Big white letters spell out BLANCHARD'S on the Lagrange Street side of the liquor store at Centre and Lagrange. As Universal Hub put it, they "look like they should have neon but don't." The store has a new owner, and those letters may soon spell something else. Even so, the store is set to stay much as it has been, and the reason has to do with who is running it.
That pattern runs through West Roxbury's dining and retail news from late summer into October. Where the same family or the same manager stayed in place, the business held. At the addresses where the room stays and the operator keeps changing, the turnover went on as usual. One long-running chain location closed with no replacement in sight.
Blanchard's gets a new name and keeps its manager
On September 24, the Boston Licensing Board approved the sale of Blanchard's at Lagrange and Centre streets to new owner Bhavin Patel. The store will be renamed Kappy's Fine Wine & Spirits. The board's September 23 agenda lists the transfer of Blanchard's package-store license to WR Kappy's Inc. at 418 Lagrange St.
The detail that matters for anyone who shops there came from the hearing. According to Universal Hub's report, attorney Jackson Christian told the board the store would be run basically the same way it has been for decades. He also said Michael Pignone, the current manager, will stay on. Pignone has worked there for the Elder and Corey family since 1999.
So the corporate name on the license is changing, and the person running the store day to day is not. Christian didn't say whether the lettering on the Lagrange side will change to KAPPY'S. We haven't found any later report confirming new signage, so for now the old name is still up.
Tony's Place owns its corner, and that kept it open
Tony's Place sits on a double-corner lot at Spring and Baker streets, a one-story brick building with parking for about 38 cars. An auction of that property scheduled for October 29 was canceled, and Universal Hub reported on October 9 that the restaurant keeps ownership of the building and land and can stay open.
The same family has run Tony's since 1969. That year Elio Imbornone, who came from Sicily and grew up in the North End, bought the restaurant from his boss. The restaurant's own site tells the same founding story and describes takeout and delivery seven nights a week. More than fifty years of the same family on the same lot is about as settled as a neighborhood restaurant gets.
Two addresses that keep changing tenants
The rest of this fall's restaurant news follows a different pattern. Two West Roxbury storefronts have had a long string of tenants. One got its newest last year, and the other has a new one on the way.
| Address | Newest tenant | Earlier tenants named in local reporting |
|---|---|---|
| 1430 VFW Parkway at Spring Street | Leonardo's Bar Ristorante, opening date listed by Boston.com as 2027 | Mission on Fire, Sofia, Vintage, Fontaine's |
| 1894 Centre St. | Klin Thai, opened in 2025 | Som Tum Modern Thai Cuisine, Sticky Rice, the King, Samia's |
At the VFW Parkway site, Boston Restaurant Talk reported in August that Leonardo's Bar Ristorante plans to move into the space still lit up as Mission on Fire. Leonardo Testa, son of restaurateur Vinny Testa, is behind it. A job posting says he has updated his father's recipes for 2026. The concept is family-style Southern Italian modeled on 1940s lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, with shared plates, red-and-black tablecloths, hand-painted murals and big band music.
Universal Hub's headline traced the lineage as an Italian place replacing a Mexican place that replaced steak places that replaced "the waving-chicken place." Mission on Fire ran a little more than a year. Boston Restaurant Talk reported on October 27, 2025 that it was no longer in business. As of September 10, Boston.com lists Leonardo's opening date as 2027 and gives the address as 1440 VFW Parkway. The two other outlets give 1430. Even with Leonardo's on the way, the space will sit dark for a stretch.
The Centre Street storefront has turned over on a different pattern. Its restaurants have changed many times, and the same kind of food has held on for long stretches. Samia's served Middle Eastern food until the King, also Middle Eastern, took over in 2009. Sticky Rice brought Thai food in 2011, Som Tum replaced it in 2017, and Klin Thai followed last year. The block already has two other Thai spots. Phuket, a block down Centre, has long had a beer-and-wine license, and Thai Spice is mostly takeout with a single table.
Klin Thai's license stays with Klin Thai
Klin Thai's September news connects back to the operator theme. On September 3, the Licensing Board approved a beer, wine and cordials license for the 16-seat restaurant. It comes from the pool of licenses the legislature set aside for 02132 and other outer Boston ZIP codes. Universal Hub notes that the pool is meant to help restaurant owners in neighborhoods outside the Seaport, downtown, Back Bay and the North End.
These licenses cannot be resold. If the holder goes out of business, the license goes back to the City. That makes the beer and wine at 1894 Centre part of Klin's own operation. The room doesn't keep it. Any future tenant at that address would start without a license, just as Leonardo's starts over at the VFW Parkway site.
The fixture that closed
Not every long-running business held on. The Bruegger's at 667 VFW Parkway closed recently after at least a couple of decades, and Universal Hub's September 2 report ran under the headline "West Roxbury becomes bagelless." No replacement tenant has been announced.
That report listed the nearest bagel options now:
- Exodus Bagels, off Belgrade Avenue in Roslindale
- Cafe Fresh Bagel in Dedham Center
- Rosenfeld's in Newton Centre
Bruegger's is a chain location. Its run on VFW Parkway was long, but the decision to close didn't rest with a family that owned the land or a manager who had been there since 1999. Nobody locally was in a position to keep it going the way the Imbornones kept Tony's or Pignone keeps the Blanchard's counter.
What's on the neighborhood calendar
Many of West Roxbury's fall dates come from institutions that have been around for a long time, at addresses that don't change:
- October 17: Holy Name Parish School holds its Touch a Truck & Fall Festival at 535 West Roxbury Parkway. One listing runs it alongside a 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. open house, and another lists noon to 4 p.m., so check times with the school before you go.
- October 28: Halloween Story Time & Craft at the West Roxbury Branch Library, 11 a.m. to noon.
- November 21: Boston's Zero Waste Day Drop-Off at Millennium Park, 315 Gardner St., 8:30 a.m. to noon. The City moved it from September 26 because a nor'easter was expected.
Leonardo's isn't expected until 2027, so the next change at 1430 VFW Parkway is still a ways off. In the meantime, Tony's Place is still serving at Spring and Baker, and Michael Pignone is still running the store at Centre and Lagrange, whatever the letters on the Lagrange side end up saying.
If you're thinking about what your own home's history and setup mean for its next chapter, Colleen Kelly Homes can go through it with you. Schedule a free strategy call.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
