"It never can be exactly like the original Doyle's," developer Lee Goodman of WaterMark Development told the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council last fall, as reported in the Jamaica Plain Gazette. "However, the front bar and barroom and the middle dining room will be recreated, and will replicate the feeling of Doyle's."
Doyle's opened in Jamaica Plain in 1882 and closed in 2019. Seven years later, its corner at Washington and Williams Streets is coming back from local material: salvaged pieces, a barroom layout rebuilt from memory, a grocer whose current store sits on a South Street corner that has held a market since 1912, and a mural next door that raises a glass to Doyle's and the Midway. Most of the building is up. The two storefronts are still shells, and the developer's best case for the grocery is an opening about a year out.
Four Buildings, Two Already Lived In
Many people still think of the Doyle's project as one building. The Gazette's November 2025 report lays out four separate parts, and they are at very different stages.
| Part of the project | What it is | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|
| Former Doyle's building | One-story restaurant space with a new rooftop deck | Licensed to Stoked Pizza; still a shell |
| Former Doyle's parking lot | Five-story building, 16 condos, ground-floor retail | Nearing completion; retail is a shell |
| 60 Williams Street | Four-story building, seven condos | Completed and occupied |
| 69 Williams Street | Six condos, on the site of a former one-family home | Completed and occupied |
The 13 homes on Williams Street already have neighbors living in them. Everything facing Washington Street is still waiting, and that frontage is what people walking past associate with Doyle's. Goodman told the council that WaterMark began the work in 2020 and that a long permitting process, rising costs and higher interest rates pushed the project well past its planned finish. The parts that remain are the two that will make the corner feel public again.
The Barroom Returns Under a Pizza Sign
Stoked Pizza, which runs restaurants in Brookline, Cambridge and Cohasset, is taking the old Doyle's space. The Doyle's name isn't coming back, but the plan tries to bring back the rooms. Goodman described a recreated front bar and barroom, a recreated middle dining room, and a separate community meeting room where residents can hold meetings. When he presented the plan, a council member asked directly whether the restaurant would still be called Doyle's, which shows how much the name still matters on this corner.
Stoked got its all-alcohol license in 2025. Jamaica Plain News listed it that February among six JP restaurants the city's Licensing Board approved, the only one of the six not yet open. In October, the Bulletin reported that both retail spaces were still shells, though Stoked's space inside the rebuilt Doyle's was further along.
The Grocer Is Coming From South Street
The other storefront is at the Gartland Street end of the new five-story building. It is going to someone Jamaica Plain already knows. Francisco Fernandez owns Happy Market at 128 South Street, at the corner of Boynton. He bought Bob's Spa there in 2001, and the Bulletin reports that a market had operated at that address since 1912. He also owns a Happy Market at 868 Blue Hill Avenue, at the corner of Talbot, so the Washington Street store would be his third.
The size is the clearest sign of what kind of store this will be. Fernandez Jr. said the new space is 5,000 square feet, compared with 4,000 on South Street. When the city's planning agency approved the project in 2021, the grocery space was planned at 4,178 square feet, and the restaurant concept then was Brassica at Doyle's. Both have changed since. The grocery got bigger, and its operator already runs a market across the neighborhood. Fernandez has said the store would carry groceries along with prepared foods, sandwiches and salads.
The grocery was part of the plan from the beginning. At an outdoor, socially distanced meeting on October 1, 2020, people sat on folding chairs while Goodman promised that one of the new retail spaces would be a grocery. Six years later, the promise has a name attached.
There's one more step. Happy Market's plan for 3474 Washington Street depends on getting a retail all-alcohol license, which will be held by a new corporation set up for the store. The public process started with a virtual abutters meeting on September 28 and continued with an appearance before the Jamaica Plain Business and Professional Association on October 21. Goodman told Jamaica Plain News that between permitting and building out a space of more than 5,000 square feet, the best case is an opening about one year from that October 20 report.
What Was Saved When the Corner Wall Came Down
The hope had been to work the remaining facade into the new structure. Last December, Jamaica Plain News reported that it had come down instead. Goodman told Jamaica Plain News that the remaining walls had been held up on temporary shoring, and that as crews got closer to the Williams Street corner, the engineer and site crew were worried about a collapse or wind pushing the walls onto the sidewalk. The last 30 feet of wall at the corner were taken down.
Before any demolition, JP Architectural Salvage removed and documented the remaining historic pieces. They are in storage to be rebuilt or reinstalled, and some salvaged facade material will be built into the new structure. A Jamaica Plain salvage company now holds the physical pieces of Doyle's until the recreated barroom is ready for them.
A Toast Painted Next Door
Next door, on the wall behind the Burritos Pizzeria building at 3492 Washington Street, a finished mural already nods to the old corner. SOEMS, the graffiti artist Lee Beard, grew up on South Huntington and is a member of the AOA Supply art collective. He painted a mural of Barack Obama and Anthony Bourdain at their well-known dinner in Hanoi. The glasses in front of them say "Midway" and "Doyle's." According to Jamaica Plain News, Goodman came up with the idea, hired the artist and chose the quotes, which are about finding common ground with other people.
SOEMS started the mural the summer before that July report and kept working through the winter, sometimes by headlamp after dark. He finished it on June 24, and members of the Doyle's family happened to stop by while he was completing it. Putting Midway on one of the glasses fits, because the Midway is a few feet from the old restaurant.
The Block That's Open This Month
While the shells wait for Stoked and Happy Market, the life of this stretch of Washington Street still runs through the places that never closed.
- Midway Cafe, 3496 Washington Street. The bar on the mural's other glass is still booking shows. Its calendar runs through mid-November.
- Samuel Adams Boston Brewery, Germania Street. The brewery's taproom page lists a taproom, beer garden, tours and events. Posted hours are noon to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.
- The Brewery Complex on Amory Street. The Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation's directory describes the complex as a fully occupied hub of more than 50 businesses, including Ula Cafe. The Haven is also in the complex and keeps its own event calendar.
For now, the corner looks like this: a mostly finished building with two dark storefronts at either end and a mural toasting the bars next door. When the storefronts open, the grocer will be a South Street name and the barroom will be laid out to match the old Doyle's, with its salvaged pieces back from storage.
Our team at Muncey Group follows projects like the Doyle's redevelopment closely, and we're glad to talk about what the new Washington Street frontage means for your corner of Stonybrook. If you want to know how the block is changing around your home, schedule a consultation with us.
