The mall food court may not be the most obvious place to swing by for inventive cocktails from one of Boston’s top bar teams, or a glass of wine from a list curated by a master sommelier and alum of Boston’s vaunted steakhouse Grill 23 & Bar, but C-Side Bar is hoping to change that perception.
Ran Duan, of Blossom Bar, Birds of Paradise, and Baldwin Bar fame, has teamed up with Jon Rosse, also of Birds of Paradise, and Brahm Callahan, formerly the beverage director for the upscale Himmel Hospitality Group (Grill 23 & Bar, Harvest, Bistro du Midi), to launch C-Side, a new bar at CanalSide, the renovated food court inside the CambridgeSide mall in East Cambridge.
Wait a minute, the mall? Yep, that’s right. “We wanted to be able to do something that reflected [Ran’s] brand, and my brand, but in a place that maybe you wouldn’t think of seeing us,” Callahan says.
Walk into the newly re-launched food court as of October 25, and you’ll find over a dozen food vendors lined up around the perimeter. The businesses are familiar, well-liked local chains: Mexican restaurant Chilacates (opening soon), Sapporo Ramen, Mediterranean grain bowl go-to Anoush’ella, and others.
Right in the middle of the food court lies C-Side Bar, which serves all of the alcoholic drinks in the space. (This sets it apart from a food hall like High Street Place in downtown Boston, where some food vendors also serve their own beer, wine, and cocktails.)
On C-Side’s cocktail menu, Duan, Callahan, Rosse, and their team are leaning into ‘90s mall nostalgia. That translates into playful drinks like the Miami Vice, made with rum, coconut, and pineapple and topped with a pink-hued salted strawberry daiquiri foam, and a Fruit Salad Negroni with gin and Campari tossed with grape, pear, and Honeydew melon. Much of the cocktail list at C-Side is batched or kept on draft to quickly serve crowds of customers at the food court. It’s a new environment for the Blossom Bar and Birds of Paradise team, which is known for building elaborate cocktail-making stations inside tiny, 30- to 40-seat spaces.
On the wine side, Callahan curated a menu that ranges from $10 glasses of Pinot Grigio to $495 bottles of Champagne. In other words, this isn’t your typical food court beverage service. However, Callahan is betting that they’ll attract a range of customers with money to spend, from biotech workers to residents in nearby luxury real estate developments, who are looking for more places to eat and drink in the neighborhood.
CanalSide is one of just a few new food and beverage spots in the area, joining other newcomers like acclaimed Cambridge chef Will Gilson’s all-day cafe Amba and a second location of Brazilian coffee shop and breakfast spot Bōm Dough. Callahan’s hoping to reach people who don’t yet have a go-to cocktail bar or spot to buy a great bottle of wine in the neighborhood. “There’s a lot of people that live here and a lot of people that work here,” Callahan says. “And as this [area] gets developed, [we want people to] hang out here, have a nice glass of wine and make friends and be part of the neighborhood.”
BOSTON (WHDH) – Police are investigating a shooting in Downtown Crossing that occurred Thursday night.
Officials said the shooting occurred around 10:30 p.m. near Tremont and Temple Streets.
When officers arrived on scene, they found a man with a gunshot wound; he is expected to survive.
Police have not said if any arrests have been made.
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An East Boston father is suing ICE, alleging immigration agents unlawfully stopped, arrested, and detained him because of his race and national origin despite having his legal status, his lawyers said.
Lawyers for Civil Rights filed the lawsuit Thursday on behalf of Jose Pineda, a 62-year-old Salvadoran immigrant who has lived in the U.S. for more than three decades and is authorized to remain and work through humanitarian relief, the nonprofit legal organization said in a press release.
The suit is seeking damages under the Federal Tort Claims Act, alleging false arrest, false imprisonment, assault, and severe emotional distress.
“I came to the United States to escape the civil war that devastated El Salvador. I worked hard, started a family, and built a life here,” said Pineda, who works as a landscaper and lives with his wife and 13-year-old daughter. “I never expected to feel that kind of fear again, much less in the United States.”
According to the 30-page complaint, written by LCR senior attorneys Victoria Miranda and Mirian Albert, Pineda has been a recipient of Temporary Protected Status, which allows certain foreign nationals from designated countries to live and work legally in the U.S.
Pineda also had a pending asylum petition and had been granted a T visa, which provides immigration protections to trafficking victims, the complaint states.
“We will not stand idly by as ICE wreaks havoc on immigrant families. Through racial profiling, ICE agents are carrying out an unquestionably discriminatory agenda,” Miranda said in the release. “The law exists to protect people like Mr. Pineda, and it must be enforced against ICE.”
The lawsuit stems from a May 2025 encounter in Weymouth, where Pineda was driving a landscaping truck to a job site when agents in unmarked ICE vehicles surrounded him, according to the complaint.
“The aggressive nature of the questioning made it clear to Mr. Pineda that he was not being judged based on any evidence of unlawful conduct, but rather on his identity, race, ethnicity, and/or national origin,” Pineda’s attorneys wrote.
The lawsuit alleges ICE officers then “forcibly” handcuffed and shackled Pineda before taking him to the agency’s field office in Burlington.
Officers searched Pineda’s belongings during the stop and again at the field office, allegedly confiscating $600 in cash that he intended to use to pay his family’s rent. The money has not been returned, according to the complaint.
Pineda spent two days in ICE custody under what the lawsuit describes as “cruel and inhumane conditions.”
“After what ICE did to me, and after everything my family has endured, I don’t know if I will ever truly feel safe again,” Pineda said.
According to the complaint, he was held in severely overcrowded cells containing more than 40 people — at times as many as 60 — leaving little room to sit and forcing him to remain standing for much of his detention. Detainees also allegedly shared a single toilet and sink without soap or toilet paper and were not provided toothbrushes, clean clothes, or showers.
Fluorescent lights remained on around the clock, making it difficult to sleep, while temperatures became “extremely cold” overnight and some detainees received only aluminum blanekts for warmth, the complaint states.
Pineda was given only a two-minute phone call during his detention and received two bottles of water each day, along with “inadequate and limited” food and water, according to the complaint.
“Mr. Pineda has suffered devastating and ongoing physical and emotional harm that has impacted all aspects of his life,” his attorneys wrote. “Mr. Pineda brings this action to seek accountability for these violent and traumatizing tortious acts of the ICE officers and to address the harms inflicted upon him.”
According to LCR, Pineda was released following advocacy by Centro Presente, a Massachusetts immigrant rights organization.
After his release, ICE initiated removal proceedings against him depsite his humanitarian protections, the organization said. Those proceedings were ultimately dismissed.
“ICE targeted Mr. Pineda based on nothing more than his perceived national origin and the nature of his work,” Albert said in the press release. “Our laws prohibit this kind of arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement. Through this lawsuit, we seek to hold the federal government accountable for the violence and harm inflicted on Mr. Pineda.”
ICE referred questions about the lawsuit to the Department of Homeland Security. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday evening.
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BOSTON (WHDH) – A pedestrian was hit and killed in Roxbury Thursday morning.
The collision occurred just before 8:20 a.m. on Tremont Street.
Police said Tremont Street was closed in both directions between Brigham Circle and Roxbury Crossing.
This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.
(Copyright (c) 2026 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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