Hey, all! Just wandered by a new location of Donut Villa which appears to be opening imminently in Arlington Center in the former Common Ground space. Some googling reveals it’s a longtime Malden donut-focused diner with a newer location in Cambridge as well. Anyone been?
Also, this may have been mentioned elsewhere, but it appears Tatte has filed a permit to open in Arlington Center’s former Not Your Average Joe’s, a huge space which has been vacant for almost 3 years.
thmor da in revere is on vacation until 2/10
I noticed that the literal hole-in-the-wall takeout Chinese place near me closed when I walked past last week. I think we got food from there a grand total of 2 times - I can see how it might cater to a late-night crew.
So I’m not reporting back for the loss of any good hidden gem Chinese food, but when I see small joints like this close, I feel sad. Who knows about the backstory and the lives that are financially ruined. As a kid of immigrants, somehow, I feel their pain.
Interesting! My niece by marriage told us that space was going to turn into a Chase bank. She has been single-handedly responsible for turning a lot of empty spaces throughout New England into Chase branches and ATMs, which bummed us out to no end. She has since moved on from Chase, so she wouldn’t know if the plans are still in motion. I would much rather see a food place go in there although I’m not a big cafe/coffee shop denizen and I worry about how this would affect nearby Kickstand Cafe.
I did think about that, but honestly I have no love for Kickstand. Their idea of a salad is to shove a bunch of dry greens in a plastic container, hack up some veg on top, and then serve a condiment cup of dry cold chicken on the side for an extra $4. While Tatte is a chain, their healthy lunch options are head and shoulders above anything else I can walk to right now.
During the pandemic, I ate there only once and my friend and I ate outside — the food was as tasty as ever. I’ve never gotten takeout even pre-pandemic. Your experience is a bummer.
I visited Tatte in Kendall a few times for lunch with friends/co-workers in the before times. Reliably good but I left feeling hungry. So it’s a “me, not them” situation. Lol
Haven’t been yet but …waltham news
A new sushi spot just opened on Main st down by the Sherwin Williams. I think it’s called Fin’s sushi. It’s in a spot that has been a different Asian spot almost every year. So hope they can make the spot work!
There is a new place on Moody that is going into the old Bison County spot. They have the paper down from the windows and look ready to open. So hopefully anytime now.
Ah forgot to add that Waltham also has a new Mochi donut place called Mister Monut on Main St across from Hannafords.
Haven’t been yet / not a donut person. But from these two posts makes me feel like I need to get out more.
I wonder if that’s the same place as the one on Cambridge St, near MGH (not in the mood to Google/research…is it still there?). I think I ate there once and it was adequate. I think they were Korean so there were Korean dishes.
Monut… Moland Springs. 
Have you been to Pon de Joy in Brighton? I like mochi donuts, but can’t say I love them. I enjoy their fun flavors more than loving them as a fabulous donut.
Looks like Fin’s is a local mini-chain: http://www.finsboston.com/
You might be thinking of Seoul, which is further down the street from MGH
Traditional donut lover here! We’ve tried their original Malden location strictly for donuts. They have a big breakfast following. Would rate the donuts as solid. Very good coffee roll. Best IMHO is Donuts with a Difference in Medford Square. My two cents.
Milk Bar in Harvard Square is shutting down. I can’t say I ever got the novelty of this place. My kids liked the overpriced cakes, but everything else was quite disappointing. The cookies came packaged in sealed plastic from a central production site that reminded me of Otis Spunkmeyer. The cake truffles were just…no. Why anyone would opt for something from Milk Bar when they could walk down the street to Flour is beyond me. Perhaps it just didn’t translate well to being chained out as I will say that following Christina Tosi’s (somewhat involved) recipe for banana cream pie at home produces one of the best pies I have ever tasted.
The pizza place, which closed last year, was just a weird thing to share space with and if I recall correctly was the result of some zoning compromise. Ordering was a PITA and the pizza was meh. Again, much better pizza steps away (Armandos, Oggi).
Hopefully another eatery goes into the space, but I have low hopes with the state of HSQ. God knows we don’t need another bank, or weed shop. Sadly, something like the Greenhouse isn’t coming back into that space.
On the whole Milk Bar was never very good (too sweet, too expensive), even in it’s original Momofuku location, although my wife did have a fondness for their cereal-milk ice cream. But once they went mass-market (you can get their stuff at WF, etc.) they went downhill even from that low level.
Tosi can bake, though, and is creative. In the very early days before she was the superstar and supermagnate she now is she’d personally woman a stall at the holiday market in Union Square selling stuff she’d come up with. One year she carried a pistachio stollen that was by a huge distance the best stollen of any type I’d had at the time, or have had since.
The best thing they used to offer in the original location was gua bao from the restaurant. And the crack pie, the first couple of times I had it, was amazing. After twice or so, though, the charm wore off. (Never mind that they later changed the name, which was a key part of the fun.) The cookie they have with corn flakes and marshmallows was also really good for a while, but all of the cookies went steeply downhill once they centralized all of the production.
I tried the Harvard Square location on several occasions and was disappointed every time. But I’m happy for Christina Tosi’s success; she’s definitely a master of the craft and seems in media like a genuinely good person. I highly recommend watching her episode of Chef’s Table on Netflix; her overall philosophy on baking is really beautiful.
its
Joe’s Pizza is going in where Milk Bar was -
Famous Original Joes?
I’ve never had those cornflake marshmallow cookies fresh, but I actually enjoy the store bought ones. They have a pleasantly chewy, and mild crispness.
This one is just Joe’s. And in my humble opinion unlike most of the self-proclaimed “original” and “famous” ones, this one actually deserves its fame. If they can keep the same quality as the original – is it possible without that mythical New York water?? – this will seriously level up Boston’s slice game. Fingers crossed!
