Mahmood Abu-Rubieh built the wooden booths in the old L Street Diner & Pizzeria with his own hands. He shaped them to fit the room's odd corners and made them look like the booths at his family's diner in Central Square, where he did his homework as a kid. Boston Magazine reported that his parents, Jamal and Manal, have run Brookline Lunch on Brookline Street in Cambridge since 1989, and all seven of their children have worked there. Mahmood, the fourth of the seven, now runs the family's second location at 108 L St., at East Fifth.
That one Cambridge family coming over the river is half the story of South Boston's fall. The other half went the opposite direction. Two Southie kitchens, Lulu Green on West Broadway and Fresh Boston on Old Colony Avenue, closed their South Boston doors between August and October, and their Cambridge locations are still open. Count the closings and openings and the totals look close to even. The trade with Cambridge, though, runs two to one against Southie, and the biggest arrivals moved into rooms the neighborhood already knew.
The Central Square Diner That Crossed to L Street
Brookline Lunch's Southie location goes by B-line Southie on Instagram. Boston Magazine called it newly opened in late September. The menu borrows heavily from the original: baklava pancakes with a rose water syrup, spicy sausage shakshuka, a za'atar bowl with poached eggs, feta, naan and homefries, all made from scratch. A print of that rose water bottle hangs among the first few pieces of art on the walls, and Mahmood told the magazine he expects the walls to fill up the way they have in Cambridge.
The one new addition is a pizza oven, which Boston Magazine called a bit of a tribute to the L Street Diner & Pizzeria that came before. Mahmood described a pizza kitchen making house-made breads, full pies, slices and possibly subs for lunch and dinner, and said the team was taking time to work out its own dough from scratch and a short list of signature pies. In that September report, the restaurant's hours did not include dinner.
This location matters for a reason beyond the menu. A Cambridge family business with 37 years behind it picked an L Street corner for its first expansion, then added a pizza oven so the corner could keep serving what it was known for.
The Two Kitchens That Went the Other Way
In mid-October, Boston Restaurant Talk reported that Lulu Green, the vegan café-by-day, restaurant-by-night at 246 W Broadway, had set Saturday, Oct. 17 as its final day of service in South Boston. The West Broadway location opened in early 2020. A second Lulu Green opened in Kendall Square this spring, and the business's farewell post spelled out the reasoning:
"As a small, family run business, we want to focus our full attention on growing our newly opened Kendall Square location in Cambridge. This will allow us to bring our focus under one roof."
The same post said South Boston "welcomed us with open arms" and that the decision was a very tough one.
Fresh Boston at 232 Old Colony Ave. went first. Caught in Southie reported in mid-August that the shop was temporarily closing after nearly four years in the neighborhood, and Boston Restaurant Talk reported it closed a few days later. Like Lulu Green, Fresh Boston's goodbye pointed to the other side of the river: "Our Cambridge location will remain open, so you can still get your fix." Fresh Nantucket is staying open too.
Line the three up and the pattern is plain. Each business had a location in Cambridge and one in South Boston. One family added a Southie location to its Cambridge base. Two businesses shrank back to the Cambridge side. For anyone who regularly ate at Lulu Green or Fresh Boston, the nearest location now means crossing the river.
A Rum Bar in a Room Planned for Something Else
The busiest new opening of the fall came from inside the neighborhood. Common Craft opened its South Boston location at 85 Damrell St. in March, and Boston Restaurant Talk reported it open by March 19. The company's original location is at 75 Middlesex Turnpike in Burlington. Part of the Damrell Street building was supposed to be Common Craft's Stillroom cocktail bar. That space became Overproof Cocktail Lounge instead, a separate rum-focused bar that opened in October.
Overproof is run by Jen LaForge and Will Isaza, longtime bar professionals. Boston Magazine's October roundup notes that LaForge most recently managed Ama at the Atlas and Isaza managed Foxglove Terrace, and that both worked at Blossom Bar and Birds of Paradise. Isaza pointed to an opening-menu drink called the Spanglish Remix, made with Ron Zacapa 23, mango milk, sesame, lime and amontillado sherry, and said it "perfectly encompasses our bartending journey throughout the years." The menu also lists a cobbler made with cold brew and bell pepper. Tony Messina, Common Craft's executive chef and partner, handles the bar bites.
Boston.com listed Overproof as open in its Oct. 22 openings roundup, and The Boston Globe called it newly opened the following week. The bar's reservation listing shows Thursday through Sunday, 6 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Emerson Street Gets Its Saturday
The newest arrival is two blocks off Broadway. Gong Cha soft-opened on Oct. 31 at 120–126 Emerson St., in the building that went up where Federico's bike shop used to be. Caught in Southie reported that it serves bubble tea, waffles and ice cream and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
The grand-opening celebration is this Saturday, Nov. 14. Caught in Southie's weekly roundup lists the date and says more details are coming. Its hours make it the latest-open spot on this list on weeknights, apart from Overproof's late nights Thursday through Sunday.
Where Things Stand, Street by Street
For the rest of November, by address:
- L Street at East Fifth: Brookline Lunch, 108 L St. Breakfast and brunch staples from the Central Square original, plus a new pizza oven the family planned to use for pies, slices and house-made bread.
- Damrell Street: Common Craft and Overproof Cocktail Lounge, 85 Damrell St. Overproof's listed hours are Thursday to Sunday, 6 p.m. to 1 a.m.
- Emerson Street near Broadway: Gong Cha, 120–126 Emerson St., open daily 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., grand opening Saturday, Nov. 14.
- West Broadway: 246 W Broadway, Lulu Green's home since early 2020. The restaurant set Oct. 17 as its last day there and is now concentrating on its Kendall Square location.
- Old Colony Avenue: 232 Old Colony Ave., where Fresh Boston closed in August after nearly four years. The Cambridge and Nantucket locations are still open.
- Dorchester Street near Andrew Square: Piccolino, 236 Dorchester St. Emily Swaine's café and aperitivo bar inspired by Italian coffee culture, designed to run from morning coffee into evening drinks.
Every one of these turnovers starts with a storefront: a diner space that got a new pizza oven, a bar room that changed names before it opened, a new building where a bike shop used to be. Jackie Rooney has spent decades watching which South Boston storefronts turn over and what moves in next. If you own a building with retail on the ground floor, or you're wondering what these changes mean for your block, Rooney Real Estate is glad to talk it through. Contact Jackie for a consultation.
