The owners of Blue on Highland are expanding their horizons — but not that far. Scott Drago and Adam Patti recently bought Newton’s oldest continuously operating bar, the Biltmore, just over the Needham line in Newton Upper Falls. They’re in the process of giving it an update, or, rather, a retrodate, because when it reopens in late spring it will look more like the speakeasy it was when it first opened in 1921.
“The Biltmore has been kind of an institution since the ’20s,” Drago said. “There’s a lot of history here, it being a speakeasy, and we thought that, like Blue on Highland, it’s one of those local restaurants that brings a community together.”
The renovation includes exposing more of the tin ceiling, the original floor in the dining room, and some of the brick wall of the 1914 building.
When it reopens as The Biltmore Tavern — most likely in May — it will still have its distinctive rectangular bar and it will serve “upscale tavern fare,” similar to Blue, according to Drago.
“Blue has been a great success for us,” Drago said. “This gives us the opportunity to expand on it. It’s a good fit with Blue but in a new neighborhood, Newton Upper Falls.”
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