The hoummos and labneh at Café Barada at 2269 Massachusetts Avenue have about three more weeks. The Salameh family has said full-service dining there ends Saturday, December 5, which closes out nearly 25 years in North Cambridge. The restaurant started in Arlington in 1985.
A mile or so down the avenue, Cambridge Common and the Lizard Lounge in its basement have a longer runway, through the end of May. The Half Shell in Porter Square has already served its last calzone. These closings are being reported as one more round of beloved places pushed out, but each one traces back to a specific decision inside the business. A chef went home, a family did the math on a new walk-in, and owners who held their own building decided it was time.
| Place | Address | On Mass. Ave. since | Status as of mid-November |
|---|---|---|---|
| Café Barada | 2269 Mass. Ave., North Cambridge | 2002 | Full-service dining ends Sat., Dec. 5 |
| Cambridge Common | 1667–1673 Mass. Ave. | 1996 | Closing at the end of May 2027 |
| Lizard Lounge | Basement of 1667–1673 Mass. Ave. | 1997 | Closing at the end of May 2027 |
| The Half Shell | 1760A Mass. Ave., Porter Square | 1998 | Closed Sept. 17 |
Barada's deadline came from a kitchen estimate
Café Barada's building got a new landlord three years ago, and since then the family has rented year to year, Charbel Salameh told Cambridge Day. He co-owns the restaurant with his father, Sami. The kitchen needs a lot of work, including a new walk-in cooler, and on a one-year lease that money wouldn't come back.
"We need a lot of work in our kitchen. We need a new walk-in. So, we sat and did the math. It would cost too much. You'd never make back the money in a year."
Moving would have meant a lease of at least ten years, which ran into the restaurant's own timeline. Charbel's mother, Claude, does the cooking. "My mom, she's the brains of the kitchen," he told Cambridge Day, and the family doesn't expect her to cook for another decade. Most of the ingredients are imported from the Middle East, and those costs have risen sharply. His sister Therese, who also works at the restaurant, is starting a new full-time job.
Every pressure on that list is concrete: one appliance, one lease length, one cook's working years. In the family's message to customers, relayed by Boston Restaurant Talk, they said they hope this is "not a final goodbye" and mentioned "future endeavors." Charbel told Cambridge Day a catering kitchen is one possibility. Until then, the Lebanese menu runs through hoummos, baba ghannouj, tabbouleh, stuffed grape leaves, falafel, kibby and shish kebab.
Cambridge Common's clock was set in the kitchen too
The same pattern holds at 1667–1673 Massachusetts Avenue. Holly Heslop and Charlie Christopher own the building, and they plan to sell it and close both businesses at the end of May. Heslop told Cambridge Day that the catalyst was longtime chef Arcesio Suarez's decision to move back to Colombia after 28 years with the group. She called him "a god in the kitchen and a natural leader." "It's been a long run, and we know it's time," Heslop told WBUR.
The couple has been running restaurants in this part of Cambridge since 1981, when they opened Christopher's in Porter Square and later the Toad nightclub next door. That building has since reopened under new owners as McCarthy's. They opened Cambridge Common in 1996 on what WBUR called "a lonely strip of Mass. Ave. between Porter and Harvard Squares." The basement they bought with it was a function hall with pink walls and banquet tables. They painted it red, kept it dim, and opened the Lizard Lounge in 1997.
The room never had a proper stage. Bands set up on a carpet in front of a red curtain with the audience on three sides, and poles cut into the sightlines. Lake Street Dive got its start there and released a concert film and live album recorded at the club in 2011. Club D'Elf played every other Friday from 1998 until March 2020. Bandleader Mike Rivard told WBUR the group hopes to bring that residency back for a few months in 2027 before the club closes for good. WBUR also reports that a spring sendoff is planned. The Sunday night poetry slam has run downstairs for nearly a quarter-century.
