No place like home

Restaurants, pubs hope open Garden grows business

Business operators around TD Garden and North Station say they’re expecting a major turnaround from the pain of the pandemic as fans return to the stands for Bruins and Celtics games after being shut out for a year.

“Business is very much going up,” said Faez Al-Hamdami, who runs New York Shawarma Guys, located just two blocks from the Garden.

TD Garden welcomed back about 2,300 fans Thursday night for a Bruins game against the New York Islanders, the venue’s first event with in-person attendance since March 2020. Right now, TD Garden is operating at 12% capacity.

Multiple bars around Causeway Street remained closed Thursday before the Bruins game. Some — like legendary watering hole The Fours — shuttered indefinitely last year, unable to rebound from the spring shutdown during the first coronavirus surge.

Others, like The Harp, simply couldn’t afford to operate at limited capacity and without events drawing foot traffic to the Garden.

The Harp, directly across from the Garden on Causeway Street, reopened to the public for the first time in over a year Thursday afternoon. Marketing team member Grace Manozzi told the Herald the whole staff missed the buzz of fans on Causeway Street on game days.

“Any capacity will bring back a little bit of that feeling as the days go on,” she said.

Game-day spots Halftime Pizza and Sullivan’s Tap were both shuttered Thursday. Business owners said the last year has tested their restaurants like nothing else.

“It was sad,” Manozzi said. “The Harp has been here for 30 years, across from the Garden. It was hard not to have it for a year.”

Dongwook Seo has operated the Fresh Salad Bar a few blocks from TD Garden for 11 years, but he was forced to shut down the fast casual dining spot for three months last year. When he reopened, he saw his revenue drop more than 30%.

But reopening TD Garden to fans is cause for optimism. Business owners said they see it as a giant step back to normal and a big way to increase foot traffic. Because most people are still working from home, Manozzi said the Harp will operate on a schedule that’s dependent around home games at the Garden.

Al-Hamdami said things are already looking up for his business as fans came back for the very first game.

“Now we can tell things look really, really different. We’ve gone up, like, 50% in sales,” he said.

STUART CAHILL / BOSTON HERALD Grace Manozzi, marketing manager of The Harp, is hopeful that The Harp and other businesses around TD Garden and North Station will sse a bump now that some fans are allowed in for Bruins and Celtics games.