Spotted: Signs for "The Flamingo" at former Four Winds space - plus: A walk down memory lane

With a fresh coat of paint and absent its signature maroon awnings, the new owners and operators of the property have started to transform 266 Commercial Street - formerly occupied by the Four Winds. - into The Flamingo. The Four Winds was one of the North End's longest operating establishments, opening in 1963 and closing the fall of 2019.

A walk down memory lane

I sat with the longtime owner of the Four Winds, Tom Gioia, and some others a few months before they closed in late summer 2019. They reminisced and recorded all of the restaurants that had come in gone during the time of the Four Winds. Fittingly, they recalled over fifty - one for almost every year of the Four Winds fifty-six-year history.

Hand-written notes on restaurants that have come and gone

I converted those notes into the map you see below about a year ago. Note that Joe's has since reopened.

Some old newspaper clippings from the bygone establishments:

"My friend dragged me here" - woman at the Rusty Scupper (😂)

Fun fact: you can still walk around the Four Winds virtually on Google Maps. You might even spot a familiar face behind the bar. Unfortunately, the fish tank had been removed already when the google-bot mapped it.

The building and liquor license sold in September 2021.

Best of luck to the new owners and operators!