The Boston Licensing Board today approved plans by Darryl's Corner Bar owner Nia Grace to open what her attorney called "a supper club and speakeasy with a full menu" in the Seaport Square complex.
Grace will buy the liquor license of the defunct Seaport Square Showcase Cinema for her 166-seat Grace by Nia's. For part of the night, Grace by Nia's will be a restaurant serving "Southern-inspired cuisine" and "a Southern take" on New England fare before the tables and seats are reconfigured to allow for jazz, R&B and soul performances up until 2 a.m., her attorney, Lesley Delaney Hawkins, told the board. Grace will also serve brunch on weekends.
Board Chairwoman Kathleen Joyce praised the "very exciting application" in a neighborhood where large restaurants tend to be owned by national chains.
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, a Texas-based theater chain, plans to move into the old Showcase space, but it's gaining the right to serve its customers alcohol by approved plans for the Jazz Urbane Cafe in the Bolling Building in December - the same month the legislature approved new liquor licenses for Boston specifically for the Bolling Building and the Strand Theatre in Dorchester.