Have you recently tried any restaurant for the first time? What did you think about it?
Do you know of any restaurants that have recently opened/closed/changed hands? Give us the details.
Do you have a favorite dish at your favorite restaurant? Do tell.
Share any and all restaurant news that you see fit in the comments below.
Thanks to @fignewtonville for this suggestion.
Cabots Ice Cream was recently sold to the owners of Johnny’s Luncheonette. Here’s a story about that.
mochiko hawaiian in Newtonville is terrific if you are craving a chicken sandwich, and while I don’t eat SPAM, apparently their SPAM breakfast sandwich is amazing as well.
Has anyone tried Grandma’s Kitchen in Newtonville?
Tried Mochiko for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Not only did it fill a long time craving for Hawaiian, the service was fantastic!
Those guys are the best. Seriously just nice folks.
Grandma’s Kitchen is amazing and authentic. Transports me back to Taiwan every time I eat there.
Bruce, thank you for that. I was looking for an excuse to try them.
I admit that I’ve been to Lobster Wok so many times they know me by my voice (and they are a lovely family that operates that restaurant as well). But the food seems different at Grandma’s kitchen, lots of soups and I noticed a beef rib soup that sounded like a good option for a winter day.
Lobster Wok is more Americanized Chinese food for takeout and they do a good job in the idiom. Grandma’s Kitchen is more Taiwanese which is a fusion of many mainland cuisines and the indigenous cuisine. If you like Taiwanese, Jean + Lee Kitchen in Upper Falls is also outstanding.
BTW Lobster Wok has a secret menu for their Chinese clientele, which is excellent. I bet if you asked nicely you could access it.
Burke’s Alewerks taproom is open in West Newton, in the old The Local space. The beer is great, and clearly first priority. The food menu is small but growing.
Growing up in the 70’s and 80’s, Cantonese (and Toisanese) were the primary Chinese dialects of the Boston. We were the first group to immigrate from China going back to the gold rush. We built the railroads and faced discrimination in a way no other immigrant group has in form of the Chinese Exclusion Act.
Over the years, I came to realize what a tiny spec Cantonese/Toisanese really is in the grand scheme of Chinese people. In the past 40 or so years, immigration became much more diverse, with folks coming in droves from mainland China, Taiwan and many other Asian countries. Today, the majority has become the minority (among minorities). Mandarin is only Chinese language offered in western schools, not Cantonese, and with each passing year, the Chinatown banquets during Lunar New Year (*the* holiday is the year) held by surname-based associations are less and less attended. 1 or 2 generations from now, no one would be surprised if this long-held tradition is extinct all together (our family is as complicit as any).
So when Jumbo Seafood left Newton Centre, it as great to see it replaced by Ding’s Kitchen, who continues the make the traditional Canto dishes that are becoming harder and harder to find…particularly off the menu “banquet dishes” that I only know how to order with my broken Cantonese; or with an elder family member doing the ordering. Ding’s also makes very good Dim Sum and while it’s not wheeled around in carts as it’s traditionally served, it’s a decent compromise from not having to schlep to and find parking in Chinatown.
Agree about Ding’s and Burke’s.
At Ding’s, try the coconut soup – they make it at your table. It’s delicious. It gets very busy with young folks on Friday and Saturday nights.
Burke’s has a great vibe, good beer, and Burke himself is a good guy. Plus music and trivia. Hopefully the food menu expands but I’ve enjoyed the pizza for what it is.
I’ll have to try Ding’s. I used to be a regular for take-out at Jumbo Seafood until they changed chefs a couple of years ago. The previous one was great about handling my food allergies but the new one got my orders wrong so frequently that I had to sadly give up on them.
I sometimes order from Rice Valley since they have a small gluten-free menu. I love chow fun and they’re the only place I can get it – I especially like that theirs comes with Chinese broccoli
Here’s an absolutely wild story connected to a local restaurant.
There was a restaurant on Highland Ave in Needham just over the bridge from Needham St in Newton called Chef Mike’s. It was there for a few years and then shut down during Covid.
A Needham blogger called “turtleboy” smelled something funny about Chef Mike and started digging. He ended up doing a six part expose that chronicles an endless series of scams, lies, fraud, crimes and general all around bad behavior. I can’t vouch for the veracity of any of this but it makes for addictive reading of the trashiest kind.
The chapter titles below will give you a quick synopsis of the highlights of the story.
