Uptown Social Boston: South End Soul Food and Live Music

Uptown Social, the Southern soul food restaurant and live music room at 604 Columbus Avenue, has become one of the South End’s most talked-about dinner spots since it opened in April 2026. It occupies the corner long known as Bob the Chef’s and later Darryl’s Corner Bar & Kitchen, and it is run by Boston restaurateur Nia Grace. Here is what Uptown Social Boston serves, what it costs, when it is open and what to know before you book.

A South End soul food landmark gets a new name

The address on the South End and Roxbury line has a long history. Uptown Social’s own website says the landmark has been serving the city since 1957. For decades it was Bob the Chef’s, a soul food institution. Darryl Settles bought it in 1990 and, after a few name changes, reopened it as Darryl’s Corner Bar & Kitchen in 2010, according to Boston Magazine’s report on the reopening. Settles sold the business to Grace in 2018, a deal Eater Boston covered at the time, and Darryl’s closed at the end of 2023.

Grace, who also runs the Seaport restaurant and music venue Grace by Nia, told Boston Magazine the rebrand is about “giving the neighborhood what it needs now and continuing what it started.” She has two partners: executive chef and culinary director Chelven Randolph, who previously cooked at Park City in South Boston and co-owned Nosh and Grog in Canton, and Donnell Singleton, the partner and guest relations director who owned the restaurant Food for the Soul. Boston Magazine reported that the restaurant opened on April 23, 2026.

Uptown Social menu highlights and prices

Randolph’s menu mixes Southern cooking with Caribbean and African touches. The menu posted on Uptown Social’s OpenTable page, last updated Oct. 19, 2026, is split into snacks, larger plates, shareable mains and desserts. Prices below come from that listing and can change.

• Snacks: buttermilk biscuits with house-cultured butter and crab apple butter ($11), pickled deviled eggs with Tabasco relish ($12), pimento cheese with BBQ pork rinds ($13), a black-eyed pea hummus with cornmeal pita ($13) and “Uptown Nuggets,” chicken thighs topped with osetra caviar ($19).
• Larger plates: Creole mussels with andouille and hand-cut fries ($18), wood-roasted beets with goat cheese and hot honey ($18) and Mambo wings ($20).
• Mains: chicken and waffles with a sweet tea brine and red velvet waffle ($28), a Berkshire pork chop with succotash ($31), fish and grits with cornmeal-battered haddock and Anson Mills grits ($34), South Carolina BBQ lamb ribs with hush puppies ($42) and an 18-ounce bone-in veal chop with red eye gravy ($55).
• Vegetarian pick: a mushroom jambalaya made with handmade fettuccine and okra ($22).
• Desserts: banana pudding Fosters and smoked caramel cheesecake ($12 each) and strawberry shortcake ($14).

The bar leans on cocktails in the $16 to $22 range, including the Players Club, a pineapple vodka drink with passionfruit and cava, plus pitchers and a short list of beers. OpenTable lists the average check at $31 to $50 per person and the dress code as smart casual. Several dishes are marked gluten-free or vegetarian.

Live music and atmosphere

Music has always been part of this corner, and Uptown Social keeps it front and center. Boston Magazine described a refreshed room that kept Darryl’s curved, tiled bar, a wall of photos honoring Bob the Chef’s founder Robert Morgan and Settles, and instruments still hanging on the brick walls, along with wavy mirrors and bold wallpaper. An intimate parlor called the Gallery can be booked for private events, according to the OpenTable listing.

OpenTable’s diner reviews average 3.6 out of 5 across 34 reviews. Many reviewers praise the food, cocktails and live jazz, while others describe long waits and an entertainment fee added to the bill on music nights. If the fee matters to you, ask about it when you book.

Hours, location and how to get there

According to Uptown Social’s website, the restaurant is open four nights a week:

• Thursday and Sunday: 5 p.m. to midnight (kitchen closes at 11 p.m.)
• Friday and Saturday: 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. (kitchen closes at 1 a.m.)
• Monday to Wednesday: closed to the public

“Social Hour,” the restaurant’s version of happy hour, runs Thursday through Sunday from 5 to 6 p.m. The address is 604 Columbus Ave., Boston, MA 02118, and the phone number is 617-506-8111. Reservations are taken through OpenTable.

The restaurant sits just off Massachusetts Avenue. The Orange Line’s Massachusetts Avenue station is a short walk away, and the MBTA Route 1 and Route 43 buses stop nearby. Parking is on the street only, which can be tight on weekend nights, so transit or a rideshare is usually easier.

Is Uptown Social worth a visit?

For anyone who misses Darryl’s, Uptown Social is the obvious place to see what became of the corner, and the menu goes well beyond standard comfort food. Go on a music night for the full experience, but leave extra time and budget for drinks and any fees. With its 2 a.m. weekend close, it also fits on our list of late-night food in Boston. If you are mapping out a South End food night, compare it with Toro’s Spanish tapas on Washington Street, or look at Comfort Kitchen in Dorchester for another take on comfort food. Our guide to Boston’s top 30 restaurants has more ideas.

Sources

• Uptown Social Boston: official website, hours and contact
• OpenTable: Uptown Social listing, menu and diner reviews
• Boston Magazine: A Soul Food Legend Returns to Boston’s South End, Refreshed (Jan. 29, 2026)
• The Boston Globe: New restaurants in Boston, spring 2026
• Eater Boston: Darryl’s Corner Bar & Kitchen changes hands (2018)