Capri Italian Steakhouse Opens in Boston’s South End with Fire Pits, Hand-Rolled Pastas and Italian Summer Vibes

On July 23, 2025, Boston’s South End got a new kind of summer night—complete with crackling fire pits, the scent of garlic honey drizzle over house-rolled pasta, and the low hum of conversation under umbrella-shaded booths. Capri Italian Steakhouse, a 10,000-square-foot culinary experiment from the Broadway Restaurant Group, didn’t just open a restaurant. It planted a flag for Italian al fresco living in a neighborhood that had been quietly begging for it.

A Neighborhood Waiting for Its Moment

For years, Boston’s SoWa (South of Washington Street) has been evolving from industrial warehouses into a magnet for architects, designers, and creatives. Art galleries, vintage shops, and pop-up markets like the SoWa Open Market drew crowds, but the dining scene lagged behind. There were coffee spots. There were trendy burger joints. But no place that felt like a Tuscan courtyard transplanted to Massachusetts. That changed when Broadway Restaurant Group took over the former industrial space at 500 Harrison Avenue. Aulenback, a 30-year veteran of the Boston dining scene and key architect behind the project, admits he was skeptical at first. "I walked in and thought, ‘This is too big. Too exposed. Too Boston.’" But then he saw the patio—how the afternoon light hit the fieldstone fireplace, how the umbrellas cast dappled shadows over the wooden booths. "That’s when I knew," he told Boston Magazine in August. "This isn’t just a restaurant. It’s a gathering place. People want to sit outside, sip a Negroni, and feel like they’re in Sicily, not the South End."

The Space: Where Design Meets Atmosphere

Designed by Assembly Design Studio, the two-story layout is a masterclass in layered experience. The main dining room, anchored by a 20-foot olive tree and a grand piano that occasionally plays soft jazz at dusk, feels both luxurious and lived-in. High-top lounge seating clusters near a fireplace, while the bar—lined with Italian ceramics and copper accents—becomes a social hub before dinner even begins. Downstairs, the garden-level dining room opens onto the patio through 20-foot windows. It’s intimate, romantic, and—according to Aulenback—the perfect spot for first dates. "You can see the stars, hear the fire crackle, and still feel like you’re in a private garden," he said. The space is designed to shift with the seasons: in winter, the team plans to install string lights, faux snow, and heated seating to create what they call "a magical snowglobe feel." Outside, the patio is where the magic truly happens. Four fire pits glow under the open sky. A full-service cabana bar serves chilled Italian wines and cocktails like the Bell Red Pepper Gimlet and Paloma 500. The entire area sits just steps from the SoWa Open Market, where chefs pick up heirloom tomatoes, basil, and seasonal vegetables for dishes like the Giardiniera fritta—crispy pickled veggies fried to order.

The Food: Pasta, Steak, and Soul

The menu is a love letter to Italy’s coastal regions, with a heavy hand on the dry-aged beef. Formaggio Kitchen, the beloved Cambridge cheesemonger just a short walk away, supplies the wheels of pecorino and taleggio that top the bruschetta with roasted cherries and fromage blanc. But the stars are the pastas. Hand-rolled, made fresh daily, and served with sauces that taste like nonna’s kitchen. The Tortellini di Mais—stuffed with sweet corn and bathed in Calabrian chili butter and garlic honey—is already a local legend. The Cioppino, a seafood stew finished with a velvety tomato-lobster brodo, is served in a wide bowl big enough for two. And then there’s the 44-ounce Brandt tomahawk steak, a showstopper that arrives on a slate slab with a side of house-baked Parker rolls, still warm from the oven. The wine list? Almost entirely Italian. Chillable reds like Nebbiolo and Barbera d’Alba are poured at 58°F—not too cold, not too warm. "We want the wine to feel like a breeze off the Amalfi Coast," said one sommelier.

Why This Matters

Capri isn’t just another steakhouse with a nice patio. It’s a signal. Boston’s dining scene has been dominated by New American, seafood shacks, and upscale sushi. But this—this is the first time a major group has bet big on the idea that Bostonians crave Italian summer in their own backyard. The Broadway Restaurant Group already runs Capo, Lincoln, and Prima—the latter, a Charlestown favorite. Capri, as described in Hot New Boston Restaurants, is Prima’s "South End sibling." But it’s more than a clone. It’s an evolution. A more open, more social, more outdoor-focused version of what they’ve built before. And it’s working. On a recent Thursday night, the patio was full by 6:30 p.m. People lingered. Laughter rose over the clink of glasses. A couple toasted with a Just Peachy Spritz. Someone played "Volare" on the piano. No one was in a hurry to leave.

What’s Next

The team plans to launch weekend brunch in October, with a focus on house-made biscotti and espresso cocktails. Live music—think acoustic guitar and jazz trios—is scheduled for Friday and Saturday evenings through September and October. Winter plans are already in motion: heated blankets, mulled wine stations, and a dedicated "snowglobe" zone in the garden room. But the real test? Can they keep the magic alive when the leaves fall and the temperature drops? "We didn’t build this to survive winter," said Aulenback. "We built it to make people forget it’s winter."

Background: The Rise of SoWa

The South End’s transformation began in the 2010s, when artists and designers moved into abandoned brick buildings, turning them into lofts and studios. The SoWa Open Market, launched in 2014, became a weekend pilgrimage for foodies and creatives alike. But until Capri, there was no anchor restaurant—no place that drew people in for more than a quick bite. Now, with its fire pits, its olive tree, its hand-rolled pasta, Capri doesn’t just fill a gap. It redefines what dining in the South End can be.