Notable Closings over the Past Few Months?

Just noticed the mentioning of Rouge being closed, and it got me thinking about all the restaurants that have closed so far in 2006. Since a lot of diners don't even know about their favorite restaurants closing until they find out the hard way (i.e. showing up to an empty storefront), ihow about mentioning some of the better restaurants (or even not-so-good ones) that have closed over the past few months?

New Taste of Asia in Brookline is one that comes to mind right away. What are some others?

[rufustfi]

I'm going to date myself on this one, but does anybody remember Rowinsky's Cheesecake shop in Harvard Square? It was below ground level, around the corner from Wordsworth Books, maybe where that comic book store is now. It was only there for a couple of years, circa 1980. But man, I can still taste their chocolate/vanilla marbled cheesecake. When I was in college that would be lunch.

[Northstar22]

Bangalore Cafe in Arlington. Opening as Kathmandu Spice according to a sign in the Window. Lot of renovations inside.

[hiddenboston]

Wow, Bangalore didn't last very long, did it? We went once and weren't exactly blown away by the place.

[bella_sarda]

I miss Noodle Alcove too. Greatly underappreciated.

[Ladycale]

I will second that sentiment. Although the service was rather horrible the noodles were good. Now there's no place (that I know of) in the Boston area to get good hand drawn and hand cut noodles.

[9lives]

I prefer Lucky Seafood to Noodle Alcove. That spot has been a revolving door..Lots of places have come and gone...many quite good.

[Chocolate Mousse]

Tim's is really gone? Wow. What was the cause-high rents?

I am still pining for La Ruche in Harvard Sq.- closed eons ago.

[Bostonbob3]

Above all else, Tim's Tavern. Not just because it was, IMHO, the best burger in Boston. But because it was the last place of its kind in that area. (Ironically, the "neighborhood bar" is rapidly disappearing from all of our neighborhoods.)

[hiddenboston]

I agree. If you go to a city like Buffalo, Philly, or New York, there are so many great neighborhood joints that are still going strong. Boston still does have some good neighborhood spots I frequent, though. (The Corrib in West Roxbury, the Busy Bee in Watertown, and Cronin's in Quincy are three that come to mind.)

Bob, is there any way you could re-post the blog you wrote on this? I seem to have lost the link to it. Thanks!

[Bostonbob3]

There are still a fair amount of good neighborhood joints, to be sure. James's Gate, Pete's Pub (although we'll see how long that lasts), and the Fireside Tavern to name but three. I just think they're disappearing at an alarming rate.

Here's that post from my blog. Keep in mind it's about five months old.

http://dryicefactory.blogspot.com/200...

Not a restaurant as such, but still missed: Zathmary's. Their smoked fish selection (as well as the skill of the cutters) was the best in town.

The last couple of times I've tried to go to Cindy's Planet in Chinatown, its been boarded up. I heard a rumor that its closed- does anyone know? Its a funny little place, but I'll miss it if the rumor is true.

[c6h12o6.booger]

I just called them 30 minutes ago. They're definitely open...

Mamaluke. Gonna miss it.

I still very much miss Roka (bet Harvard & Central Sqs, mass ave)- it had the best freshest and very nicely presented sushi and sashimi in the area- in a very nice room. I particularly loved their smoked eel app. and their green tea, red bean and ginger icecreams to end the meal with. Someone on chowhound posted on that the reason that they left - they had been there for many, many years- was that their rent was raised to $10,000 dollars a month!!! What really makes me explode- adds massive insult to injury- is that nobody has rented the space yet- it has been about 2 years- you still see the Roka sign et al up- so who is benefitting from this situation???...

[Gabatta]

Cambridge desperately needs a good sushi place.

[DavisSquare]

Bluefin in the Porter Exchange is quite good, IMHO. We occasionally have a visit where the fish isn't fresh enough, but those have been fewer and fewer lately. Our point of reference is this place in the Bay Area where we were regulars for many years:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/dxKs_Oekwf4DM...

The Daily Catch in Brookline. Easier to get into than the North End and depending on who was doing the cooking on a given night, just as good.

Or pretty awful. I don't miss them at all.

JP Licks in Arlington! :0

Wasn't "notable" but I had a soft spot for Ararat in Watertown.

[Raedia]

Ararat closing was a bummer; also Sepal in the same neighborhood.

Fasika

*cry*

This is more like the past year or so:

Places I'll really miss: Tim's Tavern, Claremont Cafe, Istanbul Cafe, Rouge, B&D Deli, the original Cafe St. Petersburgh, Pho Pasteur (Newbury St), Buteco, the Nightingale, Rossini's Pizza.

Places I liked but didn't frequent: Maison Robert, Arbor, Argana, Flux, Chinatown Seafood, Perdix, Alloro.

Places I won't miss much: Lucy's, Davio's Sonesta, Iruna, Il Bico, Trattoria a Scalinatella.

Places I meant to try and never did: Kawa, O'Fado, Cafe Europa.

Places I disliked: Sauce, Via Valverde, Dartmouth Cafe-Bar, Blue Cat, Brother Jimmy's, Original Sports Saloon, Saffron, Trio, Gallia.

file Fasika under "meant to try and never did."

Cafe St. Petersburg didn't close, they moved to Newton.

[DavisSquare]

Not just Sauce but its reincarnation as 400 Highland...

[enhF94]

owned by the same folks at The Joshua Tree, also in Davis Square.

[pilgrim]

Istanbul Cafe also moved, to Brighton, though it sounds like a very different place than the old one

http://www.boston.com/dining/globe_re...

[MC Slim JB]

Istanbul didn't last long in its new location in Brighton; it has already been replaced by another Zocalo.

This is getting to be a sad little thread, but I must add TIM's TAVERN and CLAREMONT CAFE. RIP!

I miss Noodle Alcove.

I'll miss it more when the weather turns cold.

Spanish restaurant, Iruna, Harvard Sq., JFK St. replaced by Conundrum.

I didn't like Iruna all that much...

I only went once but the little falafel place on Park Dr. next to the Christy's and crepe place has paper in the windows.

perdix
nightingale

The Nightingale space seems to have a curse over its head.

You think? It was very successful when it was Geoffrey's.

an indian restaurant is opening in the space. i am very much looking forward to that addition!

It will be nice to have some variety in the SE. Many of the more ethnic places have closed. I miss Cedar's...etc....Nothing against the Thai places but we have enough as it is.

[jfs2006]

Where did you hear about the Indian place? Any idea of when/who?

[MC Slim JB]

I saw an item back in May in the BBJ that said the Nightingale space had been bought by One World (which owns Kashmir, Diva, Mantra, Bukhara, and others). It was supposed to be an Indian restaurant called Mela and had an expected opening of mid-July 2006. I walk by that space often, and haven't seen much happening to it.

[pilgrim]

Before that it was Hammersley's, he did OK for himself

[Wineack]

Actually, I think that the Hammersley's space was the former Perdix and Truc space.

[MC Slim JB]

If memory serves, it went like this:

578 Tremont: Hamersley's (1st edition), Geoffrey's (1st edition), The Nightingale, soon to be Mela

560 Tremont: Azita, Truc, Perdix (2nd edition)