just back in town, so I got nuthin’. But if you know of any cool openings or sad closings, here’s the spot.
Townsman is closing
Democracy Brewing supposedly opened yesterday on Temple Pl in DTX. Can’t speak to the quality of Food or Beer but walked by last week and build out looks nice.
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L&K in Needham has closed
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Sheger Cafe’, the new Ethiopian restaurant on Mass. Ave. in North Cambridge, appears to have finally opened.
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What is L&K?
As an update, I went yesterday. The space is very nice but i’m sad to report the beer and food were sorely lacking. The pale ale tasted like my attempts at homebrewing and the saison was watery. Tried the beer cheese nachos and they were bland as well. Service was good and the management was walking around getting feedback from patrons.
My guess is that they were rushing to open for the 4th of July but weren’t really ready food or beer-wise. I’m going to give it a few months and hopefully the beer and food will see some improvement. They did say that the menu was being tuned and that they hoped to have up to 10 beers on tap in the future compared to the current 4.
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Yes, Sheger Cafe is open. The space is very nice, and they say their Injera is 100% teff. I was in the area to pick up food from Qingdao next door, so did not feel I could order from them, too (plus that food is best eaten at the restaurant) so I can’t say what anything tastes like. But full marks to them for being open for breakfast, in addition to lunch and dinner. I plan to eat there soon.
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I ate there last night and really liked it. I’m no expert on Ethiopian food, although I have eaten it at other area restaurants. I thought the injera was excellent. The service was warm and welcoming, the atmosphere cheerful, in a small but comfortable space. I had the chicken stew (wot?), which was spicy and rich - really delicious. DC had one of the vegetarian offerings, which he said was also spicy. He liked it a lot. I was a bit surprised that there were only about 2 vegetarian options, which I thought were more plentiful at other Ethiopian places. The prices were a bit higher than expected (entrees in the $18-20 range), but the food was delicious, so no quarrel there. I will return to try other dishes.
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da bomb bbq has opened in the old sabor peruvian fusion location on broadway in revere
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noticed on my walk home today that there’s a sign for Finesse Patries in the old liquor store location at 594 Somerville ave. in Somerville. I guess this is something that has another location at Boston Public Market, dunno if it’s any good. It also seems like maybe there’ll be baking classes here, according to the website.
tawakal halal cuisine is re-opening as tawakal halal cafe in the old la sanghita cafe location on maverick street in east boston
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Bummed about this, best beef tartare in town and other good stuff too. His website mentions making a more sustainable life for himself and his family and all of us who have worked in the restaurant business certainly get that! Glad I got a number of opportunities to eat there while it lasted.
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I’m assuming that Toscano’s in Harvard Sq. will be closed for a bit, because I was just in Harvard Sq and that building was on fire and billowing black smoke. Cambridge Fire Department says it started in the restaurant.
Other Harvard Sq. note: construction has started on the &pizza/Milk Bar location at the old Nini’s corner.
Wow! This may affect Burdick as well.
We have to go there, homey! We need more food explorations soon. Best, Suselah
Cafe Sushi reopened last night after a two-week closing for renovations.
I had lunch there today. Since their omakase is what makes them stand out, their lunch isn’t how they should be judged, but the chicken udon soup was pretty tasty, as were the gyoza. The salad dressing and the miso soup were both rather salty, and the chef’s choice of sushi was pretty conventional (and overly wasabied): salmon, tuna, mackerel, etc. The fish itself was lovely.
If you go, the old upper-level entrance is now handicapped-only. We, and all other lunchers, were turned away at that entrance and asked to go back to the street level, where you now enter, only to go back up an internal flight of stairs to where the host/ess station still is.
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I had a lamb dish from them last night. It was very tasty, as was the injera. Prices are on the high side, as you say, and the entrees all give you just one option to put on your injera. In my previous experiences with Ethiopian food, I’ve enjoyed the variety that seemed to be standard: greens, lentils, some animal protein each mounded on different spots on the injera. The only was to do this at Sheger seems to be to get the feast-for-two deal at $32. Only after I’d ordered did I realize that they had a whole page of interesting appetizer and smaller plate options stapled on at the end of their rather makeshift menu.
Light was streaming in through their skylight when I stopped in. It really is a very pleasant space.
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Yes, I found that unusual as well and am used to an assortment of “dollops” on the injera. However, my DC had a vegetarian entree that seemed to have more of this kind of variety, so maybe it’s just the meat choices that are so one-note.
