Restaurants
From a sleek new café with matcha and soft serve drinkable desserts to an upcoming Yemeni roastery, here are the latest Boston restaurant openings, dining news, and food events to know right now.
Nana’s Green Tea opens July 17.
Courtesy
Stay up-to-date on the best new restaurants, recent openings, and the biggest dining updates across Greater Boston’s food scene. Want more on the latest food and drink news? Sign up for The Dish, Boston.com’s newsletter featuring the latest food and drink news.
-
Union Oyster House turns 200: Inside America’s oldest continuously operating restaurant
About Thyme Lebanese Street Café
If this upcoming quick-service Harvard Square spot has anything to say about it, it’s time to gear up for a hot saj summer. A staple in Lebanese cooking, a saj is a domed griddle, perfect for making flatbread (also called saj). When this 13-seat bakery opens, the crisp bread will be the cuisine cornerstone, cooked fresh on the electric saj and then used as the base for wraps of spiced chicken, kafta, and other delights. Find labneh—rich, strained yogurt, with sweet and savory toppings—on offer, too. Five kinds of lemonade, along with iced coffee and matcha drinks will offer cooling fuel-ups.
Opening date: August
1 Brattle Square, Cambridge
Flat bread from Ahmed Mahmood’s Bab Al Yemen restaurant. Mahmood will open C’Yool in the South End this month. – Lane Turner/Globe Staff
A sprawling, sunlit-spot that’s been sitting vacant for two years is about to buzz with new life. And plenty of freshly roasted coffee. Ahmed Mahmood, the owner of beloved Cambridge Yemeni eatery, Bab Al-Yemen, is firing up the enormous wood-burning oven in the former home of chef Michael Serpa’s Iberian restaurant, Atlantico. Pop in and perk up with coffee and espresso drinks, with beans roasted right in the restaurant. Or, hunker down and stay awhile in the inviting, rustic-inspired 115-seat café and steep in the menu of Yemeni fare, with dishes that wander across Middle Eastern and European influences. Delights include sabayah (a crisp Yemeni layered pastry) and sweet honeycomb bread, with fresh flatbreads with a host of toppings if you prefer to sate your appetite with something savory.
Opening date: July
600 Harrison Ave., South End
Zinneken’s Waffles.
No need to waffle about your next treat. Zinneken’s is bringing its beloved waffles to the Boston Common. No offense to breakfast waffles enjoyed all over the city, but Zinneken’s Belgian beauties—known as Liège waffles—boast a crisp outside thanks to caramelized imported Belgian sugar, while the insides remain perfect and pillow-soft. At its current Harvard Square location, Zinneken’s slings waffles topped with everything from Nutella to fruit and speculoos cookie butter. The new Boston Common spot opens winter 2027. Can’t wait until then? Check out the Harvard Square location, find the food truck around town, or make a road-trip out west when another new location opens up by UMass Amherst in the fall.
Opening date: Winter 2027
98A Boylston St., Downtown Boston
Matcha mochi parfait. – Courtesy
The Boston grand opening of this Japanese tea brand’s newest café comes just in time to offer cooling sips to combat the current summer scorcher. The star of the show at the sleek subterranean space on Newbury is Japanese matcha. Nana harvests their green tea by hand—a time-consuming process that results in a vibrant green hue and a less bitter taste, as mechanical harvesting often includes stems. Savor whisked matcha straight up, as a latte, or served with soda water and syrup for a slightly sweet iced coffee alternative. Also on the menu are more dessert-like concoctions served with ice cream and mochi, frappes, and drinks that showcase flavors of red bean and black sesame. Check out the less-common hojicha, or roasted green tea, too. For food, meanwhile, dig into mochi parfaits, savory rice bowls, Japanese curry, and more.
Opening date: July 17
175 Newbury St., Back Bay
Save the date for the upcoming A Taste of Ethnic Boston food festival, which transforms Big Night Live into a sprawling showcase of the city’s global restaurants and top chefs. Participating in this year’s theme of “celebrating culinary diversity” has never tasted so good, with Indian favorites from Shanti, sushi from Love Art Sushi, and Dominican delights from Pikalo among the foods to feast on. Expect tasting events and buzzy networking opportunities between bites.
Event details: July 28, 5:30-8 p.m., tickets from $65.87.
Big Night Live, 110 Causeway St., West End
Sign up for The Dish
Stay up to date on the latest food and drink news from Boston.com.
