Thayer Street has seen shops come and go for decades, but some of its most familiar storefronts — East Side Pockets, Chinatown on Thayer, Mike’s Calzones and the Baja’s franchise — all trace back to the same family.
The Boutros family opened East Side Pockets in 1997 after moving to Providence from Syria. The fast-casual spot, known for its falafel wraps and kebabs, draws on the family’s cultural and culinary roots.
“Back in 1982, my dad started our first falafel shop in Syria,” said Paul Boutros, owner of East Side Pockets. After moving to the United States in 1994, Paul Boutros worked in a pizza shop to learn English and adjust to American food service.
Shortly after, Paul Boutros decided it was time to open up his own shop — and what “can be better than (a) falafel shop?” he recalled thinking.
The early years of East Side Pockets depended heavily on family labor and long hours. Paul Boutros would arrive at 9 a.m. and only leave in the late hours of the morning. “We worked hard, and we worked as a family,” he said.
Paul Boutros said that, at the time, falafel and hummus were unfamiliar to many on College Hill, so he introduced students to the cuisine by handing out samples. “We stuck to the authentic recipe, the same falafel we used back home,” he said.
As more relatives joined them in Providence over the ensuing years, the family began adding new restaurants to the street. In 2005, Paul Boutros’s brother, Mike Boutros opened Shanghai in the building that currently houses Prime Liquors and Meeting Street Cafe. He ran the franchise for “a couple years” with a Chinese business partner before selling his share, he said. The restaurant has since closed.
Four years later, David Boutros, a Boutros cousin, opened the original Baja’s Tex Mex Grill, a franchise that has since expanded to 19 locations across New England — including a second location on Thayer. David Boutros ran the restaurant until his death in 2024 at age 57. After he passed, his wife, Andrea Mota, took over operations.
David Boutros’s success with Baja’s coincided with Mike Boutros’s re-entrance into the world of fast-casual dining. Mike Boutros opened Mike’s Calzones in 2012 and Chinatown on Thayer in 2018, followed by Mighty Mike’s Pizza in 2022.
“I always wanted to bring something different to Thayer Street,” Mike Boutros said.
The businesses have stayed open through waves of change on Thayer, though the family has found it increasingly difficult to manage the stores.
Mike Boutros said this past year has been especially challenging due to the rising cost of supplies, high commercial rents and the current administration’s crackdown on immigration enforcement. “Most of … my customers here are Hispanic,” he said. “Now, they’re afraid to come outside.”
“My rent over here is close to $19,000 a month,” he added, noting that tariffs have increased the costs of items he sources from abroad.
Paul Boutros noted another change on Thayer after the pandemic: a decline in walk-in traffic. “People don’t want to go out anymore,” he said. “Everybody’s ordering through online apps, Uber Eats, Grubhub.”
Despite the challenges, the Boutros restaurants continue to attract a steady stream of students. “For me, Baja’s and Chinatown both do an amazing job of making great-tasting, affordable food,” Sophia Knaggs ’27 wrote in a message to The Herald.
Knaggs also noted the poster on the wall of East Side Pockets that describes the Boutros family’s arrival in Providence. “It warms my heart to read the stories of family success,” she wrote. “I do feel happy knowing that my purchase contributes to their story.”
Fiona Shen ’28 said she “never would have thought that they were from the same (family),” noting how different the cuisines are across the restaurants.
For both brothers, seeing students return years after graduating reminds them of their restaurants’ legacy. Last May, Mike Boutros saw a couple of students who graduated 25 years ago, he recalled. “I still remember their names. Every time they come for Reunion, they come and see us,” he said.
A few doors down, the family is building beyond food. At 279 Thayer St., Mike Boutros and Mota are developing a five-story, mixed-use building with commercial space on the ground floor and apartments above. After decades of running businesses out of rented spaces, this project is the family’s first major investment.
Beyond Thayer, Mike Boutros has started expanding into other parts of Providence. He recently bought multiple properties on Reservoir Avenue with plans to clear the site and build a larger Chinatown restaurant — Chinatown Reservoir.
What has kept their businesses steady is still the same constant that motivated them in the first place: family and the people who keep coming back.
“Even the employees … I treat them like family,” Paul Boutros said. “That’s the connection you have to have.”
