BERLIN – A Cambridge restauranteur is using a new Berlin location to expand on the seafood menu that earned the Leaky Pete’s name acclaim.
Terry Feehley opened Leaky Pete’s Oyster Bar and Chop House in downtown Berlin last month. Though it was to be his second location, with the original Leaky Pete’s in Cambridge, the abrupt closing of the first eatery means Feehley will be focusing all of his energy on Berlin. He’s already excited about the culinary freedom the new restaurant is giving him.
“In Cambridge, we were a bar that served food,” he said. “Here this is more of a restaurant.”
Feehley operated Leaky Pete’s on Race Street in Cambridge for the past five years. Not long after announcing his plan to open a second location in Berlin, where he fell in love with the building formerly occupied by Tex-Mex and Country Cook’n, Feehley learned that his space in Cambridge was being torn down.
“It was in disrepair,” he said.
Though Leaky Pete’s may reopen in Cambridge in the future, Feehley says for now he’s going to concentrate on his new restaurant and take a break from the bar scene.
“I’m kind of glad to get out of that,” he said, adding that operating a restaurant wouldn’t require him to work into the early hours of the morning.
Here in Berlin, Leaky Pete’s has been offering a menu of various seafood and other locally sourced dishes for dinner. On July 3, the restaurant will begin serving lunch as well.
“It’s fresh, authentic, locally sourced food,” Feehley said. “It’s a little different menu than everybody else has.”
Customer favorites so far include the “Chop House Burger,” made of ground beef, brisket, bacon, smoked gouda and onion served with steak sauce on a sea salt brioche, as well as the “Oysters Rockefeller,” oysters on the half-shell tossed with spinach and seasonings.
The menu, which is broken down into categories like “Big Plates” and “Little Plates,” also features a children’s section and a number of homemade desserts.
Leaky Pete’s is located at the former of Tex-Mex just south of Stevenson United Methodist Church.
While the layout of the restaurant is much the same as it was for the building’s previous tenant, Feehley is quick to point out a new addition — the oyster bar on the second floor. On the restaurant’s back wall near the bar, Feehley built a counter made of oyster shells to hold Leaky Pete’s raw bar. Each evening, a shucker is on duty to open oysters for patrons, who can choose from six different varieties.
Feehley explained that the taste of oysters depended on where they came from. Oysters from Massachusetts, for example, have a flavor unlike those from Chincoteague.
“You get different water salinity levels and different tastes,” he said, holding the summer 2015 “oyster card,” which provides customers with an easy way to order the shellfish. He said, “A lot of people, it’s new to them.”
Feehley says he’s thrilled with the response his new restaurant has gotten from the community so far and hopes customers will continue to give it a try.
“It seems to be working out,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of local people coming in. We’ve gotten a good reception.”
Leaky Pete’s will be open for lunch and dinner Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, call 410-973-2311.