Harvard Reaches $1.1 Million Settlement with Kinsale‑Asgard Restaurateur

When Classic Restaurant Concepts signed a lease in 2015 for En Boca at 8 Holyoke Street, Cambridge, Skip Sack imagined a bustling spot just outside Harvard Square. The reality, however, turned out to be a drawn‑out nightmare.

Harvard’s massive Smith Campus Center project required the city to shut Holyoke Street for about two years. The university never warned Sack that the closure would be so prolonged, and the silence proved costly. En Boca opened its doors in 2016, only to shutter after nine months, leaving Sack with roughly $700,000 in operating losses and a broader claim of $4.3 million that included legal fees, interest and other damages.

Sack’s frustration didn’t stop at En Boca. The financial shock reverberated through his other establishments – the beloved Boston bar Kinsale and the Cambridge tavern Asgard – both of which struggled to stay afloat after the pandemic and ultimately closed their doors.

The legal battle began in 2017, when Sack sued Harvard for breach of contract and misrepresentation. A Superior Court judge initially ruled in Harvard’s favor, but the Massachusetts Appeals Court reversed that decision in 2024, sending the case back for further consideration. A trial was slated for spring 2026, but before any courtroom drama unfolded, the parties reached a settlement.

On May 28, 2026, Harvard agreed to pay Classic Restaurant Concepts about $1.1 million – the figure cited in the settlement varies slightly between $1.1 million and $1.125 million – and both sides signed a non‑disparagement clause. “The motto at Harvard is ‘Veritas,’” Sack remarked, “they were anything but truthful… they never told us they were going to close the street.”

While the money won’t bring back En Boca, Kinsale or Asgard, the settlement puts a decade‑long dispute to rest and offers Sack a modest financial cushion as he looks toward new ventures.