 4:03pm

You speak the truth.

I have a vegan friend. He's so strict that he even cut out processed sugar for a while. Meanwhile, I could survive on meat and potatoes for months. We'd go out to eat, which was a lot easier than people would think. We'd go for Chinese, he'd look at the menu, and then ask the waiter if he could do this instead of that, nice and all, and they'd hook him up. I am sure Suya Joint would do the same, or at least something similar.

I still can't believe a pizza place wouldn't have a plain pizza, but that's neither here nor there.

Most pizza places will do a

By Rob Not Verified
Sat, 01/31/2015 - 1:48pm

Most pizza places will do a sauce with no cheese pizza if you ask too. It's no sweat for them to make it nor requires anything special on their end so it's usually an easy ask. Checkmate in Rozzie does a great one and they will add olive oil to the sauce to give it extra hold, perfect if you add any veggies as the topping. Perfect for people who are non-dairy for various reasons.

This was Minneapolis

By Waquiot
Sat, 01/31/2015 - 3:19pm

Dinkytown, by the U if you will.

I didn't push the issue. I just wanted food. Surely every other pizza shop in Minnesota had just plain pizza, but not the one closest to where I was staying.

I said be prepared , stop

By kvn
Fri, 01/30/2015 - 3:41pm

I said be prepared , stop trying to contradict common sense here.When I make beef stew its heavily spudded. Sometimes I could care less if there was beef in it to be truthful, love those PEI's.

( to By anon (not verified) on Fri, 01/30/2015 - 11:35am )