Explorateur to be replaced with two Guy Fieri restaurants

Explorateur+has+occupied+the+corner+of+Boylston+and+Tremont+for+over+two+years.+

Stephanie Purifoy

Explorateur has occupied the corner of Boylston and Tremont for over two years.

By Parker Purifoy, Emerson '21

Explorateur will close its doors Monday to be replaced by two new Guy Fieri restaurants, the cafe’s parent company said in a statement.

The new restaurants, Guy Fieri’s Boston Kitchen + Bar and Chicken Guy!, will be open daily for lunch and dinner. Big Night Entertainment Group, the company that owns Explorateur, announced the change in a statement Monday morning.

The kitchen and bar will serve burgers, wings, and shareable food items with classic New England influences along with craft beers and signature cocktails, the statement said. Chicken Guy! will be a fast casual spot for chicken tenders, sandwiches, and salads.

According to the statement, all of Explorateur’s employees have been offered positions at the new restaurants.

Explorateur is an all-day full-service European café that serves as a coffee shop, restaurant, and bar. It opened in August of 2017 in the old Grand Masonic Lodge.

“Explorateur was my baby,” Ed Kane, principal of Big Night, said in the statement. “I live 100 yards from the front door and it was where I started pretty much every day for the last two years. As such, I had a great affinity for the employees and clients there.”

Big Night was founded in 2006 by Kane and nightclub owners Joe Kane and Randy Greenstein.The company owns over ten restaurants, bars, and clubs across New England. 

The two eateries at 186 Tremont St. will mark the second and third time Fieri and Big Night have collaborated. Guy Fieri’s Tequila Cocina opened in October 2019 next to TD Garden.

The statement did not specify a reason for the change or when the Fieri restaurants would open.