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How a streetcar "comfort station" from 1912 became a popular restaurant in Boston

By
Chris Tanaka
Chris Tanaka
Chris Tanaka co-anchors the morning news on WBZ-TV. He joined WBZ in 2022 after most recently working in Cleveland, Ohio.
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Chris Tanaka

/ CBS Boston

A non-profit organization is helping revitalize neighborhoods in Boston and preserving the city's past. Their work includes a popular restaurant that was once a streetcar "comfort station" more than 100 years ago.

It's hard to imagine, but Dorchester was once considered an agricultural retreat from Boston. In the 1800s it was transformed as a "streetcar suburb" with several lines carrying people to and from the heart of the city. Now it's a bustling, vibrant neighborhood that's reimagining itself while staying rooted in the past.

There's no better example of this than the Comfort Kitchen restaurant.

"We offer global comfort food. We focus on spice trade, all the migration stories that has touched around the world," said Biplaw Rai, who co-owns the award-winning restaurant. 

Streetcars and comfort stations

It was originally built in 1912 as a comfort station.

"A comfort station is essentially a place that you can freshen up after getting off of the streetcar. A bathroom station," said Rebecca Kemper, executive director of .

ihh-comfort-kitchen-chris-tanaka-raw-cam-a.jpg
Upham's Corner in Dorchester was once home to streetcars and comfort stations. CBS Boston

When the streetcars went away, the building ended up vacant. For decades, it fell into disrepair, a blight on the neighborhood. A few years back, Historic Boston Inc. stepped in and bought the building from the city.

"We come in and we stabilize places that might be vacant that the community cares about so it has a long life in the future," Kemper said. 

Revitalizing Dorchester

The non-profit organization does more than renovate buildings. It provides pathways to ownership for the tenants and in the process, promotes a sense of pride.

"Revitalizing historic places like this actually revitalizes the neighborhood," Rai said. 

He knows it better than anyone. An older couple recently told him they no longer have to leave Dorchester for a night out with friends.

"For the first time in their life that they were actually inviting their friends to come to Dorchester and Upham's Corner to have a meal or a coffee and that really, it struck," Rai said.

Comfort Kitchen serves dinner and weekend brunch. Reservations are a must.  More information can be found on their .

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