Paris Alston: This is GBH's Morning Edition.
Jeremy Siegel: It is early on a Tuesday, Paris, which means it's time to talk about nightlife.
Jeremy Siegel: Welcome back to our series Nightlife in Boston, a collaboration with Axios, Boston, where we've been asking you what makes nightlife in the city good, what makes it bad, and what could improve. And one thing we've heard about repeatedly is the lack of options for people of color -- in places where they feel safe and included.
Paris Alston: So for the latest in our series, we stopped by two late-night spots that are providing that space.
Paris Alston: We begin in the Seaport at Grace by Nia. It's a modern day supper club, blending the sounds of jazz, soul and R&B with a twist on Black comfort food-- like gumbo ceviche and carrot cake chicken and waffles.
Nia Grace: When you come here, you are fully immersed in this kind of like a really big, genuine hug.
Paris Alston: Nia Grace opened the restaurant in May. A Roxbury native, she's also owner of Darryl's Corner Bar and Kitchen, which she took over from Darryl Settles in 2018. It's places like Darryl’s and now Grace that make many patrons feel free, when other venues don't.
Nia Grace: It's like, ‘yeah, no problem, we want you to be here, but can you just do it like this? Can you just have an all R&B party? Because R&B feels safe?’ No, R&B is safe. Hip hop is safe. None of those things make anything unsafe. And we want you to accept all of us.
Paris Alston: While everyone is welcome at Grace, most of the patrons here tonight are Black -- something rare in the Seaport.. In a recent survey by the Conservation Law Foundation, 24% of Black people reported feeling unwelcome here, compared to just 6% of their white counterparts. Not to mention just a handful of businesses here are minority owned. But Grace says it's time for that to change.
Nia Grace: We feel this city as well. And outside of just feeling welcomed here at other establishments, it's time for us to have an establishment of our own and establishments of our own.
Paris Alston: That includes the black owned ZaZiBar, that sits on the first floor of the same building that houses Grace. Of course, a night out anywhere in the seaport is going to cost you. And at Grace, customers pay a $10 or $25 entertainment fee on top of their bill based on where they sit. But for patrons like Dana Martin of Attleboro, it's worth it to support a Black-owned business in the city's fastest growing area.
Dana Martin: Especially with all the work that's been going on around here. But when we walk around here, it doesn't seem like there's really anything that I would really be interested in, maybe specific nights, but there wasn't anything that really screamed, ‘this is exactly where me and my people really want to go.’
Paris Alston: Coming here, there's a familiarity.
Adonis Martin: My intent is to play the classics. So I guess the music that has survived and spanned through decades.
Paris Alston: Musical Director Adonis Martin, no relation to Dana, says that’s so a wide range of people can relate to it.
Adonis Martin: No matter how old you are, you're going to recognize “Never Too Much” by Luther Vandross. You know, I'm saying no matter what area you grew up in, you know that song .
Paris Alston: Martin says the majority of bands that play here are local and consist of people of color. The venue also spotlights emerging talent with its weekly ‘Let It Flow’ open mic sessions. Taking the stage tonight is the group Will and the Way. Martin says having them here creates a sense of belonging.
Adonis Martin: The goal is to reach past your ears and reach here. So if you're moving a little bit with your chicken or your ribs in your hand, trying to bite that, then we're serving our purpose, you know what I mean?
Paris Alston: Well, shoot. Somebody pass me a wing then.
Paris Alston: Five miles away in Cambridge -- it's a similar story at a venue honoring the many shades of Latin America and the Caribbean. We're at La Fabrica. And tonight, Son Mass, a band from Berkeley is jamming as the food and drinks are flowing.
Dennis Benzan: You can have what we believe is the best mojito in town that comes with a popsicle. You can have a Mofungo, Chicharrón de Pollo, Chicharrón de Cerdo, you can have a Latin sushi roll.
Paris Alston: Dennis Benzan has been the owner here since 2017.
Dennis Benzan: We're primarily a Caribbean rum bar. So when you come to La Fabrica, you feel like you're transplanted. You feel like you're in Caribe.
Paris Alston: He grew up in Columbia Terrace, a community of Caribbean immigrants.
Dennis Benzan: They were Cuban, they were Dominican, they were Puerto Rican. And so I carry that culture in my heart. What we represent here at La Fabrica is authentic.
Paris Alston: The restaurant doubles as a nightclub. On a Saturday night, the back room quickly becomes shoulder to shoulder, standing room only. On busy nights, there's a $10 cover.
Paris Alston: Patrons like Cristina Guapacha flock here to dance, since she says there aren't many other options in the Boston area.
Christina Guapacha: I like Latin music, but we only have so many places, that's the thing. We always come here or Havana. Yeah, we need more.
Paris Alston: Benzan attributes that to the barriers to entry for potential bar and club owners of color. For starters, you have to secure a space that will allow liquor sales.
Dennis Benzan: And that costs quite a bit of capital nowadays. And so access to capital is also a major impediment.
Paris Alston: Then comes the costly liquor licenses. Bezan says out of the 1400+ in the city of Boston, around ten are minority owned. That number is even smaller in Cambridge. But Benzan says setting up shop here can be a little cheaper.
Dennis Benzan: For example, getting into the Seaport is incredibly expensive. Places like Cambridge have an opportunity to provide restaurant owners with the ability to get a license that is a no-valid, non transferable license.
Paris Alston: Meaning the license goes back to the city if a venue closes, rather than being sold to another owner for up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Benzan says when an owner can overcome the obstacles, there's an opportunity to serve both customers and their community. Most of his staff is Black and Latino, and he says running the business with them is an opportunity to share their culture and history with people from all over the world. That includes his own Afro-Latino heritage.
