Last Boston Market restaurant in Sacramento region struggles for survival

Randy Diamond
·3 min read
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Fans of rotisserie chicken at restaurant chain Boston Market may want to rush to the one remaining Sacramento-area location, but it may be too late for the chicken pot pie.

After the restaurant at 2300 Fair Oaks Blvd. was closed in mid-May for around a week, financially troubled Boston Market reopened. However, a sign on the side window of the Arden Arcade restaurant noted that in addition to the chicken pot pie other popular favorites, such as chicken noodle soup, crispy BLT, Nashville hot crispy chicken sandwich, were not available.

Restaurant general manager Mai Vue said the establishment closed after food suppliers weren’t paid, employees didn’t get their paycheck and the power was shut off for a day.

She said employees are being paid again but didn’t know if the shortage of some Boston Market food items was related to supplier payment issues.

A sign in the window of Sacramento County’s lone remaining Boston Market restaurant lists its sold-out items – including pot pies and crispy chicken sandwiches – on Thursday, June 8, 2023.
A sign in the window of Sacramento County’s lone remaining Boston Market restaurant lists its sold-out items – including pot pies and crispy chicken sandwiches – on Thursday, June 8, 2023.

The parent company, Boston Market Corp., recently sold stores in California and Arizona to a franchise owner, known as Boston Market of California, Vue said. She believed the new owner’s intent is to keep the location open.

State and county records still list the owner of the restaurant as Boston Market Corp. in Golden, Colorado.

The corporation was acquired by Engage Brands in 2020. Engage ended up owing $328,592.34 in unpaid sales and payroll taxes dating back for more than a year, Dan Carr, a spokesman for the Colorado Department of Revenue said in an email. Carr said after the state seized Boston Market’s headquarters on May 16, changing locks and seizing business assets. The company paid the overdue bills.

The mid-May seizure coincides with the time period that the Sacramento area Boston Market was closed. A sign on the door of the Fair Oaks location on May 17 stated, “Closed!!! Due to shipment issues, we will be closed till future notice.”

Sacramento County assessor records show the Boston Market, which is just east of the Sacramento city line, owes more than $18,000 in taxes dating back to 2022. County records also show that Starbucks submitted renovation plans on May 25 seeking to turn the Boston Market into an outlet of the Seattle-based coffee house chain.

A County spokesman said the plans are under initial review.

Boston Market, formerly Boston Chicken, opened its first location in Newton, a suburb of Boston, in 1985. The rotisserie chicken restaurant became enormously popular by offering freshly made ready to eat chicken. By the early 1990’s, there were more than 1,200 locations nationwide, including eight in the Sacramento area.

The Boston Market website today lists 312 restaurants. A location in Roseville closed earlier this year. The nearest open restaurant from the Arden Arcade location is in Oakland.

Vue, who has worked for Boston Market for 10 years, said the Sacramento area location saw dramatic drops in business once the COVID-19 pandemic started.

“It dropped drastically,” she said of customers, never returning to pre-pandemic levels.

At lunchtime on June 5, the more than 3,000 square foot Boston Market had only several customers inside.