What Somers Hospitality Group does

Somers Hospitality Group (dba Somers Pubs) is a family-owned Irish hospitality company operating five distinct pub brands across downtown Boston: Mr. Dooley's Boston Tavern (77 Broad St), The Green Dragon Tavern (11 Marshall St, established 1657 on the Freedom Trail), Hennessy's (25 Union St, featuring the Upstairs @ Hennessy's / Hooley House entertainment space), and Durty Nelly's (108 Blackstone St, Haymarket). Founded by John Somers as part of the Somers Family's 100+ year international bar and restaurant lineage, the group serves Boston tourists, local residents, corporate clients, private event hosts, and sports community segments through on-premise food and beverage sales, private event catering, branded merchandise, and multi-location gift cards.

The company's technology stack is modest and consumer-facing: a WooCommerce-powered e-commerce storefront selling branded apparel (T-shirts at $20, hoodies at $50, snapback hats at $20) and a SwipeIt-integrated gift card platform valid across all pub locations. There is no proprietary technology platform, no mobile app, no API, and no AI/ML infrastructure disclosed. Operational technology is standard hospitality POS, with the 'Somers Seal of Quality and Hospitality' serving as the unifying service standard across the five differentiated brand environments.

Revenue is generated through four primary streams: on-premise food and beverage sales (the dominant stream across 364-day-a-year operations), private event catering with structured per-person and per-platter pricing subject to 7% Massachusetts tax and 20% gratuity, e-commerce merchandise sales, and gift card sales. Distribution is direct-to-consumer through five physical pub locations and an online shop, supplemented by a 2020 partnership with the New England Free Jacks Major League Rugby franchise for community-driven traffic. The business model is asset-heavy (physical real estate in prime Boston corridors), brand-light on technology, and dependent on foot traffic, tourism cycles, and event-driven group bookings.

Name

Somers Hospitality Group

Legal name

Somers Pubs

Website

https://somerspubs.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Somers Hospitality Group (Somers Pubs) is a Boston-based, family-owned operator of five Irish pubs in downtown Boston, serving tourists, locals, corporate clients, and private event hosts through on-premise food and beverage, private event catering, branded merchandise, and gift card sales.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Irish Pub Restaurants

NAICS

Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) (722410), Full-Service Restaurants (722511)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Neighborhood Bars & Taverns (CRANACAA)

Keywords

• Irish pub restaurants
• Pub and bar operations
• Private event catering
• Branded merchandise
• Hospitality services

Headquarters

HQ city

Boston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Food and Beverage Sales: Core revenue stream from on-premise food and beverage sales across all pub locations, including full lunch and dinner menus, traditional Irish fare, and bar service.
2. Merchandise Sales: E-commerce sales of branded apparel and merchandise including T-shirts ($20), hooded sweatshirts ($50), snapback hats ($20), and kids items. Gift cards also sold through the online shop.
3. Private Event Catering: Catering services for private events including corporate functions, weddings, birthday parties, alumni events, bachelor/bachelorette parties. Menu includes appetizers, food bars, salads, entrees, and desserts with per-person or per-platter pricing.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Somers Hospitality Group operates a portfolio of five distinct Irish pub brands across the Boston metro area, providing on-premise food and beverage service, traditional Irish fare, full bar service, live music, and private event catering. The company complements its pub operations with a branded e-commerce shop selling apparel, accessories, and gift cards valid across all pub locations, generating revenue primarily through walk-in consumer traffic and group function bookings.

Product overview

Somers Hospitality Group operates a portfolio of 5 Boston-based Irish pub restaurants under the Somers Pubs brand, including Mr. Dooley's Boston, The Green Dragon Tavern, Hennessy's, Upstairs @ Hennessy's (Hooley House), and Durty Nelly's. The group also operates an e-commerce shop selling branded apparel and merchandise including t-shirts, hooded sweatshirts, snapback hats, and tank tops across multiple pub sub-brands (Durty Nelly's, Green Dragon, Mr. Dooley's). Additional services include private event catering and functions management, plus gift cards valid at all 7 locations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Mr. Dooley's: Irish pub located at 77 Broad St, Boston, MA 02109. Voted best Irish bar in Boston for 2007 by Boston Globe. Known for live music and traditional Irish hospitality.
• The Green Dragon Tavern
• Hennessy's
• Durty Nelly's
• Hooley House (Upstairs @ Hennessy's)