Dennis Benzan: La Fabrica gets its name from the idea that you make rum from sugar cane. But you can't represent yourself as La Fabrica if you don't acknowledge the hardships that the Haitian people go through in the Dominican Republic. And so you will see images of people of color cutting sugar cane in the Caribbean.
Paris Alston: As he pushes for more owners of color to join him, Benzan is grateful for the ones already there.
Dennis Benzan: I admire the work that Darryl Settles and Nia Grace have done in Boston. The owners of Slades, the owners of Wally's, because they have survived and they have overcome all the obstacles that continue to persist today to be able to open up for business.
Paris Alston: It will take top shelf changes in both Boston and Cambridge for that legacy to continue. Until then, cheers to a night out getting more colorful with time.
Paris Alston: This story was co-reported by Morning Edition producer Rachel Armany.
Jeremy Siegel: And you can find more from our series at gbhnews.org/Nightlife.
Jeremy Siegel: This is GBH’s Morning Edition.
When it comes to Boston nightlife, one often-repeated problem is the lack of options for people of color — in places where they feel safe and included.
But some locations in the area are trying to change that, by carving out space to celebrate the city's variety of cultures, food and music.
That includes Grace by Nia in the Seaport: a modern day supper club that blends the sounds of jazz, soul and R&B with a twist on Black comfort food, like gumbo ceviche, and carrot cake chicken and waffles.
Nia Grace, who opened the restaurant in May, describes the dining experience as being "fully immersed in this kind of really big, genuine hug."
The Roxbury native is also owner of Darryl's Corner Bar and Kitchen, which she took over from Darryl Settles in 2018. Places like Darryl’s, and now Grace, make many patrons feel free, when other venues don't.
In a 2019 survey by the Conservation Law Foundation, 24 percent of Black people reported feeling unwelcome in the Seaport, compared to just 6 percent of their white counterparts.
Only a handful of businesses in the area are minority-owned — but Grace is looking for that to change.
"We feel this city as well. And outside of just feeling welcomed here at other establishments, it's time for us to have an establishment of our own and establishments of our own," she said.
That includes the Black-owned ZaZiBar, that sits on the first floor of the same building that houses Grace.
For most venues in the Seaport, a night out typically comes at a higher price point. At Grace, customers pay a $10 or $25 entertainment fee on top of their bill based on where they sit.
For patrons like Dana Martin of Attleboro, it's worth it to support a Black-owned business in the city's fastest growing area.
"Especially with all the work that's been going on around here," she said. "But when we walk around here, it doesn't seem like there's really anything that I would really be interested in. Maybe specific nights, but there wasn't anything that really screamed, ‘this is exactly where me and my people really want to go.’"
Along with food, there is an effort to bring familiarity and comfort to the music experience at Grace, according to Musical Director Adonis Martin.
"My intent is to play the classics, so I guess the music that has survived and spanned through decades," he said. "No matter how old you are, you're going to recognize 'Never Too Much' by Luther Vandross. No matter what area you grew up in, you know that song."
Martin said the majority of bands that play here are local, and consist of people of color. The venue also spotlights emerging talent with its weekly "Let It Flow" open mic sessions.
"The goal is to reach past your ears and reach [your heart]," he said. "So if you're moving a little bit with your chicken or your ribs in your hand, trying to bite that, then we're serving our purpose, you know what I mean?"
It's a similar story five miles away in Cambridge at La Fabrica, a Caribbean rum bar honoring the many shades of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Owner Dennis Benzan has been in charge since 2017 — building on his experience growing up in a community of Caribbean immigrants.
"So when you come to La Fabrica, you feel like you're transplanted," he said. "You feel like you're in [the Caribbean]."
The menu reflects the venue's cultural diversity — with options like Mofongo, Chicharrón de Pollo, Chicharrón de Cerdo or even a Latin sushi roll.
"I carry that culture in my heart, so what we represent here at La Fabrica is authentic," Benzan said.
The restaurant doubles as a nightclub, which charges a $10 cover on busier nights. Patrons like Cristina Guapacha come here to dance, noting a lack of options in the Boston area.
"I like Latin music, but we only have so many places, that's the thing," Guapacha said. "We always come here or Havana [Club]. We need more."
Benzan attributes that to the barriers to entry for potential bar and club owners of color, like securing a place that will allow liquor sales.
"That costs quite a bit of capital nowadays — and so access to capital is also a major impediment," he said.
He added that out of the 1400+ licenses in the city of Boston, around ten are minority owned. That number is even smaller in Cambridge — but Benzan said setting up shop in Cambridge can be a little cheaper.
The city of Cambridge allows business owners to acquire a no-valid, non-transferable license, which would go back to the city if a venue closes, rather than being sold to another owner for up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Benzan said most of his staff is Black or Latino, and he says running the business with them helps to share their culture and history with people from all over the world.
"La Fabrica gets its name from the idea that you make rum from sugar cane. But you can't represent yourself as La Fabrica if you don't acknowledge the hardships that the Haitian people go through in the Dominican Republic," he said. "And so you will see images of people of color cutting sugar cane in the Caribbean."
As he pushes for more owners of color to join him, Benzan is grateful for the ones already there.
"I admire the work that Darryl Settles and Nia Grace have done in Boston, [along with] the owners of Slades, the owners of Wally's, because they have survived and they have overcome all the obstacles that continue to persist today to be able to open up for business," he said.
