For whatever reason it seems that froyo shops in Boston had their 15 min of fame 5 or more years ago. I think that all of the Pinkberry shops (North End, Harv Sq, Davis Sq, many others) are long gone. Nearest one I could find in New England is in Warwick RI. I remember when Davis Sq had three: Pinkberry, Orange Leaf, and IYo. All closed. There are still some around (Berryline near Harv Sq is apparently open) but in general ice cream stores are much more popular in this part of the country.
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I think that was just the fad of that moment. Cupcake shops followed shortly thereafter, IIRC. And then bubble tea places. Chocolate chip cookie places in there somewhere too. Not sure what the current one is, maybe mochi donuts?
Yes, Didrik’s carries a full line of cookware. Most of it is downstairs - the Leonard St entrance floor was largely tableware, etc.
Thanks. Although I go frequently to the Belmont farmers market every summer, I never ended up going to the relocated Didrik’s.
But that one hasn’t stopped yet (and is even more accelerating). They are everywhere in California
I feel like it’s starting to die around here. Malden being a good example; at peak there were, I think, four of them just in Malden Center and another few around town. Now I think it’s down to just maybe two.
Which reminds me of another trend I think is incoming: layered “latte” type drinks (often with matcha).
I’d like to believe this, but don’t completely see it myself. However, my daughter is a bubble tea fan and reports that it’s harder to find “good places”.
Sad closure: Ebisuya Market, Medford, will be gone at the end of the month. Apparently the building is being demolished. I’m assuming it’s part of the large-scale project the city recently announced to add more apartments. (Anyone know?) And I guess HMart and similar have greatly improved the local availability of Asian specialty goods since Ebisuya opened, but I still really enjoy shopping there, so I’m super hopeful that they’ll find a new location.
Presumably this will also impact other places in the same building, including the AYCE K-bbq place (which I’ve not been to in a few years, but have heard has recently taken a turn for the worse) and the donut place (which I’ve always heard is really good, but have never visited). And finally the CVS, which is quite possibly the worst CVS in the history of CVS.
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A reliable source told me that the building was deemed unstable.
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Not sure if this was posted yet but just saw it.
A new Asian market opening in Natick in the Wegman space. T-market. Anyone know it?
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I did a bit of research and was unable to find any other T Market anywhere else. And the address on the company’s web site (which is a bit over the top and I suspect is largely AI-generated) lists only Natick. So this appears to be a brand new local initiative. Will certainly be interesting to watch.
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The Buzzin’ Bean, a vegetarian/coffee shop, had their soft opening last Saturday May 17th and is now fully open for business.
It is in the location formerly occupied by Istanbul’lu @ 237 Holland St Somerville, MA
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Such a bummer. I appreciate Maruichi, but they were the best source for Japanese goods for a long time. I miss the old Japanese market that used to be in Cambridge (many moons ago).
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Are you referring to Kotobukiya, that used to be in the Porter Exchange? That was a great store and I always appreciated the excuse to go eat at Cafe Mami or one of the other shops in the building.
Also in the general vicinity is Reliable Market in Union. I visited there recently for the first time in years and was happy to find it more or less the same. But unfortunately I don’t find that location to be especially convenient, especially with regard to parking.
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There is a parking lot behind Reliable Market for customers.
There used to be a great Japanese market off of Central Sq (don’t remember that side street name). If you cut down the street as if you’re walking towards Inman Sq, the market was right next to a pub. This was back in the late 90s or early 2000 or so, so quite a while ago! The store had a ramp in between, so one section of the floor space was lower than the other and they had a great selection of groceries, rice, frozen foods and even small section on housewares. I think they also rented J-drama videotapes in the back.
Ebisuya in Porter Sq became my go-to after that market closed, but it was so sad. I’m trying to recall if the Ebisuya at Porter Sq might have been run by them after the larger market closed.
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Yoshinoya was on Prospect, and before seared tuna with soy, wasabi and ginger became a staple it was one of the few places in Cambridge you could find pickled ginger. They carried imports from Japan not intended for export, no English on the packaging, I took a flyer hoping it was ginger.
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You’re right; that is Prospect St. The market was closer to the Central Sq end. I don’t remember the name of the store at all, so I’ll trust your memory. There was definitely little to no English signage inside, and clearly geared towards local Japanese expats, students, or immigrants, though they did get a regular stream of other Asians looking for groceries. I remember buying a few frozen items, without knowing what they were in those days, and trying them because they looked interesting. That memory was unlocked because I had to walk past that area a few weeks ago.
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Bit of a tangent but even today I manage to do that at H-Mart or C-Mart–although I have to work at it just a bit and explicitly search for the unknown. The English translations on the back are often about as descriptive as “Rice Cracker.” And if I point Google Translate at the front it often shows some sort of flowery prose about the quality of water in mountain streams or some such. I have no allergies or real ingredient aversions, so I ignore the translated ingredients lists (which tend to be inaccurate anyway) and just go for it. Often it’s a win, and occasionally a box of oddly greasy or fishy or over-the-top salty things goes straight into the garbage. Either way it’s an adventure, and I’m glad that things still are this way. It’s nice to enjoy some low-risk/leap-of-faith fun even in the age of access to global knowledge.
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CambridgeDay is reporting that after 13 years, Q’s Nuts is closing their Highland Ave location just outside Davis Sq., Somerville on June 14th. Their products will still be available in greater Boston since their products are produced in a commercial kitchen elsewhere.
Hearth & Hug bakery plans to move into that location sometime this fall.
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