Restaurants

Celebrated Cambridge restaurant Craigie on Main is up for sale

The restaurant announced in August that it was "pressing pause."

The Craigie Burger at Craigie on Main. Lane Turner/Globe Staff

October 21, 2021

1 minute to read

A beloved restaurant is on the market after more than 10 years in Central Square.

Craigie on Main is on sale for $500,000, according to a Boston Restaurant Group, Inc., listing. The listing notes that it is in “turnkey condition” and has a 1 a.m. liquor license.

Chef Tony Maws opened Craigie on Main in 2008, and celebrated its 10-year-anniversary with a new bar and a new prix-fixe menu. The pandemic brought even bigger changes, as the French-American restaurant tried out a takeout menu and opened Craigie Next Door, a dining area in a former parking lot. In August, the restaurant announced that it was “pressing pause” to consider what was next; it has not reopened since.

Maws told The Boston Globe that he put Craigie on Main on the market “to see what the value is and if there’s an option that involves selling, and if it’s worth it for me to do or not.” He said that his landlord is understanding of the situation and that he may continue to operate in the space — but with a new concept.

The pandemic has given him time to reflect on what’s important.

“I’m 51 years old,” the James Beard Award winner told the Globe. “I have a wife and a son whom I adore, and they seem to still adore me, too. I want to keep it that way. I lived the life. I was there early and stayed late. I did all that. I have zero regrets. But if anything came out of the pandemic, I’m not ready to die at the stove. What’s the point? It’s that simple.”

Known for its nationally-acclaimed burger, Craigie on Main branched out with Craigie Burger at Time Out Market in 2019. The concept closed a year later.