Brion Tunney ’70

South Boston native Brion Tunney ’70 graduated from Saint Anselm College with his sights set on a teaching career. His interest in real estate development soon took over his desire to teach, and he has set up shop in his old neighborhood.

By day Tunney’s “Java House” provides the staples—coffee, juice, pastries, newspapers—to a steady stream of early morning regulars and employees of the nearby South Boston Court House. In the evenings the action moves upstairs to his South Boston Candlepin lanes where he provides 20 alleys (with strobe lights) of bowling and arcade games. For the South Boston native this is a real estate dream come true.

Tunney bought the East Broadway Street property 14 years ago and immediately saw a business opportunity. “The court house is right next door,” he says, “and there were no other coffee shops around. It was a natural.” Today he serves 20 varieties of flavored coffee—snickerdoodle is far and away the favorite. “I came up with the idea to sell flavored coffee long before Starbucks became popular,” he says.

“The bowling alleys came with the property,” he says, “and they have been more of a challenge” with the changing demographics of the neighborhood. A South Boston fixture, the alleys enjoy somewhat of a celebrity status. Scenes from the movie “Southie” were filmed there, and parts of “Good Will Hunting” were scheduled to film there. When plans changed, however, the movie producers made up for it by holding their post production party there. “All the major stars were there,” says Tunney, “Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Minnie Driver and Robin Williams. They were great, especially Robin Williams, who bowled the whole night.”