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One of Greater Boston’s Best Thai Restaurants Is Moving

Plus two local taco chains are expanding, and more news

Overhead view of a white bowl full of a yellow curry with crispy noodles, preserved greens, a lime wedge, and red onion slices. It sits on a light wooden table with a spoon and chopsticks next to it.
Khao soi at Cha Yen Thai Cookery.
Cha Yen Thai Cookery

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Cha Yen Thai Cookery, one of Greater Boston’s best Thai restaurants and a particular favorite for its ice cream, is expanding across the street, according to an Instagram post. The updated address will be 620 Mt Auburn St, Watertown, the former home of Andrea’s House of Pizza, which closed August 19 after 40 years when the owners retired. Cha Yen owner Manita Bunnagitkarn, who also runs masterful Kala Thai Cookery in the heart of Boston, says in the video she’s hoping to finish renovations in about six months and add new menu items in the new space, as well as hang onto the old venue for another project.

Mission Hill’s Getting a Hip Taqueria Expansion

Yellow Door Taqueria, co-owned by Ken Casey of the band Dropkick Murphys, will open its third restaurant this fall at 1619 Tremont St. in Mission Hill. The new location will resemble the first two (which set up attractive shop in Dorchester and the South End) but with a nod to Mexico’s coastline, like seashell wall sconces and a bar top set to look like drying sand. While the core menu — powerhouse cocktails and tacos like jackfruit carnitas on house-made tortillas — won’t change, co-owner Colleen Hagerty says this taqueria “will definitely have menu items sold as specials that reflect the injection of coastal vibes.”

A taco on a light-blue plate.
A taco at Yellow Door Taqueria.
Yellow Door Taqueria

Speaking of Taco Chains on the Move...

Beloved Anna’s Taqueria is also expanding, opening its seventh Boston-area location at 360 Longwood Ave. in Longwood late this year. Anna’s opened its first shop, inspired by San Francisco’s Mission District Mexican fare, in Brookline in 1995, and the chain remains an affordable favorite for items like the customizable super burrito.

Assembly Row Will Get a Vegetarian Chain With a Grocery Store

And Clover Food Lab, a top choice for kosher and vegetarian food, is opening a new location this fall at 330 Foley St. in Somerville’s Assembly Row. This will be the fifteenth restaurant for the local chain, but the first with a grocery store, which will feature the company’s own meal boxes, dips, and more alongside Northeast specialty goods like Massachusetts produce, New York maple syrup, and copious amounts of coffee beans from roasters throughout New England.

The retail operation is a partnership with Bobby MacLean and Alexandra Whisnant, who are also behind exceptional chocolate and dessert shop Gâté Comme Des Filles and grocery shop Picnic & Pantry (both located at Bow Market) and cellphone-free wine and dessert bar Zuzu’s Petals, which opened in Cambridge last year.

Zuzu's Petals

204 Hampshire Street, , MA 02139 (617) 945-7749 Visit Website

Cha Yen Thai Cookery

613 Mount Auburn Street, , MA 02472 (617) 393-0031 Visit Website

Yellow Door Taqueria

354 Harrison Avenue, , MA 02118 (857) 239-9276 Visit Website

Anna's Taqueria

242 Cambridge Street, , MA 02114 (617) 227-8822 Visit Website

Kala Thai Cookery

151 Hanover Street, , MA 02109 (857) 350-4378 Visit Website

Clover Food Lab

1075 Cambridge Street, , MA 02139 (617) 798-7335 Visit Website

Bow Market

1 Bow Market Way, , MA 02143 Visit Website

Gate Comme Des Filles

1 Bow Market Way, , MA 02143 (617) 764-5872 Visit Website