Popular South Boston restaurant, Amrheins, receives letter with suspicious powder

By Melanie Dostis, Globe Correspondent

The popular South Boston eatery Amrheins received an envelope containing a suspicious powder Wednesday afternoon, fire officials said.

An employee opened the envelope at around 1:30 p.m. in the basement of the restaurant on West Broadway, said Steve MacDonald, spokesman for the Boston Fire Department.

Field tests proved negative and the envelope’s contents were sent to a state lab for further testing as a precaution, MacDonald said. No one was hurt and police will be investigating where the envelope came from, he added.

As of 7 p.m. Wednesday, the restaurant was closed and officials did not have immediate knowledge on whether the closure was related to the incident. A spokesman for Amrheins could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.