Brookline Village Is Adding Hours, Not Addresses

At 10 a.m. on a Saturday, people start gathering outside Merai Bar at 14 Harvard Street. On paper, Merai is a cocktail bar that doesn't open until 5 p.m. Brookline.News described the scene: a crowd on the sidewalk waiting for Pack Katisomsakul, founder of Newbery Street Coffee Roasters, to open the door.

That morning crowd explains most of what changed at the bottom of Harvard Street this year. The stretch from Harvard Square to Sorriso Market has not gained a new building or a new tenant. Its existing rooms have taken on extra hours. A bar serves coffee and rice porridge before noon. A wine shop has come back to its old space with evening tastings. A gastropub's license is moving to a bar planned to stay open an hour later. Each one makes the block's day a little longer.

Morning at a Bar That Opens at Five

Merai describes itself as an "elevated dive bar with a Thai twist." The name means alcohol in Thai. Its regular hours run 5 p.m. to midnight Tuesday through Thursday and on Sundays, and 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. It is closed Mondays.

For more than a year, Newbery Street has been bringing Thai specialty coffee to pop-ups around Boston. Its own site now calls Merai its pop-up café in residence, with typical weekend hours of 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and a note that schedules can vary. The menu goes well beyond a coffee cart. Here is what the weekend lineup includes:

• Jok, a Thai-style rice porridge, served as Jok Moo with pork ball or as a vegetarian Jok Hed with grilled mushroom, with onsen egg or century egg as add-ons
• N-Pan salt bread baked fresh in Plain, Azuki Butter, Milk Cream, Bulgogi, and Ham, Cheese, Arugula & Honey Mustard
• Pour-over coffee, Cha-Yen Thai iced tea, the Es-Yen Thai-style latte, a black sesame oat latte, and the Flying Bee matcha latte with honey cold foam

Event listings show the pop-up running both days this coming weekend, Saturday, Oct. 31 and Sunday, Nov. 1, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. On those days the room at 14 Harvard Street serves breakfast until 1 p.m., stays dark for four hours, and reopens as a bar at 5.

The Block, Hour by Hour

Here is how the four addresses at this end of the Village line up right now. The fourth is around the corner on Washington Street.

Junbi is the only true newcomer on the list. It opened in July. Brookline.News suggested starting with a classic ceremonial matcha and then moving on to specials like sea salt caramel, blueberry lavender, and strawberry. That article placed Junbi on "Harvard Ave," but Junbi's own location page lists 190 Washington Street. That is the address to use. Between Junbi and the Merai pop-up, there are now two places to get matcha within a few minutes' walk of each other on a weekend morning.

A Shop That Came Back to Its Own Room

Sorriso Market's story starts with a departure. In 2023, owner Nick Lisotto closed Sorriso's Coolidge Corner arcade outlet and sold the Brookline Village store. According to Brookline.News, the sale wasn't about rent or slow sales. He wanted more time with his family. The firm that bought the shop went bankrupt in 2025. After months of legal proceedings, Lisotto had the chance to buy it back, and he took it.

He reopened in the same space at 27 Harvard Street but reworked the layout for gatherings. The plans include casual Tuesday night wine tastings, openings of one-of-a-kind bottles, balsamic tastings, and eventually pasta-making workshops. Lisotto also plans a bigger art gallery and a private membership with access to the deep cellar. He also told Brookline.News that the shop will keep a range of prices, so someone shopping for a $20 bottle has the same access as someone spending $200.

"It's exciting to go back to something you built and breathe new life into it," Lisotto told Brookline.News.

The soft opening was in late August. The shop was open Wednesday through Sunday in September, with the full slate of events and offerings set to relaunch in October. If the Tuesday tastings run as planned, they keep the shop busy into an evening it had no schedule for in September. Check Sorriso's website or ask in the shop for the current hours and event dates.

One More Hour at 6 Harvard Square

The other end of the day is changing at the corner. Garrison House opened in late 2021 at 6 Harvard Square as a two-story American gastropub, with a pub-style dining room upstairs and the Village Social Club lounge downstairs for live music and events. It opened as COVID-19 rules were winding down, and one of its original features was a takeout window on the side street. Brookline.News reported on Oct. 20 that it is closing and that a new concept called Clementine will replace it.

Clementine is from restaurateur Mathew Freid, who owned Idle Hour in downtown Quincy from 2017 to 2024 and earlier worked at the Beehive, Capo, and JM Curley in Boston. According to town licensing documents, Clementine is paying $315,000 for Garrison House's liquor license plus furniture and other assets. The plans call for 128 seats inside and 32 outside. Freid has also applied for an entertainment license covering live music, recorded music, TV and movie screenings, and floor shows. Boston Restaurant Talk also reported the plan for the address.

The detail that matters for this block is the clock. Clementine plans to stay open until 1 a.m. on weekends, an hour later than Garrison House. That matches Merai's Friday and Saturday closing time a few doors up. The town's licensing agenda for Wednesday, Oct. 21 listed the transfer from DC Associates LLC, doing business as Garrison House, to Mendy's Restaurant LLC, doing business as Clementine. Even after approval, the license has to be picked up in person before the restaurant can legally serve alcohol, and Freid hasn't announced an opening date.

Where the Morning Goes Next

The Merai mornings come with an exit plan. Newbery Street is moving into its first permanent café at 240 Harvard Street, the former Cremeux bakery space, farther up Harvard Street toward Coolidge Corner. Its Kickstarter closed successfully on Aug. 31 with $34,834 from 265 backers against a $25,000 goal. In late August, the Brookline Record reported an October target but no firm opening date. As of this weekend, the pop-up is still listed at Merai.

"We love Brookline because of the community," Katisomsakul told Brookline.News, looking at the crowd that had filled the bar. "I think people are very supportive here. They are giving you a chance."

Once the café opens, that Saturday line moves up the street. It would be heading for Coolidge Corner, where Thursday nights have already taken a new shape. No one has said what Merai will do with its weekend mornings after that. Until then, a Saturday at this end of the Village looks like this: jok and salt bread at 14 Harvard Street from 10 a.m., matcha at Junbi on Washington Street, Sorriso at 27 Harvard Street during its open days, and Merai's bar from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m.

If you own near Brookline Village and wonder how the new hours at the bottom of Harvard Street could affect your home's value, The McLaren Team follows this block one storefront at a time. We'll go over what's changing near your address and what it could mean when you decide to sell. Start Your Move when you're ready to talk.