View story at masslive.com
By Chris McLaughlin
Photo: Noah R. Bombard
The doors of the long-awaited restaurant The Mercantile, featuring a rooftop patio bar, are finally open in downtown Worcester.
“The Mercantile is excited to open its doors to the heart of the Commonwealth,” the restaurant said on its website.
Located at 2 Mercantile St., adjoining the Mercantile Center Garage and wider Mercantile Center, the restaurant noted it is next to the DCU Center and “minutes from Polar Park,” saying it’s a “natural choice” for dining before and after Worcester Red Sox games.
Prospective patrons are now also able to make reservations on The Mercantile’s website through OpenTable.
For its opening week, The Mercantile said online that it is open from 4 p.m. to midnight on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Thursday and Friday, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. on Saturday and from 11:30 a.m. to midnight on Sunday.
The restaurant is operated by Broadway Hospitality Group — which also manages Tavern in the Square, The Broadway in South Boston, and Tavitas and Tavern Allston — and is 13,000 square feet in size and can seat 500, as MassLive previously reported.
The project was first announced in 2019, and was set to employ about 80 to 100 part-time employees and about 40 full-time employees.
The building also features a private event space and a unique “open rooftop patio that offers views of downtown Worcester and City Square.”
The restaurant said on its website that it will serve up “New American Tavern Cuisine,” across its two-floor full-service restaurant and bar, equipped with two 50-seat bars.
Its menu includes dozens of options ranging from starters such as “Fried Calamari,” “Teriyaki Ribs” and “Chicken Potstickers,” to main courses such as “Lobster Pasta,” “Chicken Milanese” and “Char Siu Ramen.”
It also includes several sandwich and burger options under “Handhelds,” such as the “Mercantile Burger,” “Grilled Chicken Bahn Mi” and “Pressed Zucchini Sandwich.”
The Mercantile’s main dinner menu, as well as its late night menu, also include several red and white sauce brick oven pizza varieties from more standard kinds like “Margherita” and “Bianca” to “Baked Mac & Cheese” and “Fra Diavolo.”
For dessert, patrons can select from a half dozen sweet treats such as “Flourless Chocolate Cake,” “Butterscotch Creme Brulee” and “Baked Alaska.”
The restaurant also features numerous alcoholic drink options from cocktails, to beers, to wines, to shareable pitchers and towers of certain drinks for parties of two or more or four of more respectively.
The Worcester License Commission previously granted The Mercantile an entertainment license for television, radio and live music inside and outside from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
The Worcester restaurant had been originally slated to open on Monday March 28, one week ago, but the date passed without an official opening until April 4.