Local News

Not a Friendly town: The last Boston Friendly’s has closed

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the business has encountered financial hardship.

By Gwen Egan

March 24, 2024

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Friendly’s Ice Cream, a Massachusetts chain known for its kitschy diner aesthetic and sundaes the size of New England mountains, has closed its last Boston location in Boston Logan Airport’s Terminal A, leaving a wake of broken, nostalgic hearts behind it. 

Although Boston isn’t known for its overtly nice residents, for a while, it was known for the diner-like restaurants called Friendly’s, which served up plates of crinkle-cut fries and dishes of signature ice cream. 

In a recognizable tale, although many outposts of this castle of Fribbles remain in Massachusetts, many have also closed. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the business has encountered financial hardship.

The chain made headlines in late 2020 when it filed for bankruptcy protection, according to The Boston Globe. This was not the first time the restaurant known for its distinctive lettering had done so, with declarations of bankruptcy in 2011 and 2019 for its grocery division, the paper reported. 

After a nine-year tenure in Terminal A, Friendly’s has closed its doors despite attempts to utilize the incessant foot traffic found in the East Boston airport to drive up sales.

The chain’s future is unknown. Its most recent corporate acquisition was in 2021 by a group of restaurant investors for $2 million, according to the Globe. In 2007, the company was sold to Sun Capital Partners Inc. for $337 million, the paper reported.

Brix Holdings, the current owner of the business, is attempting to find a home for the business model further south, specifically in Texas, where it is based, the Globe reported. 

“We are making Friendly’s great again with a new, upgraded, and improved Friendly’s 2.0. We are recapturing the childhood hearts and stomachs from the 88 years,” reads Friendly’s franchise page on their website. 

Unfortunately, the nostalgia factor wasn’t quite enough to keep Friendly’s doors open in Boston, but perhaps there’s a place for it where the locals are known for southern charm rather than Boston curtness.