Photo: Judith GO, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain. Boylston Street at Jersey Street in the Fenway, near Sweet Cheeks Q’s block (file photo, February 2022; not the restaurant).
The Sweet Cheeks Q closing date is now less than three weeks away. Chef Tiffani Faison’s Texas-style barbecue restaurant at 1381 Boylston St. in the Fenway will serve its last official night on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2026, shortly after its 15th anniversary, she told Boston.com in August. Fool’s Errand, her standing-room snack bar next door at 1377 Boylston St., will close too.
Faison announced in August that she would not renew the lease. Until the final night, the restaurant’s official website still lists regular dining, takeout and delivery hours, so the remaining weeks are the last chance to order there.
What is closing and when
Two businesses are affected. Sweet Cheeks Q, which opened in 2011, is the barbecue restaurant known for trays of smoked meats and oversized buttermilk biscuits. Fool’s Errand opened in 2018 as a small standing-room bar and shares a liquor license with Sweet Cheeks, which is why the two close together, according to Boston.com. The Boston Globe reported the same Nov. 24 date and said the closing ends Faison’s run in the Fenway. She previously ran Italian restaurant Orfano, Southeast Asian restaurant Tiger Mama and a branch of Tenderoni’s on the same block.
| Address | 1381 Boylston St., Fenway, Boston 02215 |
|---|---|
| Last night of service | Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2026 (per Boston.com and the Globe) |
| Posted hours | Mon.–Thu. 11:30 a.m.–9 p.m.; Fri.–Sat. 11:30 a.m.–10 p.m.; Sun. 11:30 a.m.–9 p.m. (official site, checked Nov. 7, 2026) |
| Phone | 617-266-1300 |
| Also closing | Fool’s Errand, 1377 Boylston St. |
| Opened | 2011 |
Why Faison says she is leaving
Faison framed the decision as a cost problem rather than a lack of customers. “It is cost-prohibitive to have restaurants now,” she told Boston.com, pointing to fuel surcharges, tariffs on imported goods, higher food prices and the cost of paying a fair wage. She called the final stretch “a heartbreaking victory lap” for the team and the city.
She also said she is looking for a new location for Sweet Cheeks, but has not announced one. About 45 people work at the restaurant, and Faison said she is trying to move them to other restaurants in her Big Heart Hospitality group, which Boston.com listed as Bubble Bath, Charming Gardener, Dive Bar, Tenderoni’s, Tigerbaby and The Temp Agency.
Faison used the moment to ask City Hall for help. She suggested that new buildings set aside affordable ground-floor space for local restaurants, the way developers must include affordable housing, and said she hoped Mayor Wu would hear small business owners’ concerns. The city has not announced such a policy.
Part of a wider wave of closings
Sweet Cheeks is one of several well-known Boston-area restaurants to announce closings this year. Boston.com noted that chefs Colin Lynch, Heather Kennaway Lynch and Jefferson Macklin chose not to renew leases on Bar Mezzana, No Relation and Shore Leave, citing affordability, and that Chickadee had recently shut. In the Fenway, Wahlburgers’ Brookline Avenue location also closed, as we reported in our story on the Wahlburgers Fenway closing. Axios Boston tracked a run of other recent closures on Nov. 5, including the South End’s Banyan Bar + Refuge, which we covered when its owner said Banyan would not reopen.
Sweet Cheeks earned early praise. The Globe’s restaurant critic Devra First called it a “home run” soon after it opened, and Boston magazine has repeatedly named it the city’s best barbecue in its Best of Boston awards, Boston.com reported. Its biscuits and fried chicken were featured on the “Today” show.
If you want to go before it closes
The restaurant sits on the Fenway Triangle stretch of Boylston Street, a short walk from Fenway Park and the Fenway stop on the Green Line’s D branch. Expect demand to build as the last night nears. Faison told Boston.com that diners who want their favorite places to survive should show up on slower nights as well, not only on busy weekends.
For more ideas across the city, see our guide to the best restaurants in Boston. The Boston Report will update this story if Faison announces a new home for Sweet Cheeks.
Sources
- Boston.com, “Tiffani Faison to close Sweet Cheeks Q and Fool’s Errand in the Fenway,” Aug. 13, 2026
- The Boston Globe, “Tiffani Faison’s Sweet Cheeks Q to close in November,” Aug. 13, 2026
- Sweet Cheeks Q, official site: address, phone and hours (checked Nov. 7, 2026)
- Axios Boston, “Boston-area restaurants closing: Saus, Cambridge Common, Banyan,” Nov. 5, 2026
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