On Harvard Street, Brookline's Newest Openings Are Mostly Second Acts

"I would like to have the same kind of culture and atmosphere we cultivated when we originally opened," Nick Lisotto told Brookline.News this fall. He was talking about Sorriso Market, the Brookline Village wine and gourmet shop he sold in 2023 and has now taken back.

The quote fits the corridor this season. On Harvard Street, most of the fall's food news involves businesses that were already here. One shop was bought back. A weekend pop-up is moving into a permanent space. A Thai restaurant rebranded, and a kosher spot reopened under new management. The Coolidge Corner Theatre is running its Halloween Horror Marathon for the 25th time. The newest names in town, meanwhile, are mostly on Beacon Street and Commonwealth Avenue, and in mid-October most of them were still "coming soon."

The wine shop that went back to the same room

Sorriso Market is at 27 Harvard St. in Brookline Village. According to Brookline.News, Lisotto closed the shop's Coolidge Corner arcade outlet, sold the Brookline Village store in 2023, and got the business back after the firm that bought it went bankrupt in 2025.

He reopened in the same space with a rearranged floor plan built to host community gatherings. The relaunch includes wine tastings that range from casual Tuesday nights to opening one-of-a-kind bottles, plus balsamic tastings and, eventually, pasta-making workshops. Lisotto also plans to give the art gallery side of the shop a bigger role. For collectors, a private membership will open the deep cellar and the rarest bottles. Lisotto told the outlet that a shopper looking for a $20 bottle will get the same access as one shopping at $200.

The shop soft-opened at the start of September and ran Wednesday through Sunday that month. The full slate of events was scheduled to relaunch in October. Lisotto is a certified sommelier and runs Sorriso Pasta, a pasta company that uses freshly milled European grains. While he was away from the shop, he became one of the exclusive U.S. importers for Lini 910, a winery and balsamic producer in Canolo, Italy. That explains the balsamic tastings.

A pop-up moving up Harvard Street

About two hundred street numbers up the same road, Newbery Street Coffee Roasters is making a similar kind of move. The Thai specialty roaster has been running weekend pop-ups at Merai Bar, 14 Harvard St., usually from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. In August, Brookline.News reported that the team had committed to its first permanent café at 240 Harvard St., the former Cremeux space.

The neighborhood has helped pay for it. The roaster's Kickstarter campaign closed on Aug. 31 with $34,834 from 265 backers, well past its $25,000 goal. The planned menu includes Thai single-origin pour-over, Asian-inspired signature drinks, and house-made salt bread. The Brookline Record reported an October target for the café. Newbery's own website still sends visitors to the Merai pop-up and to Instagram for schedule changes, so check there before walking up to 240.

The same pattern shows up on nearby blocks. On Cypress Street, the Thai restaurant So Kitchen rebranded as Chaba Cafe, which serves curries, noodles and fried rice. Za'tar, a kosher Mediterranean restaurant, reopened under new management in June. Junbi Matcha & Tea opened at 190 Washington St. in Brookline Village this summer, with a grand-opening lion dance on July 11. Junbi's menu includes ceremonial matcha alongside specials like sea salt caramel, blueberry lavender and strawberry.

Where the new names are, and how many are actually open

The corridor's one clear replacement is at 406 Harvard St. That's where KaoJiu Chinese barbecue closed and Yu Yue took over. According to town licensing documents, Yu Yue was set to open with a full liquor license and an entertainment and outdoor dining license. Yu Yue's website lists hours of 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., online ordering, and a menu of grilled fish, Chinese barbecue and Sichuan-inspired dishes.

Most of the other new names are off Harvard Street and haven't opened yet:

The licensing entries in the table come from Town of Brookline agenda documents cited by Brookline.News and from its October report.

The most unusual of these is Ramyun Zip. It's a fully self-service Korean ramyun shop. You pick a packaged noodle, add hot water from a machine, and choose toppings like dumplings, scallions, fish cakes and bean sprouts from a salad-bar setup. The chain has locations in Virginia, North Carolina, California and Nevada, and Brookline will be its northernmost store. Brookline.News counts more than four other ramen restaurants in the immediate area. Add Ramen Haven on Comm Ave, and Coolidge Corner's noodle options go from crowded to very crowded. Shahs Halal Food, a New York-based franchise, plans 25 seats at 830 Commonwealth Ave. It already has three Boston locations.

The 25th marathon takes Halloween night

While the storefronts change hands, the Coolidge Corner Theatre is putting on its 25th Halloween Horror Marathon. The marathon starts Saturday, Oct. 31, at 11:30 p.m. and runs about twelve hours. Tickets are $35 for the Creature Double Feature or $45 for the full marathon, plus $3.75 in fees each. Online sales were still open as of Oct. 20.

This year has a mummy theme. The night opens with Boris Karloff in The Mummy from 1932. Next comes Hammer Films' The Mummy's Shroud, shown from a rare archival print from the U.K. The theater says it is the first venue to show the film in 35mm in North America in decades. Five more films stay secret until they start. The night also includes a costume contest, 35mm trailers and shorts.

The rest of the calendar

The longer-running Harvard Street institutions have set dates through November:

1. Thursday, Oct. 29, 1:30 to 6:30 p.m.: The Brookline Farmers' Market sets up in the Centre Street West Parking Lot behind the Coolidge. The market has no street address. Its 2026 season runs every Thursday through Nov. 19, so three markets remain after this one.
2. Saturday, Oct. 31, 11:30 p.m.: The 25th Halloween Horror Marathon at the Coolidge.
3. Sunday, Nov. 1, 10:30 a.m.: Brookline Booksmith story hour with Cedar Pruitt reading What Marcel Found, at 279 Harvard St.
4. Wednesday, Nov. 4, 7 p.m.: Joey Clift in conversation with Vanessa Lillie about We've Been Here the Whole Time at Booksmith.
5. Thursday, Nov. 5, 5 to 8 p.m.: Stop & Chat with Community Servings for its Pie in the Sky campaign at Booksmith.
6. Thursday, Nov. 19: The last farmers market of the 2026 season.

Thursdays line up best. The market runs until 6:30 behind the theater, and Booksmith's Nov. 5 event runs until 8 just up Harvard Street. That makes it easy to pair the two in one late-afternoon walk. We covered how Coolidge Corner's summer settled into Thursdays, and the same schedule holds into November. After Nov. 19, the anchors that are left are the theater, the bookstore, and whichever of the businesses in the table above have opened by then.

Storefront turnover on a street like Harvard Street affects how buyers see the condos above and around it, and The Residential Group tracks it block by block across Brookline. If you're thinking about selling near Coolidge Corner or Brookline Village, we can show you how today's commercial mix fits into your pricing and timing. List With Confidence.