Khayam Opens in Brookline

The owner of a Persian restaurant in Watertown has just opened another Persian dining spot in nearby Brookline.

According to Chowhound, the Brookline TAB and Wicked Local, Khayam recently opened on Harvard Street between Coolidge Corner and the Allston line, taking over a storefront that had been unoccupied for quite some time. The owner of Khayam also runs Jasmine, a tiny eatery on Mount Auburn Street in East Watertown that first opened about five years ago. [Note: Jasmine is one of the featured restaurants on our sister site, Boston's Hidden Restaurants. To read the review of that restaurant, please go to the following link: http://www.hiddenboston.com/Jasmine.html.] The article in the TAB/Wicked Local states that Khayam will be a bit like Jasmine, but the menu will feature more in the way of fresh bread, stews, and veal dishes.

The address for this new Persian restaurant in Brookline is: Khayam, 404 Harvard Street, Brookline, MA, 02446.

Thanks to the Chowhound poster who first alerted us of the opening of Khayam.

For more information on Khayam's opening, please go to the Brookline TAB/Wicked Local link below.

Winter brings pizza, sandwiches and Persian cuisine to Brookline

Tweet This! Share on Facebook.

Latest Review: Olympian Diner and Restaurant, Braintree

The latest review on the Boston's Hidden Restaurants Web site is for the Olympian Diner and Restaurant in Braintree. Located in South Braintree Square a short distance west of Route 3, the Olympian Diner is mostly a local spot that serves breakfast and lunch seven days a week, and dinner on weekdays. The menu at this neighborhood favorite, which has been around for three decades, includes pancakes, waffles, omelets, sandwiches, and a number of more substantial entrees for dinner. To read more about the Olympian Diner and Restaurant in South Braintree Square, please click on the link above.

Two New Restaurants May Be Coming to Allston: Ariana Cuisine, Basil Asia Cafe

It looks like two more new restaurants may be coming to the Allston neighborhood of Boston at some point, and each of them will apparently be moving into spots where other restaurants have been.

According to EveryBlock Boston, a restaurant called Ariana Cuisine from Afghanistan may be opening at 127-129 Brighton Avenue in Allston. 129 Brighton Avenue has also been home to Dawat Fine Indian Cuisine; at this point in time we are unsure whether Dawat will become Ariana Cuisine under the same ownership or whether Dawat is being replaced by this restaurant. We will post updates as we get them, so keep checking back.

Also according to the EveryBlock Boston site, a restaurant called Basil Asia Cafe might be opening at 433 Cambridge Street on the other side of Allston Village. 433 Cambridge Street has been home to Bo Thai Cafe, so again, we are not sure at this point in time whether this is simply a name change under the same ownership, a more substantial change but with the same ownership, or simply a new restaurant replacing Bo Thai Cafe. Again, we will continue to do research to find more information on Basil Asia Cafe over the coming weeks.

Thanks once again to the EveryBlock Boston site for all of the information they post on potential new restaurants coming to the Boston area. If you would like to check out their site, they are at: http://boston.everyblock.com/

Tweet This! Share on Facebook.

Littlenecks Bar and Grill in Weymouth Has Apparently Closed

A little more than two months after it opened, it looks like a seafood restaurant in South Weymouth has closed its doors. According to the Patriot Ledger, Littlenecks Bar and Grill on Main Street apparently shut down at the end of New Year's Eve because the restaurant did not have its food and liquor licenses renewed by the town for 2010. It is not known at this time whether there is a chance their licenses may be renewed in the future.

Littlenecks Bar and Grill has featured a mix of local seafood and seafood imported from around the world since opening in October near the site of the old South Weymouth Naval Air Station and the South Shore Hospital. A sushi bar was also on the premises

Thanks to one of our readers for emailing us about this story.

For more information on the apparent closing of Littlenecks Bar and Grill in Weymouth, please go to the Patriot Ledger link below:

Littleneck Bar and Grill loses licenses

Tweet This! Share on Facebook.

Our Favorite Twitter Pages of 2009

The year 2009 was certainly a big one for Twitter, as the social networking site seemed to explode in popularity. Part of this is because Twitter is very simple to use, and it is an ideal utility for getting instant information on everything from news stories to baseball trades to store specials to, well, just about anything you can think of.

