The Local In West Newton To Reopen This Year: Owner

NEWTON, MA — A restaurant that has sat in West Newton on Washington Street near the Pike for the past 12 years may have a "For Lease" sign above it, but the owner said he's struck a deal with the landlord, and plans to reopen this year.

"I cut a deal with the landlord yesterday," said Frank Santo, the owner of The Local in West Newton and president of the Wellesley Restaurant Group. "It's going to be reopening, I don't know when, but probably sometime in December."

The restaurant, like many in town, pivoted amid the pandemic in March to offer take-out only. He was able to secure a grant from the city, and that helped keep the doors open until July.

But it's been a struggle, Santo said.

"It's awful," he said. "It's been very challenging. It's tough. It's really tough."

In July, the restaurant posted to Instagram that it was hibernating and planned to reopen in the fall. He had to lay off all 30 of his employees, he said.

"Our West Newton Location will be temporarily closed for the summer. We look forward to re-opening for service in the Fall," the post read.

But, Santo said he was having trouble making the rent.

He is not alone. Since the beginning of the pandemic, some 20 percent of restaurants in Massachusetts have closed permanently, the highest concentration in the New England region, according to Massachusetts Restaurant Association president Bob Luz.

The National Restaurant Association estimates that the industry is estimated to lose $240 billion by the end of the year, with $2.3 billion lost in the state of Massachusetts alone, according to the Pioneer Institute, a conservative think tank.

Shortly after, the Washington Street location was removed from the list of locations on the website and social media, leaving the Waltham, Wayland, Wellesley and Woburn restaurants.

And his landlord hung an Arin Realty "Store For Lease" sign above the restaurant entrance.

The West Newton space opened in 2008 as a gastro-pub. In 2011 Santo, dished about the restaurant and his other projects in the pipeline.

"The customer is my boss," he said at the time. "Everyone has a boss and the customer is mine. They tell me what they want, and that's what I do."

That still holds true, Santo said.

"Restaurants are what I do, so I gotta keep trying," he said. So he scrambled to find ways to keep the Newton location, his first location and his favorite, open.

He succeeded Tuesday, he said.

"The landlord has been great," Santo said. "And once he came around and realized that you know, this is the situation it's not going away any time soon, he had a change of heart and decided to work with us. And that's why we're opening and it looks like we'll be there for a good long time to come."

Santo said he hopes to bring all the employees he had to lay off back.

"I'm looking forward to seeing everybody. That's my favorite one, that's the one I go to," he said. "We'll do what ever we have to do to comply [with pandemic safety regulations] and it will be open for in service and take out soon."

Read more: Eat At These Newton, Brookline Or Waltham Restaurants Get Money

Jenna Fisher is a news reporter for Patch. Got a tip? She can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna). Have a something you'd like posted on the Patch? Here's how .