"Brookline is loyal to the end." Josh Ziskin said that to Brookline.News this month. He and his wife Jen have run La Morra at 48 Boylston Street since 2003.
Several of this fall's changes happened in rooms that look the same from the sidewalk. A wine shop owner bought his old store back. A general manager is becoming the owner of the restaurant he runs. An Italian spot on Beacon Street is owned by the people who cook and serve there. The empty storefronts in Coolidge Corner, meanwhile, are filling mostly with national brands and multi-concept operators.
The Shop That Came Back to Its Founder
Sorriso Market, the wine and gourmet food shop in Brookline Village, reopened this fall with original owner Nick Lisotto behind the counter again. Brookline.News reported that Lisotto closed the shop's Coolidge Corner arcade outlet and sold the Brookline Village store in 2023. The firm that bought it went bankrupt in 2025, and after months of legal proceedings Lisotto got the business back.
He reopened in the same space, which the shop's contact page lists as 27 Harvard Street, but he rearranged it. The floor plan now makes room for gatherings. Lisotto described casual Tuesday night wine tastings, special bottle openings, balsamic tastings and, eventually, pasta-making workshops. He also plans to expand the art gallery side of the store and offer a private membership with access to the deep cellar. "Now it's truly going to be an experience," he told Brookline.News.
The shop soft-opened the weekend before the Sept. 1 report and was scheduled to open Wednesday through Sunday in September. Lisotto planned the full relaunch of events and offerings for October.
The Manager Who Is Putting His Name on the Door
A few blocks west, Za'Tar at 10 Cypress Street is going through a quieter handoff. Mola Mekonant became general manager of the kosher Mediterranean restaurant in June and is in the process of taking full ownership, according to Brookline.News. He has already refreshed the room and cut the menu down, and much of it now centers on his hummus. He estimates he makes about 375 pounds of it a week.
"In Ethiopian culture, everything is about hospitality," Mekonant told the paper. When the ownership transfer is final, he plans to rename the restaurant Mola, after himself. As of the September report the transfer was still underway, so the Za'Tar sign may stay up a while longer while the kitchen behind it already runs his way.
Owned by the People in the Room
Sorriso and Za'Tar fit a wider pattern on Brookline's established food streets. Bar 'Cino at 1032 Beacon Street belongs to Newport Restaurant Group, which is employee-owned. Head chef Guilherme Andrade, who has worked for the group for 13 years and oversees its three Massachusetts Bar 'Cino locations, explained to Brookline.News that he and other workers hold a share of the company's value and take part in its decisions. "Everything that we do impacts everyone," he said.
The fall menu was still being developed in late September. The dishes in testing included sweet-potato gnocchi with braised oxtail ragu and a butternut squash and apple panzanella made with produce from local farms.
The Ziskins are the long-tenure version of the same pattern. Before opening Punch Bowl at 700 Brookline Avenue in 2021, they ran Heritage, a pub in Sherborn, for almost a decade. Josh grew up in Brookline and runs both restaurants day to day. Jen is a Certified Sommelier and the wine director for both, and her main work is now as executive director of Mass Restaurants United. Punch Bowl's menu has moved toward approachable comfort food. Brookline.News pointed to the current patty melt with caramelized onions, which replaced an earlier fish sandwich on a squid-ink bun.
At Sorriso, Za'Tar, Bar 'Cino, La Morra and Punch Bowl, the people who answer for the food are the people who own it, or soon will.
What's Filling the Empty Storefronts
The vacant spaces show a different pattern. Most of this fall's openings and filings in Coolidge Corner and along Commonwealth Avenue come from operators with locations in other cities, or from concepts that run several restaurant brands under one roof.
| Address | Previously | Incoming | Status as of mid-October |
|---|---|---|---|
| 392 Harvard St. | Not reported | Wonder, a multi-brand food hall | Opened Sept. 24 |
| 1310 Beacon St. | Bare Blends | Ramyun Zip, a self-serve ramyun shop | Getting ready to open |
| 1376A Beacon St. | Onezo-Brookline | O'Poke | Planned |
| 406 Harvard St. | KaoJiu | Yu Yue, a soup shop | Planned |
| 832 Commonwealth Ave. | Not reported | Ramen Haven | Planned, per licensing documents |
| 830 Commonwealth Ave. | Not reported | Shahs Halal Food, 25 seats | Planned, per licensing documents |
| 1026 Commonwealth Ave. | BE Pasta Bar | Bingtanghulu | Licenses approved |
Wonder is the biggest of these so far. Patch reported that the Harvard Street location is the company's 21st in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. It serves food from multiple restaurant brands out of one venue for dine-in, pickup and delivery. Wonder's Brookline page lists hours of 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. every day, which makes it one of the later kitchens on that stretch of Harvard Street.
Ramyun Zip has locations in Virginia, North Carolina, California and Nevada, and the Beacon Street shop will be its first in New England. You pick a packaged noodle option, add hot water from a machine, and choose toppings such as dumplings, fish cakes, scallions and bean sprouts from a salad-bar setup. The chain says it carries more than 120 items. Brookline.News noted that more than four other restaurants within the immediate area of Coolidge Corner already serve ramen. On Oct. 16, Boston Restaurant Talk described the shop as getting ready to open, so it may well be serving by the time you walk past.
Brookline lost two counters to make room for this wave. KaoJiu's Chinese barbecue at 406 Harvard and the Onezo bubble tea shop at 1376A Beacon have both closed.
Where the Two Stories Meet: Coffee
One opening on the list connects both patterns. Newbery Street Coffee Roasters, a Thai specialty coffee operation, started as a weekend pop-up and is building its first permanent café at 240 Harvard Street, where Cremeux used to be. In late August, Brookline.News and the Brookline Record reported that construction was underway and the target was October, with no fixed date. Until it opens, Newbery's site points customers to its pop-up at Merai Bar, 14 Harvard Street, which is typically open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Newbery is a small local operator taking over an empty Coolidge Corner storefront, the same kind of space the chains are filling. Readers already know it, too. It came up in Brookline.News's September reader poll on the town's best coffee. The top three in that poll were Cafe Fixe at 1642 Beacon Street, Brothers & Sisters Co. at 7 Station Street and Clear Flour Coffee Bar at 180 Thorndike Street. One reader called Cafe Fixe "straight forward, good coffee," and another said Brothers & Sisters felt "consistently welcoming."
A Late-October Plan Built Around the Owner-Run Rooms
If you want to see both patterns in one week, here is a route:
- Brookline Village. Check current hours, then stop at Sorriso Market at 27 Harvard Street and ask whether the tastings planned for the October relaunch have started.
- Cypress Street at lunch. Order the hummus at Za'Tar while the sign still reads Za'Tar.
- Beacon Street for dinner. Try Bar 'Cino at 1032 Beacon to see which fall dishes made the final menu.
- Coolidge Corner Theatre, Oct. 27 to 29. The theatre's late-October horror lineup includes The Exorcist on Tuesday, Oct. 27, The Omen and Vincent Price: What Keeps Us Alive on Wednesday, Oct. 28, and Poltergeist on Thursday, Oct. 29. Wonder is around the corner at 392 Harvard and serves until 11:30 p.m., so it works for a late bite after the show.
Theatre listings can change, so check the schedule before you go.
Anne Kennedy pays the same attention to who runs a place and how long they've been there when she helps clients understand a Brookline block. If you're wondering how the businesses around your street affect your home's value, Anne M. Kennedy can walk you through it. Get Your Free Home Valuation.
