HELL YEAH BURGERS AND A ‘BIG-ASS SEAFOOD PLATTER’: THE QUIET FEW DEBUTS ITS SECOND ACT
Sure, it’s right there in the name, but there’s nothing “small” about Small Victories, the bar and restaurant that opens in South Boston’s Andrew Square in the middle of next week from the team behind East Boston’s the Quiet Few. Expect larger-than-life flavors within a generous 2,550 square-foot layout in a new mixed-use building just steps away from the Andrew Square T stop.
Then there’s the oversized plates. Like, “bring an empty belly and a few friends” big. Take the (aptly named) Huge Ass Pretzel — a 24-ounce treat served with house Cheez Whiz-style sauce, whipped scallion cream cheese, beer-honey mustard, and mixed pickles. “It’s intimidating,” owner Josh Weinstein says with a laugh. “It needs four people. It’s really cool.”
The space’s vibe is warm industrial, designed by Somerville’s Joe the Architect, featuring huge windows, tall ceilings, and handsome wood throughout. A separate lounge area —expect events like Vanderpump Rules watch parties in the future — invites with booth seating to relax between games of shuffleboard. From the creative comfort food to the welcoming energy of the bartenders, Weinstein hopes to “make people feel good and comfortable and safe, and like they’re in their living room at home.”
Given the smash success of the Quiet Few (thanks in no small part to its whiskey-marinated smash burgers) a second location seemed like a no-brainer. Weinstein had been close to signing a lease for a spot in Eastie in 2020 when the pandemic halted those plans. During lockdown the idea of “a small victory” became like a personal mantra. “Just like, “Ok we got through today. Or we got to-go cocktails. Or, ok we’re able to open up indoors,” he says. “These small victories kept going forth.”
Plus, the name “Small Victories” is a hidden reference to musician Mike Patton. “The Quiet Few” is the name of a song by Patton — Weinstein considers himself a diehard fan — and the band Tomahawk, while “A Small Victory” is a song by Patton and the band Faith No More. Weinstein’s wife Linsey suggested the song as the new restaurant’s name when they were getting ready to sign the second lease, and it seemed to hit the right note.
The musical inspiration, too, finds harmony with how executive chef Scott Jensen describes the menu as “a fun mash-up of things that we really enjoy.” References riff on Beyoncé, Will Smith, K-Pop and more — all filtered through the “top shelf, low brow” motto that flows from the Quiet Few to the new spot. “We’re taking really classic pub food, and making it more us,” Jensen says. “More fun.”
Find hits from the Quiet Few like the Hell Yeah Burger — two patties with house sauce, smoked onions, and more on a brioche bun — on the new menu. But a much bigger kitchen means that Jensen can explore offerings the team doesn’t have the space for at the petite 49-seat TQF. Mainly, get ready for stadium-sized seafood.
The Get’n Chilly With It section of the menu is all about chilled seafood, from the Mama J’s Crab Salad that looks to Jensen’s mom’s recipe for tuna salad as inspiration, subbing out the canned fish for lump blue crab, to the fresh oysters with a reduced vodka Bloody Mary-style cocktail sauce. Jensen moved to Plymouth during the pandemic with his wife Gwen Hagerty, and they fell in love with Winsor House out in Duxbury, especially their mignonette. That restaurant gets a shout-out as the inspiration for serving a heap of herbed fries with caviar “crack,” or a lemon-garlic aioli mixed with East Boston Oysters caviar.
Meanwhile, all hail the queen of the Tray ‘Os section: the Beyoncé showstopper dish called When He F*** Me Good I Take His Ass to Red Lobster. “It’s a big-ass seafood platter with everything you can think of,” Jensen says. Sure, the dish’s name references the song “Formation” on the Lemonade album, but it’ll likely take diners the runtime of Beyoncé’s 27-song epic, Cowboy Carter, to polish off the heap of oysters, peel-and-eat Cajun shrimp, crab salad, fried clams, fries, and more. “Pair it with a pitcher of beer or some or some bubbles and that’s my kind of afternoon,” Jensen says.
Other Tray ‘O treasures include a one-pound mozzarella stick with Italian cold cuts — basically an antipasti platter with fried cheese as the crostini. A few salads and other bites like poutine round out the Baskets & Bowl ‘Os section. But no visit is complete without checking out the “Burgers, Dogs, & Sammies” section, which also features expanded vegetarian and vegan offerings. The Big Tony combines an Italian grinder and a chicken parm, in reference to Tony Soprano, and the It’s Always Summer in Southie Dog sees a jumbo Peal dog topped with fried clam strips. Bourdain’s Burger features ingredients loved by the late chef and is topped with seared mortadella and more.
And it wouldn’t be a Jensen menu without an ode to junk food. “We always joke back and forth, like, ‘what other garbage chip can we use to have fun with?’” he says with a laugh. Here, Flamin’ Hot Cheetos scorch atop the spicy-sweet and cheesy Chester Cheetah Burger, and serve as the base of the Flamin’ Hot Trash Bag bar snack, which is essentially a cheesesteak on top of a bag of Cheetos.
Besides the bites, Small Victories leans into the liquor, with a cocktail program that’s virtually the same as the Quiet Few. Some additions include a “baller amaro list,” per Weinstein, and an expanded non-alcoholic beverage program. Lunch seven days a week is on the way, too. But in the meantime, with the weather already gloriously slipping into spring and summer, hit up the spot for a frozen espresso martini — the hilariously named Bruce Chillis, which is likely to impress coffee diehards. That already sounds like a big win.
Small Victories is located at 400 Dorchester Street in South Boston. Starting in mid-May, it will be open Monday through Thursday from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m., and Friday through Sunday from 12 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Nathan Tavares is a writer and editor from Boston. His second novel Welcome to Forever came out on March 12, 2024 from Titan Books.
2024-05-08T19:06:04Z dg43tfdfdgfd
