Boston Restaurant Talk

Friday, February 27, 2026

Nova Restaurant Opens in Downtown Boston

A new restaurant featuring a type of cuisine not commonly found in the local area has come to the heart of Boston.

According to its social media, Nova Restaurant is now open in the city's downtown area, moving into a space on Tremont Street across from Boston Common. The new dining spot offers foods found in Central Asia with a focus on dishes from Kyrgyzstan, with its menu including such options as syrniki (cheese pancakes), solyanka (a thick, sour soup), lepeshka (flatbread), borscht, boso lagman (stir-fried hand-pulled noodles), plov (a rice and meat dish), and beef stroganoff.

The address for Nova Restaurant is 131 Tremont Street, Boston, MA, 02111. Its Instagram page can be found at https://www.instagram.com/nova__boston/

(Follow Marc on Bluesky at @marchurboston.bsky.social)

[A related post from our sister site (Boston's Hidden Restaurants): List of Restaurant Closings and Openings in the Boston Area]

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Celine Plans to Open in the Former Blue Dragon Space in Boston's Fort Point

A new dining and drinking spot from a local restaurant group may be on its way to a space near the Boston waterfront.

According to a presentation page within the fortpointneighborhood.org website, Celine is planning to open on A Street in the Fort Point neighborhood, moving into the space that had once been home to Ming Tsai's Blue Dragon which was open from 2013 until the start of the pandemic in 2020. The page mentions that the proposed restaurant and bar would blend "the timeless comfort of an American tavern with Montreal-French technique and soul," including such options as roast chicken, burgers, a rotating raw bar, and "tavern classics elevated by Montreal classics and subtle French technique," along with wine and cocktails.

The team behind Celine is the Coda Restaurant Group (SRV Boston, The Salty Pig, Gufo, Baleia)

The address for the upcoming Celine is 324 A Street, Boston, MA, 02210.

(Follow Marc on Bluesky at @marchurboston.bsky.social)

[A related post from our sister site (Boston's Hidden Restaurants): List of Restaurant Closings and Openings in the Boston Area]

Please help keep Boston Restaurant Talk and Boston's Hidden Restaurants going by making a one-time contribution or via a monthly subscription. Thanks! (Donations are non-deductible.)

The Old Planters Brewing Co. Space in Beverly Is Up for Sale

Another local brewery has shut down, and its space is on the market.

Based on a Bluesky post from @jeremyk.bsky.social, Old Planters Brewing Co. in Beverly is closed, with a listing within samgifford.churchillprop.com indicating that the Rantoul Street space is for sale along with the business itself, though the seller will consider selling the real estate only without the business as well. An earlier post from the brewery mentioned the following:

We've decided that [2025] will be our last year running Old Planters. It's become clear to us over the past year that our business deserves more time than we can currently give it in order for it to continue to grow. That being said, it's our sincere hope that someone will want to carry the torch for Old Planters into the future starting in 2026, but we understand that might not be a reality. If that's the case, we will be doing our best to try and foster a new concept for our building that will be a great addition to Rantoul Street.

Old Planters first started out as a basement home brewer about 10 years ago, opening their Beverly taproom in 2019.

The address for the Old Planters Brewing Co. space in Beverly was 232 Rantoul Street, Beverly, MA, 01915.

(Follow Marc on Bluesky at @marchurboston.bsky.social)

[A related post from our sister site (Boston's Hidden Restaurants): List of Restaurant Closings and Openings in the Boston Area]

Please help keep Boston Restaurant Talk and Boston's Hidden Restaurants going by making a one-time contribution or via a monthly subscription. Thanks! (Donations are non-deductible.)

Thursday, February 26, 2026

Tampopo in Cambridge's Porter Square Is Closing

A decades-old Japanese restaurant in Cambridge is closing down.

According to a poster within the Friends of Boston's Hidden Restaurants Facebook group page (via a Cambridge Day article), Tampopo within the Lesley Building/Porter Exchange in the city's Porter Square area is shuttering in June after residing within the building since 1992 and once being part of a bustling food court. The eatery has been known for such options as tempura, donburi, katsu don, noodle soups, and curry over the years.

The website for Tampopo says "This journey has been made possible entirely through your warm support and continued patronage, for which we are deeply grateful....Serving this neighborhood has been the honor of a lifetime. We hope you'll stop by over the next six months so we can thank you in person."

The address for Tampopo is 1815 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02140. Its website can be found at https://www.tampopocambridge.com/

(Follow Marc on Bluesky at @marchurboston.bsky.social)

[A related post from our sister site (Boston's Hidden Restaurants): List of Restaurant Closings and Openings in the Boston Area]

Please help keep Boston Restaurant Talk and Boston's Hidden Restaurants going by making a one-time contribution or via a monthly subscription. Thanks! (Donations are non-deductible.)

TGI Fridays in Boston's Mission Hill/Brigham Circle Area Has Closed

A restaurant chain continues to shrink in the local area, as its sole Boston location has now shut down.

According to a poster within the Friends of Boston's Hidden Restaurants Facebook group page, TGI Fridays in the Mission Hill/Brigham Circle section of the city is no longer in business, with a check on the locations section of the chain's website confirming this, as the Tremont Street outlet has been removed. With the closing of this location, there are now only two TGI Fridays remaining in the Greater Boston area--in Everett and Stoughton--with two others a bit further out in Methuen and Millbury.

Closings of TGI Fridays locations over the past couple of years have taken place in Braintree, Dedham, Mansfield, Marlborough, North Attleborough, North Dartmouth, and Seekonk.

The address for the now-closed location of TGI Fridays in Mission Hill/Brigham Circle was 1626 Tremont Street, Boston, MA 02120. The website for the chain is at https://tgifridays.com/

(Follow Marc on Bluesky at @marchurboston.bsky.social)

[A related post from our sister site (Boston's Hidden Restaurants): List of Restaurant Closings and Openings in the Boston Area]

Please help keep Boston Restaurant Talk and Boston's Hidden Restaurants going by making a one-time contribution or via a monthly subscription. Thanks! (Donations are non-deductible.)

The Beacon Bistro and The Stratus at the Top of the Prudential Center in Boston's Back Bay Are Closing

An upscale restaurant and a rooftop bar on top of one of Boston's highest buildings will both be shutting down this spring.

According to an article from the Boston Business Journal, The Beacon Bistro and The Stratus at the top of the Prudential Center in the Back Bay are slated to close on April 21, as it appears that the spaces may be used instead for events/functions, with a spokesperson for operating partner Legends Global indicating to the BBJ that they are both "being replaced in response to a growing interest in private events." It does look like the observation deck will remain open, according to the article.

The Beacon Bistro and The Stratus first opened in September of 2023 in the renovated space called View Boston (which includes the restaurant, bar, and observation deck), replacing the Top of the Hub restaurant and the Skywalk Observatory which had been there until early 2020.

(Follow Marc on Bluesky at @marchurboston.bsky.social)

[A related post from our sister site (Boston's Hidden Restaurants): List of Restaurant Closings and Openings in the Boston Area]

Please help keep Boston Restaurant Talk and Boston's Hidden Restaurants going by making a one-time contribution or via a monthly subscription. Thanks! (Donations are non-deductible.)