Kaze Shabu Shabu Transforms Into Fake New York Restaurant, Probably for 'Ghostbusters'

The "Ghostbusters" reboot, a highly-anticipated summer 2016 release from director Paul Feig and funny women Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, and Kate McKinnon, is currently filming in Boston, and onlookers speculate the set has taken over Kaze Shabu Shabu in Chinatown.

An Eater tipster sent in a note describing a new exterior on restaurant on the corner of Harrison Avenue and Essex Street. Over the past few days, a film crew replaced its facade with signage for "Zhu's Hong Kong Food." The tipster added they sprayed the building with dirty water to make it look grimy. "Supposedly for filming of Ghostbusters," the tipster wrote.

Twitter user @sirenizzed posted a photo of a New York City phone number going up on signs at 1 Harrison Ave. last week, and On Location Vacations (@OLV) confirmed the "Ghostbusters" production was on nearby Stuart Street on Thursday. Contacted today, @sirenizzed, who preferred to not use her real name for this article, confirmed the tipster's description of the building's facade, and sent in the above photo, taken this afternoon. "The stunt people were out there this morning getting flung from the window," she wrote in an email.

Kaze's website doesn't indicate anything about a shutter, but the place is listed as temporarily closed on Yelp. Kaze is affiliated with Fugakyu, and the general manager at the Sudbury location confirmed the sister restaurant is closed for a few weeks. "I think they are shooting a movie," he said. "We don't have a timeline, but we expect the shooting to take around three to four weeks."

The general manager said he does not know what movie is being filmed, and he also clarified he is not involved with Kaze Shabu Shabu, except that they share an owner. He declined to provide contact information for the owner. An email sent to the general contact for Kaze bounced back, and phone calls to the restaurant went to voicemail today.

Twitter user @sirenizzed said via email signs posted near the location say filming will take place from July 7 - 10, but the name of the movie isn't indicated. She also noted the film crew has erected a garage next door to the shabu restaurant, and earlier, there was a black and red hearse parked inside.

"Ghostbusters" has been filming in the Boston area since mid-June, and People has been keeping tabs on how some of the stars have been spending their time in the Hub. McCarthy, Feig, and their spouses, Ben Falcone and Laurie Caron Feig, had dinner at The Butcher Shop; the celebrity mag says restaurateur Barbara Lynch and Feig are buds.

McCarthy and Falcone were also spotted at Mare Oyster Bar in the North End, where they had oysters; pan-seared salmon with white bean puree, roasted fennel, and shallots; and pan-roasted halibut with corn and clam chowder, saffron, littlenecks, and andouille sausage. On another day, McCarthy took her daughters for lunch at Thinking Cup on Newbury Street.