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South End restaurant burglarized after being forced to close by fire
The gastropub, which hit its ten-year mark mid-July, has been closed since a kitchen fire broke out June 30.
Banyan Bar + Refuge, an Asian gastropub in the South End, announced it was burglarized shortly after closing to recover from a fire.
The restaurant, which hit its ten-year mark in mid-July, has been closed since a kitchen fire broke out June 30.
Banyan said in an Instagram post Monday that it was robbed of its electronics over the weekend. Since the restaurant’s electricity was out, its cameras didn’t catch any activity.
A Boston police officer responded to a breaking and entering report at Banyan on Monday around 12:30 p.m., the department said.
The officer observed damage to the lock on the inside of the main entrance, police said in a statement.
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Banyan’s assistant general manager arrived at the restaurant at 11:50 a.m., the statement said. She saw the front door was open and there was “noticeable damage” to one of two cash registers behind the restaurant’s bar, police said.
“She stated that the door does not lock properly due to the forced entry from the Boston Fire Department that occurred 06/30/2025,” the statement read. “She stated that the computers in the business were pushed over, and that an Iphone that they use for business related purposes was stolen.”
The assistant general manager told police that the restaurant was “unsure” if anything else was stolen, due to the amount of contractors working in the restaurant after the fire.
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The restaurant, situated at 553 Tremont St., said it was targeted because “people know we are closed.”
“This entire process has been incredibly frustrating but your love and encouragement mean the world to us,” Banyan’s post said. “That rainbow over Banyan feels like a sign that brighter days are ahead and we are holding onto that.
The post said that Berkeley Perk Cafe, around the corner from Banyan, was also robbed. A South End Facebook group post from July 26 shows the cafe’s front door smashed in, with glass shards on the floor.
Boston police responded to the cafe around 6:15 a.m., and saw that the front door was shattered and the rear of the cafe was “rummaged through.”
The caller told police that the cash register did not contain any cash, as the cafe doesn’t leave money inside of the register overnight, the police statement said. The police and the cafe’s chef located a parcel of money, which was held in an undisclosed location and was untouched.
Berkeley Perk Cafe did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday night.
The restaurant is requesting anyone who may have seen activity inside Banyan over the weekend to reach out to them.
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