Back Deck Gets Grilling in Downtown Crossing

Back Deck in Downtown Crossing

By Naomi Kooker

With its floor-to-ceiling windows open to West Street, Back Deck is a breath of fresh air in Downtown Crossing.

The expansive, grill-centric American features three areas set up to look like, yup, back decks. The point is to offer the “feel of a backyard cookout” year round. The details do well to convey the moood - think abundant plants, umbrella lights and a blue ceiling. Meanwhile, an open kitchen with three top-of-the-line grills delivers the goods.

Much of the menu, which ranges from burgers and wings to salmon and a Porterhouse pork chop, is grilled over hardwood. For ardent meat eaters there’s a 12-oz. Argentinean-style cowboy steak, a coffee-and-chili-rubbed dry-aged rib-eye served with chimichurri and grilled corn on the cob. Other options include salads, sandwiches, a half chicken roasted over a can of Narragansett beer and a selection of small plates such as housemade grilled sausage with mashed potatoes and gumbo greens, and lamb skewers. Yes, there are s’mores for dessert (wouldn’t be a backyard experience without them).

Prices range from $5-$14 for apps and salads; $8-$11 for small plates; $10-$13 for burgers and $16-$28 for large plates.

Behind this smart operation are founding principal Brad Fredericks (Fajitas & 'Ritas) and chef/GM Paul Sussman, who knows his way around a grill. Sussman once owned Daddy-O’s, a grill-and-smoke resto that was tops in its day.

Back Deck serves lunch and dinner daily.

2 West St., Downtown Crossing, 617-670-0320; backdeckboston.com