There’s a Restaurant Boom at Somerville’s Assembly Row

Somerville’s sprawling Assembly Row development has been taking over Assembly Square — the easternmost edge of Somerville, along the Mystic River — since 2014, adding a seemingly non-stop stream of restaurants, stores, apartment buildings, and more. There’s been a particularly large ramp-up in new restaurants signing leases at the development recently, and this week, Assembly Row announced even more new businesses on the way, including a few intriguing food and beverage options that are expected to open around summer 2022.

There’s a small Portuguese-inspired restaurant chain called Tribos Peri Peri, for one; the forthcoming Assembly Row location will join others in Rhode Island, New Jersey, California, and Georgia, serving spicy, grilled piri piri chicken.

Plus, the team behind local outposts of the Menya Jiro ramen chain and Fenway restaurant Saigon Fusion will open a Vietnamese grill called An Nam.

And Legendary Restaurant Group, which operates Mexican restaurant and tequila bar Papagãyo at Assembly Row (and also ran the now-defunct Assembly Row restaurant Burger Dive) will open a bar and small-plate restaurant called Civility Social House.

On the cafe front, Taiwanese tea shop Ten One Tea House, which has locations in Boston’s Back Bay and in Providence, Rhode Island, will also open at Assembly Row this summer, as will a new location of Boston’s ubiquitous Tatte Bakery & Cafe chain.

Other previously announced coming attractions that should open fairly soon include Somerville-based doughnut chain Union Square Donuts, Jamaica Plain-based juice bar Juicygreens, and the North End’s Parla, a cocktail bar and restaurant. A growing national chain of French pastry shops called Le Macaron is also on deck.

Later this month, Salt & Stone is set to open, replacing the Assembly Row location of Neapolitan-style pizza chain Midici, which closed this winter. The operators of this Midici location, Sean and Sue Olson, are turning the space into their own independent restaurant, serving a wide-ranging menu that will include seafood towers, charcuterie boards, pastas, flatbreads, grain bowls, and more, focusing on local sourcing.

Recent months have also seen a few openings at Assembly Row, including the Sav-Mor liquor store and the first expansion of New York’s popular Yakitori Totto, a full-service Japanese restaurant featuring grilled skewers of chicken, pork, beef, and more.

Overall, Assembly Row has about two dozen dining options, from a cocktail bar with fire pits and river views to a sizable location of local barbecue chain Smoke Shop. It’s the type of place where one can visit a giant Lego giraffe; buy some fancy kitchen gear, clothes, and sneakers; and snack on excellent sushi, giant slices of pizza, iconic cannoli from Boston’s North End, and hearty gyros.

Stay tuned for updated opening timelines on this latest batch of arrivals.