Cambridge in 2025 welcomed a plethora of new Asian businesses, reflecting the broader cultural influence of China, Japan, South Korea and other Asian countries. Some of the new businesses include toy Mecca and cafe More Fun, five-story stationery store Muji, Chinese variety store MINISO, Korean-style photo booth Memory Shop, and the return of Anime Zaka. Japanese-style grocer Hashi Market announced plans to open a store in Central Square in 2026.
In addition, Central Square gained the cocktail-dim-sum bar Darling, Harvard Square added mochi ice cream shop Kyoyo Haus and Kendall Square “tea-speakeasy” Broken Cup Teahouse.
“There’s definitely an appetite for Asian culture,” said Denise Jillson, executive director of the Harvard Square Business Association. She said there is “no doubt” consumers are driving this trend across storefronts. “Certainly, Asian culture has been trending and probably will continue to trend for a while,” Jillson said.
There have long been Asian-themed restaurants throughout Cambridge – Jillson noted the Hong Kong in Harvard Square started scorching tongues with its Scorpion Bowls in 1954. But Sumiao Chen, owner and founder of Sumiao Hunan Kitchen, recalls fewer Asian businesses when she first immigrated in 1992. Her restaurant recently raised the profile of Cambridge by receiving a Michelin Bib Gourmand rating this year.
A new generation
Chen envisioned introducing authentic Hunan culture to the area and did so in 2017, decking her eatery with Hunan-based artwork created by her father and traditional Hunan colors. Chen has also noticed newer generations taking the reins of Asian businesses. “I enjoy seeing more Asian-owned businesses open in the neighborhood,” she said, noting a new generation “refreshing the Asian-owned business in the same area,” and employing more modern management and marketing techniques.
While a number of the businesses in Cambridge or coming to it have outposts in Boston already, such as More Fun, MINISO, and Hashi Market, Broken Cup Teahouse can be found nestled between glass-walled conference rooms in the Cambridge Innovation Center. Its unique location is partly due to high commercial rents and the upfront build-out costs required for a teahouse, said owner Yin Guan. “Finding a space in [Greater] Boston was a 3-year long, extremely challenging process for us,” Guan said via an email.
The “speakeasy teahouse” is a first of its kind in the city, serving gongfu style oolong tea roasted in-house. Guan, the first in her family to own a business, noted the whole process has been new, and she hopes to take advantage of city resources.
Support from the city
Dado Tea owner Jennie Song, who has owned a brick-and-mortar store in Cambridge since 2002, noted that for non-native English speakers, navigating the system can still be “daunting,” and business owners may lack the time to jump through the “hoops and regulations.”
Chen praised Cambridge’s support of small businesses, such as guidance around health codes and the liquor license trainings. “Especially new immigrants, they don’t necessarily know how alcohol is a highly regulated, controlled substance,” Chen says.
Remedial efforts by the city of Cambridge to increase diversity of city contracts include outreach and educational efforts to small business owners. While these are open to all business owners, according to the Community Development Department, 83% of grant-receiving businesses identified as minority-owned this year. The city also co-hosts an annual Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) networking event with the Asian Business Empowerment Council.
These establishments not only anchor Asian residents to home but also serve to expand other residents’ cultural palettes. Chen observed that over the years, 85% of her guests were non-Asian. “The restaurant is a social destination, a cultural destination. It is a spot people can learn more about our cultural background.”
Young Bae Kim, who has lived in Cambridge since 2003, said he’s pleased to see new Asian stores, “but particularly for Korean ingredients, they’re at Star Market, Trader Joe’s and CostCo. That’s a big change” since he first got here. He added that “these days, for Korean stuff, a lot of Americans buy them more than me.”
Drawing from Greater Boston
The new businesses have also made Cambridge a draw across greater Boston.
“When we need our Korean food, we know where to go,” said Jeong-Soo Lee, a nurse who lives in Framingham. She remembers when the first H-Mart in Massachusetts opened over fifteen years ago. “It changed our life.” Even now, “When I miss Korea, I go to H-Mart and get something that I had when I was a young girl.”
Lee came to the area in 1998, and attributes the boom in Asian businesses to cultural phenomena such as K-pop, Mandopop, Mukbangs, and anime. “Back then, Korea was not well known in the Boston area. People thought we were Chinese.”
Danica Kwan lives in Waltham and says she is excited for Hashi Market to come. “I’m looking for ingredients for Japanese foods. I’m Chinese, but I like Japanese snacks,” she said. And she’s pleased with the influx of Asian-themed stores. “It’s a good trend. It feels more inclusive, gives us more options. There are things I can’t find in U.S. stores. It would be good to have more selection.”
Guan said Cambridge residents have become “more open to the authentic experiences we’ve always wanted to offer,” experiences she would have to “dilute” in the past to “appeal to a more ‘mainstream’ audience.” Her teahouse, for instance, is steeped in tea’s Buddhist influences. The sound of ambient gongs and strings ripple through the space upon entering, a century-old wooden cabinet in the corner next to a replica of a 16th-century Leng Mei print.
This wave of Asian businesses is yet to crest. In addition to Hashi Market, coming soon are teahouse Chicha San Chen, Lebanese restaurant About Thyme, and a three-story 253-seat Korean barbeque spot, slated to fill Dickson Brothers’ former building.
Michael F. Fitzgerald contributed to this story.
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Really happy to see new places coming up and thriving, and we wish them all the best.
Have to admit that it makes me itch every time I hear someone yammering about H-Mart as the flag bearer of Korean culture without acknowledging Reliable Market in Union Square.
Reliable has been the source of the best homemade kimchi in the greater Boston area for my whole entire life. H-Mart can’t touch the luscious flavors in the many dishes that the aunties at Reliable have been making for um, at least 40 years. Also, Reliable has had to re-invent itself repeatedly in the face of the H-Mart onslaught, kind of like Walmart knocks out local groceries. Except Reliable is still standing!
H-Mart never gave me a sweet persimmon, just saying.
So if you’re going to promote local Asian markets, please acknowledge the foundations. Report the news like you live here, please.
Interesting article. However – please add the addresses of the businesses you report on. It would be appreciated. Thanks!
Does anyone know what’s delaying the opening on the 212 Restaurant on Western Ave? It was announced for last fall but appears to still not be operational. Living a few blocks from there I was happy to see it moving in after that space being empty for many years… but so far no additional signage or info. Did they run into licensing problems?