The building is less likely to carry on in the same form. City records assess the one-story 1938 property at about $3.58 million, according to WBUR. Heslop told Cambridge Day she doubts a buyer would restart the restaurant and lounge. Cambridge Day also noted the parking lot behind the building and its location a few blocks from Lesley University's Doble Campus and Harvard Law School. So the six and a half months until the end of May are likely the last stretch for this kind of room at this address.
The Half Shell owned its building and retired anyway
Porter Square shows the same pattern from the other side. The family behind The Half Shell ran it at 1760A Mass. Ave. from 1998 until Thursday, September 17, serving Greek-style pizzas, calzones, pastas and salads. As the Cambridge Somerville Independent reported, the family owns the property and closed because it was time to retire.
No landlord was involved, so rent didn't set the timing. On the final days, customers got their favorite meals at no charge. State Rep. Marjorie Decker brought a resolution signed by House Speaker Ron Mariano.
What's moving in is built around a counter
Cambridge Day sees the closings as part of a longer trend, with long-running, budget-friendly restaurants north of Harvard Square leaving or being forced to change course, and often being replaced by pricier fine dining. On this stretch, the newcomers reported so far are casual, and several are tied closely to what came before.
- The Sub Shop, 1760A Mass. Ave. Josh Winer, an East Somerville resident, is bringing his Fort Point sandwich shop into the former Half Shell space. He bakes his sesame-seeded rolls every day after a 24-hour fermentation. The menu includes Spicy Calabrian Chicken, shaved ribeye steak and cheese, turkey rosemary, and a new vegetarian sandwich inspired by the Half Shell's jalapeño poppers.
- Crisscross Bakehouse, 1700A Mass. Ave. Honeycomb Creamery founder Kristen Rummel is opening an American-style bakery next door to her ice cream shop, a short walk up the avenue from Cambridge Common. While the storefront is being built out, she's running pop-ups at Honeycomb Thursday through Sunday, 8 a.m. to noon, with breads, pain de mie, biscuits, scones and cinnamon rolls in flavors like apple pie and s'mores, according to the Cambridge Somerville Independent.
- Xi'an Cool Noodle, 1815 Mass. Ave. A West Hartford-based team soft-opened this Shaanxi street food spot in the former Yume Ga Arukara space in late October. Cambridge Day reported liangpi cold-skin noodles and beef or pork roujiamo on Tongguan flatbread, with lamb paomo planned as the kitchen expands.
- Mix & Toss, Little Tokyo pavilion, Porter Square. A sign for this Korean bibimbap concept has gone up in the space where Tampopo used to be.
Two of the four come from operators with roots nearby. Winer lives just over the line in East Somerville, and Rummel is expanding next to a business she already runs on the block. The sandwich on the Sub Shop menu inspired by the Half Shell's jalapeño poppers carries something of the old Porter Square counter into the new one.
The order to go in
The deadlines are known, so the order follows from them:
- Café Barada, before Saturday, December 5. This is the shortest clock on the avenue, about three weeks from mid-November. Full-service dining at 2269 Mass. Ave. ends that day.
- Crisscross pop-ups at Honeycomb, any Thursday through Sunday morning, 8 a.m. to noon. The pop-ups run until the 1700A storefront is finished.
- Xi'an Cool Noodle at 1815 Mass. Ave. Go for the liangpi now and the lamb paomo once it's added.
- The Lizard Lounge on a Sunday for poetry, or a Friday if Club D'Elf returns in 2027. The planned spring sendoff comes before the end of May.
- Cambridge Common, through the end of May. Order the tater tots, the sweet potato fries, or the buffalo tofu that came over from the Christopher's menu.
Sometimes a long-held building on Mass. Ave. changes hands because the owners are ready to step back, and at Urban Circle Realty we spend a lot of time with owners weighing whether to sell, lease or keep and manage what they've built. If you own property in Cambridge and are starting to think through that decision, Urban Circle Realty can help you lay out the options. Connect with Sherean & the Urban Circle team to discuss your Boston real estate needs.
