Photography by Kathy Tran.
It’s Monday, Anthony’s Eatalian is closed. But this is no day off.
Robert Olson and Roman Figueroa are hunched over the bar at Anthony’s Eatalian. Figueroa is working on his laptop at the sleek white countertop. Olson is arranging papers next to him, about 20 feet away from their brand-new kitchen.
At the beginning of July, Olson and Figueroa moved the restaurant from a 1,800-square-foot location into this 3,700-square-foot space that used to be a Boston Market.
“It was like a shark in a fish tank,” says Figueroa. “This creative guy and this constrictive space. You need to unleash this creativity.”
Figueroa immigrated from Mexico as a teenager, before finding his way to Boston in the ‘90s. There, he met Olson while working at a facility management company. The two became romantically involved in 1998 and have remained together for 26 years.
Olson was born in New England and held a lifelong dream of owning and managing his own restaurant. He grew up eating seafood and authentic Italian cuisine, and immediately noticed a lack of it everywhere else he went.
In 2018, Olson fulfilled his dream by purchasing Anthony’s Eatalian. The restaurant existed prior, but underwent a full menu and aesthetic revamp once Olson took charge. Now at the helm, Anthony’s Eatalian sports the classic dishes Olson remembers eating.
“Anything that’s on my menu is something that I think of myself as being the consumer eating,” he says. “I don’t accept anything less.”
Olson assumed head chef duties, and Figueroa took over the front-of-house management.
“When you’re committed to somebody,” Figueroa says. “You’re obviously committed to their dream.”
Their first year was slow. It took some time for the neighborhood to realize that Anthony’s was under new management, and that management was there to stay.
When the pandemic hit, it proved to be a blessing in disguise.
“A lot of businesses had to close,” Olson says. “But the reverse happened to us. People who typically wouldn’t order from us were forced to for takeout. We almost doubled our business.”
When the world went back to normal, Anthony’s was greeted with a brand new cast of regulars who spent 2020 ordering online. Suddenly, the location was too small. Their ticket time dropped below industry standards, and Olson felt creatively stifled by the small kitchen.
When the Boston Market building opened up, it was a no-brainer. The two jumped on the opportunity and began to outfit it with new kitchen equipment. On top of that, they reworked the exterior to have nice black and white lettering, and collaborated with interior designer Hatsumi Kuzuu to create a more refined ambiance.
The new location comes with new offerings too. For one, Anthony’s will now have a full liquor bar, as opposed to their strictly beer and wine menu before. With more space in the kitchen, Olson is incorporating a number of new seafood options into the menu, starting with a cioppino made from shrimp and mussels.
“Here, the possibilities are endless,” Figueroa says.
Olson and Figueroa are keeping the lease on their old space, planning to turn it into an authentic taqueria in the coming months.
There’s a mini restaurant empire brewing in Preston Hollow. With an upgraded Anthony’s Eatalian and a reinvigorated culinary creative trust with a new concept on the way, Olson and Figueora have pushed all their chips in. It’s a massive investment, but coming up on seven years in business, it’s a risk they had to take.
“Profit is very important to survive,” Olson says. “But money is secondary to me. This has been a lifetime dream.”