The restaurant industry has embraced Twitter as well; some uses include the postings of nightly specials at dining spots, the mentioning of various culinary events, the openings or closings of restaurants, and so much more. And because we are heavily involved in the Boston and New England restaurant scene (and heavy users of Twitter--we can be found at http://twitter.com/hiddenboston, by the way), the site is one that we go to on a daily basis, not just to post, but to scan the pages of restaurants, food writers, newspapers, etc.

So which Twitter pages have been our favorites over the past year? Well, there are a lot of good ones from which to choose, but here are a few of our top picks for 2009 (in no particular order):

Citysearch Boston (Twitter page: http://twitter.com/CitysearchBOS)
Often funny and always interesting, the Citysearch page for Boston has a ton of information on the Boston restaurant scene, typically posting several updates each day. This is one page that we check nearly every day.

Eat Boston (Twitter page: http://twitter.com/eatboston)
Another page that we look at nearly constantly, Eat Boston is similar in some ways to Citysearch Boston, and also can be a great resource for special deals at restaurants, interesting events being held, etc. And like Citysearch, Eat Boston is always finding restaurants that have recently joined the Twitter site.

MC Slim JB (Twitter page: http://twitter.com/mcslimjb)
A Boston-based food/drinks writer and restaurant critic, MC Slim JB always has attention-grabbing posts, including personal (and often hilarious) comments about the Boston restaurant scene and links to recent reviews. And since MC constantly seems to be looking for hidden gems in the area, this page is an incredibly valuable resource for us.

Myers and Chang (Twitter page: http://twitter.com/MyersAndChang)
All restaurants should take a cue from Myers and Chang; in our opinion, their Twitter page stands at the top of the heap, mainly because they do everything from post daily specials to interact with customers to LISTEN to customers, which goes a long way toward their becoming an even better restaurant. This is a Twitter page with a real personal touch, and one that is always a joy to read.

Visiting New England (Twitter page: http://twitter.com/NewEnglandInfo)
Not strictly a restaurant site, Visiting New England is nevertheless one we go to quite often, as it discusses a lot of dining spots outside of Boston proper that we aren't always familiar with. Diners, classic New England restaurants, and family-friendly spots are often talked about on their Twitter page, which is a particularly good one if you are also looking for places to stay.

Boston Tweet (Twitter page: http://twitter.com/BostonTweet)
Another page that goes well beyond the Boston dining scene, Boston Tweet is important to us in part because it has a seemingly endless amount of information on the city, with tons of info on restaurant events, and restaurants in general. And it has a personal touch, with lots of conversing going on between the page's owner and others.

Grub Street Boston (Twitter page: http://twitter.com/grubStreetBOS)
For the latest on Boston restaurant news (openings, closings, etc.), Grub Street Boston is tough to beat. We are always checking this page (and their site) to learn about changes within the Boston restaurant scene. A must for anyone looking for a news-based page.

There are so many other Twitter pages that we frequent (including Boston Globe food writer Devra First at http://twitter.com/GlobeDevraFirst, local restaurant guide North Shore Dish at http://twitter.com/NorthShoreDish, and online news site Universal Hub at http://twitter.com/universalhub) that we could go on and on, but at least this gives you a few Twitter pages that we consider of great importance when it comes to Boston-area restaurants.

Tweet This! Share on Facebook.

News Elsewhere: Tavern On The Green in Manhattan Is Closing

A high-end Manhattan restaurant that was once the highest grossing dining spot in the entire United States is shutting its doors this week.

According to the Associated Press, NPR, and a number of other sources, Tavern on the Green in the Upper West Side of New York City will be serving its last meal tomorrow (New Year's Eve) after being in business since the mid-1930s. Tavern on the Green, which filed for bankruptcy in September, had been earning nearly $40 million and serving more than 700,000 meals per year as recently as three years ago, according to the NPR/Associated Press article.

It is possible that a restaurant may be reopening as early as March in the Tavern on the Green Space, which lies at the western edge of Central Park near W 66th Street and just east of Lincoln Center. According to the article, the owner of the Loeb Boathouse restaurant (which overlooks a lake in the heart of Central Park) had been awarded a 20-year license on the space, which is owned by the city of New York, during the summer. The name of the restaurant could remain Tavern on the Green, depending on a Manhattan federal judge's decision in January that centers around an intellectual property/trademark issue. If the judge rules against the city, the new restaurant may be named Tavern in the Park.

For more information on the closing of Tavern on the Green, please go to the NPR link below:

NY's Tavern On The Green Restaurant Bites The Dust

Tweet This! Share on Facebook.