Cheers Beacon Hill

Cheers Beacon Hill is a bar/restaurant located on Beacon Street in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, across from the Boston Public Garden. Founded in 1969 as the Bull & Finch Pub, the bar is best remembered internationally as the exterior of the bar seen in the hit NBC sitcom Cheers, which ran between 1982 and 1993.[1]

Cheers Beacon Hill
TypePrivate
IndustryRestaurants, Bars
FoundedBoston, Massachusetts, bar/restaurant (1969)
FounderTom Kershaw
Headquarters
84 Beacon Street
Boston, Massachusetts
02108
Number of employees
275
Websitehttps://cheersboston.com/

History

The show used the Bull & Finch as the inspiration for the hit TV show and exterior for the series, establishing shots of the namesake bar Cheers. A slightly modernized replica of the set bar has been built on the ground floor.

Bull And Finch Pub in the early 1990s. The original sign.

The Official Preppy Handbook published in 1980 described Quaffer's (the upstairs in the Hampshire House at the time) as "Clubby, library atmosphere, with the requisite backgammon tables. Private club, but flexible, especially for ladies."[2] The trademark, filed in 1982 has since been canceled.

In 1982 Boston magazine awarded the Bull & Finch the title of Boston's best bar.[3][1]

On May 20, 1993, the night of Cheers series finale, Tom Kershaw held a large party outside of the bar to commemorate the event. Many people gathered outside the bar, and watched the finale on two large TV screens specially set up for the event. The cast of Cheers watched the finale inside the bar.[4] On the episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno that aired after the finale took place live at the party outside the bar, with many celebrities including sportscaster Bob Costas in the bar, Jay Leno walked into the bar and interviewed them. Later, Leno played many games with the Cheers cast inside the bar, and at the end of the show, the Cheers theme was played outside the bar.

Cheers Beacon Hill on Beacon Street in Boston.

Between August 2001 and August 2020,[5] there was a branch location, Cheers Faneuil Hall, in Faneuil Hall.[6] To capitalize on the popularity of the TV show, this location was built with a replica of the TV bar. The final day of the replica bar included a live band playing the Cheers theme, an appearance by owner Tom Kershaw and a raffle to win a photocopy of the script for the final episode.

Cheers Beacon Hill is owned by Thomas A. Kershaw, who also owns the Hampshire House restaurant upstairs and the nearby restaurants, 75 Chestnut, and 75 Liberty Wharf in the Seaport.[7]

Cheers Beacon Hill (July 2008)

On March 10, 2009, the Boston Globe reported that longtime Cheers bartender Eddie Doyle, with a 35-year tenure that predated the sitcom Cheers, had been laid off. Owner Tom Kershaw cited the recession as the reason for the decision.[8] The block on which Cheers resides has been renamed Eddie Doyle Square in his honor.[9]

References
  1. Flynn, Daniel J. (March 2014). "Cheers To The Bull & Finch". The American Spectator. Archived from the original on October 6, 2015. Retrieved October 19, 2015.
  2. Birnbach, Lisa; Roberts, Jonathan; Wallace, Carol McD.; Wiley, Mason (October 1980). The Official Preppy Handbook. New York: Workman Publishing. p. 172. ISBN 978-0-89480-140-2.
  3. "BULL & FINCH PUB". January 1982. Retrieved October 19, 2015.
  4. Williams, Jack; Walker, Liz (May 20, 1993). "Cheers Special Report". WBZ-TV. Archived from the original on December 19, 2021. Retrieved October 19, 2015.
  5. "Cheers will close its Faneuil Hall location on August 30". Boston.com. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  6. "Cheers Faneuil Hall". Archived from the original on July 11, 2013.
  7. "Cheers Beacon Hill". Archived from the original on July 26, 2013.
  8. Rosenberg, Steven (March 10, 2009). "For Boston institution, closing credits roll". Boston Globe. Retrieved March 10, 2009.
  9. "Congratulations, Eddie!". October 21, 2009. Retrieved October 19, 2015.

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