Products and services

• Mr. Dooley's Boston Irish pub at 77 Broad St, Boston, MA 02109, near Quincy Market and the Waterfront. Features live music, full lunch and dinner menu, and traditional Irish hospitality. Voted best Irish bar in Boston for 2007 by Boston Globe.
• The Green Dragon Tavern Historic Irish pub established in 1657 at 11 Marshall St, Boston, MA 02108, on the Freedom Trail. Once frequented by Paul Revere and John Hancock, it operates today as a dining establishment popular with visitors seeking colonial-era atmosphere.
• Hennessy's Irish pub at 25 Union St, Boston, voted 'Best Irish Pub in Boston' six years in a row by Improper Bostonian. Houses the Upstairs @ Hennessy's (Hooley House) multi-functional entertainment space.
• Upstairs @ Hennessy's (Hooley House) Multi-functional entertainment space above Hennessy's at 25 Union St, Boston, MA 02108. Inspired by an Irish Village design, suitable for business or personal events, featuring live bands on weekends.
• Durty Nelly's Two-story Irish pub at 108 Blackstone St in Boston's historic Haymarket. Features traditional Irish fare including all-day full Irish breakfast, with second-floor 18th-century dining room overlooking Rose Kennedy Greenway.
• Functions & Private Events Catering Private event catering service offering unique settings for alumni events, bachelorette parties, birthday parties, corporate functions, weddings, and pub crawls. Features customizable menus with appetizers, food bars, salads, entrees, and desserts priced per-person or per-platter, subject to 7% Massachusetts tax plus 20% gratuity.
• Somers Pubs Gift Cards Gift cards valid at all Somers Pubs locations for use as presents or store credit, sold in variable amounts through the SwipeIt payment platform.
• Somers Pubs Branded Apparel & Merchandise Online merchandise store at somerspubs.com/shop selling branded apparel including T-shirts ($20), long-sleeve shirts ($20), hooded sweatshirts ($50), tank tops ($20), snapback hats ($20), and kids bibs ($15) across Durty Nelly's, Green Dragon, and Mr. Dooley's sub-brands, fulfilled via WooCommerce.

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• New England Free JackscoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2020Somers Pubs named Official Boston Premier Pub Partner of New England Free Jacks, a Major League Rugby (MLR) franchise. Somers Pubs serves as the official host venue for Free Jacks parties and community events, bringing the community together to celebrate the team during their inaugural 2020 season. Partnership aims to leverage Somers Pubs' locations in the heart of Boston and South Shore to engage rugby fans.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• The Kinsale Irish Pub & Restaurant: Long-standing Irish pub and restaurant directly in Boston's Financial District (also with a 2 Center Plaza location). Competes for the same downtown Boston corporate, after-work, and tourist occasion-based business as Hennessy's and Mr. Dooley's.
• P.J. Clarke's: Iconic Irish-American tavern group originating in NYC with multiple locations across the US. Comparable in being a heritage-branded, multi-location tavern concept with strong food, bar, and event business targeting an urban professional clientele.
• The Harp: Irish pub on Causeway Street in Boston near TD Garden, offering Irish fare, full bar, and live entertainment — comparable downtown Boston Irish pub competitor drawing sports fans, corporate crowds, and tourists.
• The Field Irish Pub: Boston Irish pub and restaurant located on Charles Street near the Freedom Trail, offering traditional Irish fare, full bar, and sports viewing — directly competing with Somers' Boston tourist and downtown Irish pub occasion.
• Fado Irish Pub: A US chain of Irish pubs (historically operating multiple locations in cities including Boston, NYC, Chicago, Philadelphia) offering the same combination of on-premise food, full bar service, and group/private event catering targeted at the Irish-American and tourist crowd — directly comparable operating model and customer base to Somers.
• McSorley's Old Ale House: Historic NYC Irish pub (est. 1854) operating as a destination tavern on the model of a heritage Irish pub experience. Comparable to Green Dragon in leveraging genuine historical provenance and a strong single-brand identity to drive tourism and repeat local traffic.
• Ned Devine's Irish Pub: An Irish pub group operating multiple Boston-area locations (Faneuil Hall, Framingham, others) with full menus, bar service, and live entertainment — directly comparable multi-unit Boston Irish pub competitor to Somers' portfolio.

Broad incumbents

• Yard House: US national chain of beer-centric bar-and-grill restaurants with extensive tap lists and broad menus. Overlaps with Somers' bar-and-food + event-driven model as a much larger, multi-state incumbent in the casual upscale bar space.
• Stout NYC: Multi-location NYC Irish sports bar brand with a broader national footprint and a sports-centric positioning. Comparable business model to Somers but operating at a larger, multi-market scale as a broader incumbent in the Irish sports-bar category.

Regional players

• Tigín Irish Pub: NYC-based Irish pub and restaurant concept with multiple locations in Manhattan. Operates the same Irish pub + private event + corporate function model as Somers but serves a different geography (NYC vs. Boston), making it a regional comparable rather than a direct competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/SomersPubs
• Xx.com/somerspubs

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Somers Hospitality Group