Boston Garden Owner: Mediterranean Restaurant No Sure Thing

Hopkins residents should have a little bit longer to enjoy Mainstreet’s Boston Garden restaurant.

Restaurant co-owner Felix Kerawala said he’s far from reaching a deal that would allow Twin Cities chef Bill Ansari to open the Mediterranean restaurant he announced Monday.

Kerawala, who also owns the building where Boston Garden is located, said he and Ansari still disagree on numerous items after months of negotiating. And he wants to ensure that the terms for any new tenant in the building don’t alienate the existing tenants.

“We have little differences over many, many points. We don’t seem to agree on anything,” Kerawala said.

Boston Garden’s days still appear to be numbered, though. After 13 years running the Mainstreet eatery and 16 years at another restaurant before that, Kerawala wants to retire soon.

“I’ve decided I’m too old to be doing this,” he said.

But Kerawala’s position as both building owner and restaurant owner means he can’t afford to have the Boston Garden space vacant—and he doesn’t want Hopkins to have another vacant storefront either. Consequently, he’ll keep Boston Garden going until he finds another business.

“For me to retire, I have to replace myself with someone else,” he said.

Still, Kerawala said he and Ansari have some significant gaps to bridge if that replacement is to be Ansari’s Adam Basha Café.

“We seem to be coming back to the same page,” Kerawala said.

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