Watertown's New Restaurants This Fall Came From Just Down the Road
November 5, 2026
November 5, 2026
The sign at 46 Arsenal Street has changed twice in about two decades. Wild Willy's Burgers came first. Then the same owners ran Belle's Burgers and Ice Cream, which served its last meal on Friday, Sept. 25, after 22 years in Watertown, according to Watertown News. The next sign will be Buff's, a name that anyone who has lived near Newton Corner since 1976 already knows.
That handoff matches the rest of this fall's restaurant news in town. Watertown lost three long-running kitchens in September. Each storefront has already gone to an operator with a following just over the line in Newton or Cambridge. So the town lost no restaurant spaces this fall. It swapped out who runs them, and the new owners arrived with their reputations already built.
The most useful way to keep track is by address. Here is where each space stands heading into the first week of November 2026.
| Address | What closed | What's replacing it | Where the new operator comes from | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 46 Arsenal St. | Belle's Burgers and Ice Cream, 22 years | Buff's Burgers & Wings | Buff's Pub, Newton Corner, since 1976 | Expected; awaiting license transfer as of Sept. 17 |
| 212 Waverley Ave. | Pizza Roma | Bougie Pizza Co. | A new owner with a sourdough menu | Open |
| 58 Mount Auburn St. | Home Taste, opened 2015 | Badam Uyghur Cuisine | Founder of Silk Road in Cambridge | Projected for November |
Two of the three buyers already run successful restaurants a few miles from where they're opening. The third, at Waverley Avenue, kept a pizza oven going in a spot that has been a pizza place for years.
Buff's isn't new to Watertown households so much as new to the Watertown side of the line. What Now Boston describes the Arsenal Street site as just outside Watertown Square, a short distance north of the original Washington Street pub near the Newton-Watertown line. Boston Restaurant Talk, which first reported the move, calls Watertown a second location. The Buff's Pub website still lists the original at 317 Washington St. in Newton, open daily from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
The new spot will have a different name and a lot more space. What Now Boston reports that it will open as Buff's Burgers & Wings, and city permits show 3,914 square feet with seating for up to 98 people and daily hours of 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. The original pub's website describes eight TVs, wings in a dozen sauces and a full bar, with "No reservations. No pretense. Just a booth, a beer, and the best wings in Boston." For Watertown, What Now Boston also cites an electrical contractor's social media post about plans for a "massive TV wall with some insane sound."
Wings get top billing, but What Now Boston lists burgers, chicken tenders, sandwiches, soups, salads, burritos and bowls, along with beer, wine, cocktails and ciders. Buff's was founded in Newton Corner in 1976 by Don Fabrizio. His son Wes now runs it as the second-generation owner.
When the opening will happen depends on paperwork, not construction. In mid-September, Wes Fabrizio told What Now Boston the restaurant was waiting for its beer and wine license to transfer and that he'd share an opening timeline once that was done.
"We are excited for the growth opportunity." Wes Fabrizio, speaking to What Now Boston
The transfer of the wine and malt license to Buff's B & W Inc., doing business as Buff's Burgers and Wings, was on the agenda for the Watertown Licensing Board's July 23 meeting. Permits projected that the conversion would be finished by Oct. 19. That was a construction estimate, not an opening date, and in the same Sept. 17 report What Now Boston said the opening still depended on the license transfer.
At the other end of the scale, Badam Uyghur Cuisine is taking over the former Home Taste at 58 Mount Auburn St. City permits describe about 850 square feet and up to 16 seats, according to What Now Boston. The dining room at 46 Arsenal will seat about six times as many people.
Owner Adila Sadir told What Now Boston she bought the business after seeing an online post from Home Taste's owners. She opened Silk Road in Cambridge in 2017. At the time, it was the only Uyghur restaurant in Massachusetts. Silk Road diners who have had the hand-pulled noodles, rice pilaf, lamb soup or homemade yogurt with walnuts, raisins and honey will recognize much of the plan for Watertown.
Sadir says the menu will start small. What Now Boston lists these dishes:
She's also considering chao mifen, a stir-fried dish that has become popular in her hometown. "We want to start with a smaller menu to ensure that we can provide an authentic experience and excellent service to our customers," she told What Now Boston. The restaurant's name comes from the Badam Doppa, a traditional embroidered cap with floral and geometric designs.
Proposed hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Sadir told What Now Boston she hopes to open in November 2026, and Boston.com's Oct. 2 openings roundup also lists November. Neither source gives a specific day. Home Taste fans who miss the Watertown kitchen can still go to its other location in Arlington Heights, which What Now Boston reports is open.
Bougie Pizza Co. is the one change you can try tonight, or at least on any night from Tuesday through Saturday. It replaced Pizza Roma at 212 Waverley Ave. Watertown News reports that Pizza Roma had gone through a couple of ownership changes before it closed. Boston Restaurant Talk first reported the closing and then posted a Sept. 22 update saying Bougie was open.
The Bougie Pizza Co. website lists these hours:
The noon opening on weekdays makes it a lunch option too. The menu is built on sourdough, with classic and signature pies such as the Hot & Bougie and the Tokyo Drift, plus sandwiches, salads, fries and a gluten-free dough option. Of the three swaps this fall, this one barely interrupted service. The space stayed a pizza place, and Bougie was open within weeks of the first closing report.
Put together, the three addresses show how Watertown's food scene turned over this fall. No block lost its restaurant. Arsenal Street will trade a 22-year burger-and-ice-cream spot for a bigger, sports-focused offshoot of a pub that's turning 50 just across the line. On Mount Auburn Street, the noodle-and-dumpling kitchen that opened in 2015 gives way to a 16-seat room from the owner of Cambridge's Silk Road. Waverley Avenue has already made its switch.
The two openings still pending sit on different clocks. Badam is aiming for a month, November. Buff's is waiting on a license transfer, with construction projected to have wrapped by mid-October. Anyone who drives Arsenal Street near the Square should know first when the big TV wall turns on.
Until then, November has a few dated plans that don't depend on either opening. On Saturday, Nov. 7, the Mosesian Center for the Arts holds a Medium Lantern Making Workshop, with Owl or Flying Fish designs, from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. On Thanksgiving, Thursday, Nov. 26, Donohue's Turkey Trot 5K and walk starts at Donohue's Bar & Grill, 87 Bigelow Ave., and registration is open now.
Zahra Zoglauer runs Home Search with ZZ from Watertown and watches these storefront changes as closely as the housing market, since a new dining room a few blocks away is part of what a home's location offers. If you want to know what the activity around Arsenal Street, Mount Auburn Street or Waverley Avenue means for a home you own nearby, ask for a free home valuation or schedule a consultation with Zahra.
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