Five Watertown restaurant addresses changed hands or changed plans between mid-August and the end of September 2026. Each one already had a past life as a restaurant. Of the operators moving in, all but one already run a kitchen within a few miles of where they are landing. A family is moving its Turkish grill down the block. A Newton Corner pub founded in 1976 is opening a second location. The founder of the Boston area's first Uyghur restaurant is coming over from Cambridge. The fall's restaurant news is mostly familiar names getting more room, block by block.
Main Street: Halva moves into a much bigger room
The largest move happened in Watertown Square. Halva Mediterranean Grill opened at 55 Main St., the former Not Your Average Joe's, on the Wednesday before Watertown News reported it on August 21, 2026. The family had served guests for nearly three years at 39 Mt. Auburn St., the old New Yorker Diner space.
Co-owner Joseph Dagdelen told Watertown News the new space is about four times as large as the Mt. Auburn Street room. The Boston Globe's September 1 profile put it at three times. Either way, it is a much bigger restaurant. According to the Globe, Ozen Dagdelen and her husband Joseph run the restaurant with Joseph's brothers Sam and Ali. Their father, also named Ali, is stepping back into an advisory role.
The extra space changes the menu as well as the seating. The new kitchen has a large wood-fired oven, and Dagdelen said it would let Halva expand the menu while keeping the dishes regulars know. The Globe's review shows what that looks like in practice:
- A mixed family kebab platter
- Lahmacun
- Cheese or beef pide
- Pistachio halva cake with goat's-milk ice cream
Several of those dishes come from the oven. The Mt. Auburn Street menu was built around cold and grilled dishes. A 2024 Watertown News feature named ezme as a signature dish: a hand-chopped vegetable dip finished with pomegranate sauce and olive oil. It also noted that the falafel, hummus and sauces were made from scratch. This spring, What Now Boston listed the 3 Mezze Sampler, the Chicken Shish Wrap, the Homestyle Walnut Baklava and the Adana kebab as favorites from the old location.
The room has been redone with white walls and dark seating. A back patio is part of the plan, but the family said it would not open right away. The Halva website lists daily hours of 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. at the Watertown location.
Mt. Auburn Street: two storefronts, two next chapters
Halva's move has not emptied its old space. The Dagdelens are keeping 39 Mt. Auburn St. and plan to turn it into a breakfast restaurant serving American food with some Mediterranean touches. No name or opening date had been reported as of late September, so for now this is a plan.
A short walk away, 58 Mt. Auburn St. is also changing. A sign at Home Taste said the Chinese restaurant would close for about a month and come back with a "change in direction." What Now Boston reported on September 18, 2026 that the space will become Badam Uyghur Cuisine. The owner is Adila Sadir, who created Silk Road in Cambridge, the Boston area's first Uyghur restaurant.
Sadir told What Now she hopes to open in November 2026. She plans a small starter menu:
- Samsa
- Pilaf
- Kebabs
- Lamb soup
- Big-plate chicken
- Hand-pulled laghman made in house
She is also considering adding chao mifen. The proposed hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. The dining room will seat up to 16 people, which makes Badam one of the smaller rooms on this list.
That puts the Turkish kebabs at 55 Main St. a short walk from planned Uyghur kebabs and pilaf at 58 Mt. Auburn St. Both kitchens will be run by operators who have already cooked these dishes for local diners for years.
Arsenal Street: a 22-year run ends, and a 1976 pub crosses the river
The longest history on this list ends at 46 Arsenal St. Belle's Burgers and Ice Cream served its last day on Friday, September 25. Before Belle's, the same owners ran Wild Willy's Burgers in that spot. In a farewell letter on Facebook, they thanked customers for "22 great years in Watertown" and wrote that "this was not an easy decision."
The next tenant has its own long local history. Buff's Pub was founded in 1976 in Newton Corner and is known for its wings. It is coming to the Arsenal Street space. What Now Boston reports the Watertown location will be called Buff's Burgers & Wings. The Buff's Pub website still lists the original restaurant at 317 Washington St. in Newton Corner as open daily from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., so Watertown appears to be a second location. No owner statement about Newton's long-term plans was found.
The opening date is still open. As of What Now's September 17, 2026 report, Buff's was waiting on the transfer of a beer-and-wine license and had not announced an opening date. Permits list October 19 as the projected date for finishing the conversion work, which is not the same as an opening date. The menu includes:
- Wings in a dozen sauces
- Burgers and tenders
- Sandwiches, soups and salads
- Burritos and bowls
At the Newton restaurant, Buff's describes a full bar with sports on eight TVs.
Waverley Avenue: sourdough takes over a pizza counter
The only newcomer on this list is still a pizzeria taking over a pizzeria. Boston Restaurant Talk reported on September 2, 2026 that Pizza Roma at 212 Waverley Ave. had closed. The shop was known for thin-crust and Sicilian pizza. A sign out front announced Bougie Pizza Co. as the next tenant. Watertown News noted that Pizza Roma had gone through a couple of ownership changes after its long-time owner retired.
By September 22, Bougie Pizza Co. was open. It serves sourdough pizza, sandwiches and salads. Its hours are short. It opens Tuesday through Saturday from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., so it is a dinner stop and is closed Sundays and Mondays. The Bougie Pizza Co. website carries the current menu.
Where each address stands at the end of September
| Address | Previous tenant | What's there now or next | Status as of Sept. 30, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 55 Main St. | Not Your Average Joe's | Halva Mediterranean Grill | Open since mid-August |
| 39 Mt. Auburn St. | Halva, earlier the New Yorker Diner | Breakfast concept from the Dagdelen family | Planned, no date reported |
| 58 Mt. Auburn St. | Home Taste | Badam Uyghur Cuisine | Owner hoping for November |
| 46 Arsenal St. | Belle's, earlier Wild Willy's | Buff's Burgers & Wings | License transfer pending, no opening date |
| 212 Waverley Ave. | Pizza Roma | Bougie Pizza Co. | Open by Sept. 22 |
Every row in the table is an existing restaurant space getting a new tenant. The town gained no new restaurant square footage this fall. What changed is who is cooking in it and how much room the most established of them now have.
Coolidge Square: where the street is changing
East Watertown's news this year is the road. Watertown News reported on June 1, 2026 that Coolidge Square will be a construction zone for the next few years during the Mt. Auburn Street Project. To keep the business district visible during that work, the city commissioned two public art pieces under a project called "Open for Business."
"Transitional," by MASARY Studios, hangs on the side wall of Coolidge Hardware on Kimball Road at the corner of Mt. Auburn Street. It is made from sheets of aluminum and the white and yellow reflective tags used on roads, and it changes as you look at it from different angles. MASARY Studios also produced the Solstice light show at Mount Auburn Cemetery. Down the street, "Dazzling the Pines" by Elaine Buckholtz hangs in a group of trees beside the basketball court at Sullivan Playground. Silver balls hang from and between the branches, and lights shine on them after dark. Both pieces will stay up for the two years the street is under construction.
Taken together, Halva's move to Main Street, the breakfast plan for its old room and Buff's arrival on Arsenal Street are a reminder that a storefront's history affects what comes next, and buildings work the same way. I have spent decades restoring older properties around Newton and Watertown, and I pay attention when a familiar space starts a new chapter. If you own a home in Watertown and want to talk through what it is worth or how it would show, Arman Chitchian is glad to talk it over. Let's Connect.
