June 2017, Boston, MA. Openings and Closings!!!

Regional Dining Discussions Boston, New England
#1

it’s that time again, and so new thread. See anything that’s busting open in your neighborhood? Weeping over an old fave that just shuttered? Clue us in.

I got nothing on those fronts mostly since I’m not on the ground much in town these days, but for what it’s worth I noticed there’s a Filipino festival with food coming up in Malden later this month. Since there’s no Filipino restaurants around (that I know of) after that one place in Quincy and the Jollibee’s in Revere closed up, I’ll post it here to start the conversation:

#2

Cultivar, the new restaurant from former Harvest chef Mary Dumont, opens in the Ames Hotel today.

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#3

Spoke Wine Bar has reopened.

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#4

Thank you! I adored Spoke in its previous incarnation. Let’s hope that the new one shines too.

#5

there was a jollibee in revere?

#6

casa blanca restaurant on centennial ave in revere is now fedala bakery

#7

I thought there was, because the other day when I searched for the Jollibee site at Google, the side info panel for the search returned this:

“Philippines-based chain known for its burgers, fried chicken, spaghetti & Filipino dishes.
Address: MA-16, Revere, MA 02151”

But there was nothing in their store locator for any Massachusetts locations. I just assumed it was one that had closed, but maybe that is just some weird Google misinformation?

#8

Journeyman is closing - too bad, we had an excellent meal there last year but at least Backbar will stay open

#9

The Shawarma Place next to Domino’s in Davis closed and reopened as Jerusalem Shawarma or Falafel (can’t remember which) right next to Lemon Thai, further down Highland Ave near Somerville Hospital. The owner cited high rent as a reason for the move.

There’s a sign in the window of Diva in Davis, that Genki Ya has applied for a liquor license transfer to that address. Not at all clear what that means, and may be old news…

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#10

Good news indeed! Those pictures on their website are gorgeous…

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#11

This is interesting! When they first opened, the lentil soup was so good, but then it declined dramatically. And then they stopped pickling turnips for the sandwiches. Somehow it dropped off our rotation and we found that we preferred the shawarma spot on Main Street.

The building that they have moved into has some rodent issues. Wonder how that will work. The primary offender was the tenant in the space that must be the new spot. I have a friend who is a tenant in that building. I will be interested to see what she has to say about their sanitary stuff. They share the basement.

#12

Sepal, the Middle Eastern place in the Longwood Galleria (Longwood Medical Area), has closed. One less place for lunch for those of us in the medical area. They had gotten a bit skimpy over the last few months, and they never had their excellent moussaka anymore, so I’m not terribly surprised.

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#13

juan’s taqueria is opening in the old tomas burger location on broadway in revere

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#14

not a closing as yet, but worth keeping an eye on is that the building that has Hei La Moon, that little barbecue spot and Mei Tung supermarket sold earlier this month to the developer Oxford Properties for $40 million. Kind of hard to imagine this place won’t become pricey condos or something like that given the location.

#15

Holy $#!t. (Not in a positive way.) This sounds potentially like the beginning of the end of our C’Town (although it had already been feeling not like itself once the 24-hour/late night joints started cutting back a few years ago). :scream:

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#16

yeah, I sure hope I’m wrong and they don’t close, but it sure wouldn’t surprise me. There’s some sign things are moving in that direction for that area, and like you say there have been for awhile. I know the owner of East Ocean City was rumored to have closed that place so it could be redeveloped into a hotel. We’ll see what happens…

It does seem like a hot pot restaurant or something is going into the space where Chau Chau City was. So it’s not totally over yet.

#17

Hidden Boston just reported on the fact that a new place on Cambridge St in East Cambridge called Pronto Uyghur is open. The tip came from Christine Liu on Twitter, and she has also posted a photo of the menu.

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#18

Nice tip! The menu looks interesting; haven’t seen samsa (a meat bun baked on the side of tandoori oven) and diced noodle (like a chinese gnocchi but made with flour and stir-fried with tomato and other chopped vegetables) anywhere in Boston yet. Would love to hear somebody’s experience with this place.

#19

According to Eater Boston this is a soft opening under the current name and “In general, it’s currently open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily (except for Fridays, when it opens at 4 p.m.), but call (617) 945-1909 to verify before heading over.” They’re supposed to close for (actual) renovations in a few weeks once they get the permits in place to open for real as Silk Road.

#20

Neither openings nor closings, but Devra First is writing review once a month again.

On the search for a permanent critic, it sounds like there won’t be one?

Edward Onessimo I’ve long been a big fan but what happened to the search for your successor?? Mat Schaffer is an old friend so I was rooting for him but ALL of the “finalists” have been stellar! Oh, and please don’t read the troll comments…

Devra First They were all amazing, and I learned so much from them while editing them. They all would have been great at the job. The Globe just underwent a reinvention process, with many people shifting roles. I really enjoy editing, but I was also itching to get back to writing, so this is the form that took.

“Food is a pretty good prism through which to view humanity.”

― Jonathan Gold