Prominent Boston restaurateur Nia Grace has introduced her modern-day supper club to Connecticut. Grace by Nia is now open at Foxwoods Resort Casino, with similar soul food, glamorous cocktails and musical panache of the Seaport original—and a few twists.
Owner Nia Grace debuted one of the coolest additions to the Seaport in May 2023, in partnership with Boston’s Big Night, a deep-pocketed entertainment group known for celeb-courting clubs like Scorpion Bar, the Grand and Big Night Live. Also partners with Guy Fieri in Boston and at Foxwoods, Big Night broadened the Roxbury-raised restaurateur’s scope to Mashantucket, Connecticut, an under-two-hour drive from Boston (depending on traffic!). Grace is also the sole proprietor of Darryl’s Corner Bar & Kitchen, which is currently closed while the team “breathes new life” into the Roxbury institution.
Grace’s latest is familiar to folks who have visited the Seaport supper club, featuring live music Thursday through Sunday, and a soulful menu inspired by the South. We stopped by the VIP grand opening celebration on Wednesday, May 22—along with fellow Foxwoods operator and the mayor of Flavortown himself, Guy Fieri—to chat with Grace about what makes a great restaurant, and why she’s taking her talents to Foxwoods.
Why is Grace by Nia opening another location?
Grace was looking to grow her business in New England. “Foxwoods is one of our top destinations in this area with amazing foot traffic,” she explains. “It's a hub and center for entertainment.” With food and drinks as serious as the live music lineup, “Grace by Nia is all about creating a full experience, and so now you have an additional reason to come down to the casino,” she says. “You can make a true weekend of it just in terms of centralizing your activities.”
The new location, which coincidentally opened almost a year to the date after the Seaport debuted, “brings it back to my own roots,” Grace adds. Her father is of Native American descent and frequents Foxwoods, which is owned and operated by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. He was attending the opening, too. “This one feels special,” Grace says.
Why was Guy Fieri there?
Fieri, who has about 90 restaurants across the country, was in town for Grace by Nia’s grand opening and to visit Guy’s Kitchen and Bar at Foxwoods. Time Out asked him for some words of advice for restaurateurs growing their brand.
“Spend as much time as you can coming here to get to know your team. Spend as much time as you can being around your guests,” the celeb chef says. “Just keep your eye on the target because… it's a little bit of a different process when you're doing a restaurant a little bit remote and you're not on the floor every day.”
Fieri also emphasized that Grace by Nia is in good hands with Big Night on board, adding, “the team gets it. They get it. So when they say they're opening a new concept, I got to come see this.”
What’s new at Grace by Nia at Foxwoods?
Live music fans likely know the original location delivers a great time, where you can see first-rate R&B, jazz and soul music, drink amazing cocktails and share food with your date or a group of friends.
There are a few changes at the 196-seat Foxwoods location (all of which, by the way, have great sightlines to the stage, according to Grace). There’s the addition of a burger to the menu, and the Casino Royale martini, which can be ordered “dirty, straight or sexy.” The latter is “on the edge of a cosmo,” with bright hibiscus notes.
Grace by Nia also serves some of the best wings in Boston, along with Old Bay-heavy Maryland hot crab dip and chicken and carrot cake-waffles topped with cream-cheese icing. We particularly love a seat right in front of the stage—and showy touches on drinks like The Moment of Clarity. Made with D'USSE Cognac, the high-end brand owned by Jay-Z, as well as rum and clarified pineapple milk punch, it’s served in a glass milk carton.
Want to drink out of a milk carton some evening? Grace by Nia at Foxwoods is open Thursday 5pm-midnight, Friday 5pm–2am, Saturday 11am–3pm for brunch and 5pm–2am, and Sunday from 12–8pm with brunch offered all day.
