Gato Exotico coming to CambridgeSide
The CambridgeSide mall remade its food court last fall into a food hall called CanalSide, only to see Gato Exotico, its next stand-alone restaurant, announced as a reimagining of “the energy” of 1990s mall dining. Gato Exotico is expected in late 2025.
“I grew up going to CambridgeSide and have strong memories of spending time there as a teenager after school,” said chef and owner Jason Doo (a Cambridge Rindge and Latin School grad). “That is the spirit we wanted to capture.”
Doo, operator of the kitschy Wusong Road Tiki Bar, a Chinese American concept in Harvard Square, turns his attention to street-food-inspired Mexican food and shareable plates of regional specialities: mole negro from Oaxaca, cochinita pibil slow roasted in banana leaves from the Yucatán and ceviche like you’ll find on Tulum’s beaches. Drinks focus on mezcal and tequila cocktails, mixed with flavors of fresh tropical fruits and juices.
Inside the mall, the CanalSide Food + Drink space continues with 13 eateries including the C-Side Bar. Gato Exotico fills the space once used by World of Beer, a chain that arrived in 2016 and flailed coming out of the Covid pandemic, closing in Cambridge in 2022 and filing for bankruptcy protection in 2024.
Summer Shack lobster day
Summer Shack celebrates National Lobster Day on Thursday with buy-one, get-one 1-pound lobsters ($42 with corn on the cob), a deal for dine-in only. Reservations can be made on the Summer Shack website.
Shirley’s selling out at Tilde
The Shirley Eat More Sunshine eatery in Somerville’s Davis Square returns with pop-up dinners to the Tilde coffee shop in North Cambridge on Friday, with reservations at 7 p.m. (an earlier seating sold sold out) and Oct. 3, with reservations at 5:30 p.m. (a later seating sold out). The meals emphasize autumn flavors: a New England fall salad, focaccia and Boursin dip, lemongrass meatballs and apple cider doughnut cake. $64.
Brazilian, Oktoberfest, Middle Eastern
The Cambridge Center for Adult Education’s September schedule includes Friday’s take on Romance in Rio de Janeiro ($115) at 6 p.m., exploring Brazilian flavors in dishes such as moquece baina, hearts of pal and brigadeiro truffles; a chance to Celebrate Oktoberfest comes at 2 p.m. Sunday with German beers, the history of the holiday and traditional Bavarian music ($95). A Middle Eastern Brunch Fest at 11 a.m. Oct. 4 combines vegan-friendly samples of Middle Eastern foods such as pita, za’atar and cardamom tea with a lesson on how to make hummus ($105). Information, registration and more food and wine events for the center at 42 Brattle St., Harvard Square, are online.
Wild Mushroom Dinner sells fast
Wow. Urban Hearth chef Erin Miller and Tyler Akabane, who runs The Mushroom Shop in Somerville (and the Mushrooms for My Friends social media account), has two Wild Mushroom Dinner seatings planned for Oct. 21-22, at the height of New England’s mushroom foraging season and found by Miller and Akabane. (“There’s no greater pleasure than crafting a meal from wild mushrooms gathered straight from the woods,” Urban Hearth blogger Abigail Taylor says.) In classic Cambridge-Somerville fashion, the meals sold out before it was even mid-September – but the restaurant says there are still seats available if guests reach out to it directly, as it offers a few seating times.
Friendly Toast special menu
The Friendly Toast partners with singer-songwriter Noah Kahan for a fall specials menu across its 14 locations in New England, including in Harvard Square. The four main dishes, two sides and a cocktail flight are inspired by Kahan’s songs and lyrics, including the “Stick Season”ed Stack (pumpkin batter pancakes with a cinnamon swirl, maple cinnamon butter and powdered sugar served with Vermont maple syrup), “Northern Attitude” Breakfast (the stack, pumpkin spice bacon, root vegetable hash and an egg choice) and Don’t “Dial Drunk” flight with a mimosa, sangria, Pumpkin Pie Martini and Chai Hot Toddy. The menu is available until Nov. 30 with proceeds benefiting Kahan’s initiative for mental health awareness, The Busyhead Project.
This post was updated Sept. 15, 2025, to note that here are still seats available at Urban Hearth’s Wild Mushroom Dinner seatings.
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