Boston Diner’s Mob Wall Triggers Outrage
This booking photo shows James "Whitey" Bulger on June 23, 2011. (US Marshals Service via AP, file)
A Boston restaurant’s decision to display mugshots of infamous mobsters Whitey Bulger and Stephen Flemmi has ignited intense backlash in the city’s Dorchester neighborhood.
The photos were installed at Savin Bar & Kitchen as part of a renovation featured on Gordon Ramsay’s reality show Secret Service. Co-owner Kenneth Osherow said the display was meant to acknowledge a “complex, gritty” period in Boston’s history—not to glamorize crime or violence, according to the New York Times.
Many locals, however, see it differently. For residents who lived through the fear and pain of Bulger’s reign, the images are a painful reminder of decades of violence. “There are people still living here who are the daughters and sisters of people Whitey Bulger killed,” lifelong resident Donna McColgan told the Times. “It’s crass and insensitive, and it has done nothing but harm.”
Community groups, including the Columbia-Savin Hill Civic Association, have denounced the display as “offensive,” according to NBC Boston. The Dorchester Reporter noted that Savin Bar & Kitchen sits in a part of the city more frequented by locals than tourists, heightening tensions. Critics say Osherow’s dismissive response—calling some opponents “local busybodies”—has only deepened community frustration.
Boston’s fascination with organized crime runs deep. Mob tours draw crowds each year, and Bulger’s shadow lingers in popular culture, inspiring films such as The Departed. The restaurant’s owners insist their intent was educational, not celebratory. They note the site’s historical connection—a former tavern there was once linked to a Bulger-related mob hit—as part of their motivation to confront Boston’s darker past.
In response to the controversy, the owners have added a laminated note beneath Bulger’s photo, clarifying that the images are “not tributes, but reminders of consequences.”
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