A Short-Lived Cambridge Cafe Will Become a Ramen Bar

Brew on the Grid closed in Cambridge this month after only six months in the longtime Newtowne Variety space near MIT (93 Windsor St., Cambridge), but it will be replaced by a ramen-focused restaurant, Stix Noodle Bar, from the same company.

The rapidly growing New England Craft Restaurant Concepts is behind both Brew on the Grid and Stix Noodle Bar, as well as several other restaurants that recently opened or will open in the not-too-distant future. While most of the group’s restaurants are in the Worcester area or creeping up the North Shore, East Boston’s new Craft Table & Bar — which opened a few weeks ago in the former Ecco space — is also part of the company. (In keeping with the group’s Worcester focus, Craft Table & Bar is also opening there.)

Brew on the Grid’s first location is in — you guessed it — Worcester, and Cambridge followed in August 2017, serving a large variety of coffee beverages, including nitro cold brew iced coffee, alongside juices, baked goods, and sandwiches. On the heels of Cambridge’s closure, Brew on the Grid is expected to open in Lynn in March, Marlborough in April, and Salem later this year.

The website for Brew on the Grid’s defunct Cambridge location promises that Stix Noodle Bar will take its place, but an opening timeline has not yet been announced. Meanwhile, the original location of Stix Noodle Bar just opened in — yes — Worcester. The menu is packed with ramen options, from spicy beef to salmon, and there’s a vegetarian option as well. Aside from ramen, there are stir-fried dishes, such as Mongolian beef; a few dishes that feature soba; some appetizers, such as edamame and dumplings; and “signature” dishes, including pad thai and chicken katsu curry.

The Cambridge space that will one day be home to Stix Noodle Bar is tucked a block away from a cluster of Main Street dining options, including Beijing Tokyo, Cuchi Cuchi, Bertucci’s, and Royal East. (The dearly departed Salts was in that area as well.) While the Windsor Street space is quite close to Central and Kendall squares as well as MIT, it doesn’t fully belong to any of them, and it’s just off the beaten path enough that diners will need to know to look for it. Stay tuned for updates as the opening of Stix gets closer, adding to Cambridge’s ever-expanding ramen scene.

• Stix Noodle Bar [Official Site]