Boston Market — Restaurant in New York

The entire rotisserie chicken craze that is entrenched in American culture began with Boston Market (formerly Boston Chicken) in the early 90s. Before Boston Market’s popularity, no grocery store in the US sold a ready-to-eat rotisserie chicken.

So, as I sat in 1 of the only 15 remaining Boston Markets in the world, forcefully chewing rubbery chicken along with sides that felt more fit for a middle school cafeteria than a restaurant, I couldn’t help but ask myself, what happened to Boston Market?

Let’s turn the clock back to 1985, when they were founded in Newton, Massachusetts as “Boston Chicken.” Their focus was solely on quality rotisserie chicken and homestyle sides as an on the go convenience meal, a unique niche in an era where unhealthy fast food was dominating the market. Consumers couldn’t get enough. Sales went nuclear.

In 1994, Costco and Kroger were the first grocery stores to ride the wave and began selling hot-and-ready rotisserie chickens as a loss leader.

In a tale seemingly older than time, they began to put profits over customers. The goal became one thing: Expand, expand, expand. They rebranded in 1995 to “Boston Market,” as they expanded their menu to include turkey, meatloaf, ham, etc.

Their original focus on quality food at affordable prices transformed into mediocre food at the highest price the customer was willing to pay. They used to make everything fresh in house, and hoped consumers wouldn’t notice when they switched to precooked frozen sides.

Being on the front lines for rotisserie chicken reviews in 2025, I felt I had to make the pilgrimage to pay my respects to a former titan and godfather of the chicken industry. I made the 1 hour 7 minute commute, taking 2 trains and a bus, to the only operating Boston Market left in New York City in Ozone Park.

When I reached the promised land that is in a strip mall alongside a A&B Laundromat and a run down CVS, a “now open” sign was floating in the wind.

I walked into an empty restaurant that felt like a time portal to 2007. A beat up tile floor, chairs with faux-leather seat cushions, and red tiled walls that had seen better days. It was me and only 2 other customers. I ordered a half chicken and 2 sides ($14.49), along with a side item sampler ($11.99) as I wanted to try everything. I got my beloved bird along with mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, corn, cilantro rice, cornbread, and plantains. Boston Market sells plantains???

As I tapped to pay, the employee handed me a coupon with a huge smile. I inspected it with a look of confusion on my face as I read it. “Buy 1 get 1 free, Individual meal & drink” and in small text “Only good Mon-Thursday, Good only at Ozone Park Location. Expires Aug 2025.” I couldn’t help but laugh. My first thought was “I need to frame this.”

The meal was exactly what I was expecting. The chicken was dry and rubbery, which is likely due to improper thawing and overcooking. The mac & cheese, once a beloved favorite of Boston Market consumers, tasted like it was straight out of the Kraft mac & cheese box. The plantains were atrocius… I was shocked when they even had plantains as an option. Boston Market was a shell of its former self.

As I walked out, I saw a sign on the door that was no bigger than a 3x5 notecard that read “Boston Market gift cards are not accepted at this location. We are now Ozone Rotisseries, sorry.” This sparked my passionate curiosity all over again. So is this not even a Boston Market? Is this legal? Did I completely waste my entire Saturday coming out here? So many questions…

The chicken titan was a shell of its former self, but I’m happy I went and paid my respects. Boston Market changed American culture forever. They made it so I have a cheap, convenient, high protein meal at my disposal damn near everywhere. We also need to put some respect on their name as they are pioneers of the fast casual restaurants that are so popular today. Boston Market and Panera walked so Chipotle, Shake Shack, and Sweetgreen could run. Respect the OGs.

IG...

decided to have Boston market today it's been a while and l've been hearing of several locations closing. I remember when my kids were younger we used to come here a lot and dine in and I have fond memories of eating good food and being together. Well this place certainly changed I should have known when there's a huge sign outside saying "now open " usually this is a sign of a dying store. When you walk in they have two workers on their phone and they don't seem to want to be there. I remember the old staff was welcoming and accommodating always I even got to know the manager and she always asked "how's the kids"? I ordered the half chicken white with a side of stuffing and potatoes. I decided to dine in because I was hungry and didn't wanna wait till I got home. The place was empty and it has a dead vibe there's very little life left here. On to the food the chicken was so dry I had a piece of two. The potatoes and the stuffing was not good and not even hot. I barely ate so I turned to the cornbread for the save but they was stale and dry. I left hungry and spent 23.00 so lesson learned I won't be back and I predict this location will close within the year. It's a shame the fond memories I have of this location and Boston market as a whole are just that memories. Shame they did it to themselves by lacking to adjust to trend and lost that "make it personal " approach with...

My family and i decided to order the turkey from this location this year when picking up our order the lady had an attitude, and didn't check the order, order was wrong and she seems like she didn't want to correct it , we was missing a apple pie and seems like she didnt want to give it to us ,also we wrote a not saying no nutsand they still giveup items with nuts. Anyways the real problem got when we got home to start to heat up everything, things got worse the turkey didnt smell up to part and the stuffing as well. I followed the instructions with the turkey but ending leaving in the over longer then what it says over 3 hours on something thay should of been per cooked, we cut the turkey and it was pink and smells so basically they give us a spoiled turkey for Thanksgiving the worst Thanksgiving ever, we not sure what waa wrong with the stuffing but we threw out the whole turkey and stuffing, the corn bread and the mac and cheese tastes like boxed mac didn't taste good either NEVER ORDERING THANKSGIVING FOOD FROM HERE BOSTON MARKET AGAIN this was horrible we had to throw out most of the food from Boston market so it was a no turkey Thanksgiving also i did try to call the stroe no one answered, we spend almost 300.00 to throw it out, bad service, horrible food . What's wrong with them serving...