Part 1 – Chef Mike’s Questionable $20K GoFundMe For Holistic Cancer Treatment In Florida, Lashes Out When People Ask Questions
Part 2 – Chef Mike Admits He Never Had Cancer, Says It Was Miscommunication With Doctor
Part 3 -Abandoned Child, Lies About Being Raped, Refuses To Pay Child Support, Pretends To Be Wife
Part 4 – Exposing Chef Mike’s Wage Theft, Attorney General Investigation, More GoFundMes, Abusing The Elderly
Part 5 – Exposing Chef Mike’s Fake Homeless Charity, Stealing From Jimmy Fund, Cookbook GoFundMe Scam, Fired From Restaurant
Part 6 – Stealing From Homeless Vets, Exploiting Death Of Red Sox Pitcher, Conspiring With Wife To Abandon Child And Scam Victims
Now look what you’ve unleashed fignewtonville 😉
I just wanted recommendations for good food. I like food. It is comforting to eat good food at new places. Especially bakeries. Someone mention a good new bakery. I’m averting my eyes from the Chef Mike post. That’s just a lot. Ack.
You have good instincts fig. The Chef Mike story is indeed a deep and dark rat hole. Proceed at your own risk.
Here is a request for my friends in Nonantum:
I keep hearing tales of new bakeries on the North side, a Japanese bakery, a place with good muffins. But I can’t seem to find them. I love Antoines, but that’s not a “new” place obviously.
Anyone have details?
Little L across from McDonald’s?
KoKo Bakery is the Japanese place you are wondering about.
I also like flourhouse in the Nonantum village center. SALT in the Centre and Lakon in the Highlands are also great. Are bakeries the new nail salons?
Speaking of Nonantum, I LOVE Olivia’s. Italian as good as the places in North End right here in our neck of the woods.
Even though I don’t live there, I love Nonantum. It’s my favorite village. Transit patterns don’t take me there so it can be out of sight, out of mind so I am deliberate about finding excuses to go there.
Bruce, I’m a fan of Nonantum as well. I’m there for my kids occasionally. I haven’t tried Olivia’s though. I’ll put it on the list. I’ve really enjoyed Maldova too.
In addition to the (great, expensive but great) bakeries Bruce mentioned – SALT is probably my favorite of that group, with the cinnamon rolls and kouign amann as standouts, though flourhouse has the best breakfast sandwiches – I’ve always liked Bettina’s in Upper Falls. They do a brioche cinnamon roll that is different and great, and everything else is consistently good or better. Small place, friendly family runs it, exactly what you’d want in your neighborhood. Breadsong is a bit more old school and still doing their thing in Auburndale as well; I feel like the things they do best don’t overlap as much with the pastries I tend to want, but I’ve got neighbors who stop in regularly and love it.
Also another vote for Olivia’s on the non-bakery side, I’ve had great experiences there both on random evenings and with the special menus they do on various holidays.
Not exactly a bakery but Better Life Foods at 158 Adams St has a fair amount of delicious fresh baked goods but strictly to take with you – i.e. its not a cafe
@Bruce Koko is called Little L now. New owners, mostly same menu.
For all the bakeries around, my hood of West Newton still doesn’t have one. After the departure of Keltic Krust and L’aroma we are missing out!!
Here is another question I’d love some group discussion on for restaurants: I miss late night eats and drinks. Does anyone have a secret late night dining establishment or drink establishment (ideally both). I went looking a few weekends ago and after 10 pm I had nothing except IHOP.
And I’m more of a Waffle House person. IHOP is ok I guess, but it’s no Waffle House.
Doesn’t have to be in Newton, but extra points for close by. Boston is too far though.
People think of Sycamore as a dinner destination but we find ourselves going there more often for late night drinks and a bite.
As for just cocktails and appetizers, this isn’t in Newton but it’s close. Birds of Paradise in Brighton. The award winning mixologist behind Baldwin Bar opened it. It’s an easy on easy off place for Newtonites to stop by on the way to or back from dinner in Boston.
One of the silver linings of the pandemic is that almost everything that closed got replaced by something better. Take Comedor as an example. That was my favorite restaurant in Newton. Thistle & Leek is better. The exception is Morano Gelato. That place served the best gelato I’ve had outside Italy.
@Bruce Wang – We too are big fans of both Thistle & Leek and Jan and Lee’s Kitchen.
I am certain BARaMOR in Newton Centre is open late
To change the subject, I just heard that Mt. Alvernia High School in Newton was sold and will be closing. That’s shocking. Can we get a thread on that? Does anyone know who the buyer is?
It is featured in the Globe.
Pure speculation but it was mentioned that another Catholic institution was involved so I’m guessing BC. The Boston Globe article links to a Facebook post one of the alumnus (correct?) who was on the Board of Trustees from Mt A made on the subjectwhich is pretty interesting to read. Lots happening under the radar.
https://www.facebook.com/kmjoyce
If it sold it is not yet showing up in the Assessors Database nor MassLandRecords. If the sale had closed the deed would be there.
But BC is probably a good guess
If it is BC, they now have an incredible campus in the middle of Newton. That’s a lot of land combined with the Law school. Far more useful to them than Webster Woods. Centre Street would split it in half, but that is easily solvable. But what a loss for Mt. Alvernia.