The Friendly Toast Gets Ready To Bring Its Down Home Menu And Eclectic Vibe To The Burlington Mall

BURLINGTON, MA -- The Friendly Toast -- an eclectic restaurant with bustling locations in Portsmouth, NH, Cambridge and Back Bay -- is getting ready to open its newest location in the Burlington Mall. The restaurant is scheduled to open October 23 in the space previously occupied by Bobby's Burger Palace, which closed at the end of December.

The location was originally slated to be taken over by the higher-end Davio's, but those plans were scrapped earlier this year. The Friendly Toast announced the new Burlington location in April, when it also announced it would be expanding to Brookline and Bedford, N.H.

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The Friendly Toast was before the Burlington Zoning Board of Appeals last week to request a variance for its exterior signage. The new restaurant will have 120 seats, up from the 72 that the space had when it was occupied by Bobby's Burger Palace. That restaurant, one of several owned by celebrity chef Bobby Flay, closed with little fanfare on December 28 after being open for nearly four years.

Even with the added seats at the Friendly Toast, the total number of restaurant seats are down at the mall. Earlier this year the Rain Forest Cafe -- along with its 344 seats -- closed. The new location will be open from 8 am to 10 pm and have a liquor license.

The Friendly Toast's existing locations are decorated with kitschy art and the chain has developed a reputation for hiring tattoo-covered servers. The restaurant review guide Zagat offers high marks for the Friendly Toast and its "super friendly" staff but also warns to be prepared in long lines for weekend brunches. The Burlington location will be the first for the restaurant in a shopping mall.

Friendly Toast Portsmouth photo by Dave Copeland.