"We hope you will stop by before the end of October to say goodbye," Mandarin Cuisine wrote in its farewell post. "We will miss you!" The restaurant at 238 Highland Ave. opened in 1989 and closes for good on Oct. 31, after 37 years.
The same post said one more thing: new owners are taking over. That puts Mandarin in a group with two other Needham names that have changed hands since midsummer. French Press Bakery and Cafe on Chapel Street is moving from its founder to its executive pastry chef. Masala Art's lease on Great Plain Avenue is going to a bank. Each of these handoffs passes along something different, and the one that keeps the least, a single corner downtown, is also changing how long a business there is expected to stay.
Highland Avenue keeps the room and the license
The paperwork for Mandarin's transfer started weeks before the farewell post. The Needham Select Board's Sept. 8 agenda listed a public hearing on moving the all-alcohol license from Low & Zhang Corporation, which does business as Mandarin Cuisine, to Buda X Inc. The agenda names Jing Chen as Buda X's director and Yu Chen as the proposed manager of record.
If the board approves the application, the address, the dining room and the license to pour all go to the new operator. What hasn't been made public is what Buda X will serve, what it will call the place, or when it will open. The agenda doesn't say, and no local report so far has described the plan.
That leaves the menu as the part of the handoff with no confirmed future. For 37 years the menu was Chinese-American standards like General Tso's Chicken, Peking Duck and Egg Foo Young, plus cocktails, low-calorie options and lunch specials. Hoodline reported that outstanding Mandarin gift certificates have to be redeemed by Oct. 31. Anyone holding one has about four weeks left as of today.
Chapel Street keeps the kitchen
The French Press handoff runs the other way. In a social media post this August, founder Jay Spencer said he was stepping down after 11 years running the cafe at 74 Chapel St. Arthur Davtian, the executive pastry chef and assistant general manager, is taking over. The French Press website says Davtian joined the business 11 years ago. French Press opened in June 2015, so the new owner has been in the kitchen almost from the start.
"Arthur has been an integral part of the French Press family almost since the beginning," Spencer wrote, citing Davtian's "talent, dedication, leadership, and commitment to our guests and our community." Spencer said he will keep advising the business on a flexible schedule, and that stepping back gives him more time with his children.
Here the address, the staff and the person responsible for the pastry case all stay put. Only the name at the top changes. Spencer has done this block before. He ran Petit Robert Bistro across the street for seven years until it closed in December 2017, and by then French Press was already open at 74 Chapel. When the cafe marked ten years last year, customers filled the entryway with thank-you messages. This time the business is going to the person who baked behind those messages.
Great Plain Avenue keeps only the address
The third handoff passes along the least, and it changes the most about how downtown works.
Masala Art brought Indian food to Needham in 2003, taking over the former Hit or Miss store at 990 Great Plain Ave. According to the Needham Observer, Newton-based Village Bank is taking over the expiring lease. The bank told the paper it will give Masala Art's owners whatever time they need to wind down the restaurant. Owner Vinod Kapoor declined to comment at the time. No final service date has been announced, and the restaurant's website still offers reservations and online ordering.
None of the restaurant carries over. The bank plans to start building out the space in early 2027. It will be a Village Bank branch with an independent retail shop inside, and the shop will rotate. Retailers will use 850 of the site's more than 4,000 square feet, with a new brand every four to six months. Allison Yee of the retail consultancy UpNext, who is working with the bank, calls putting an independent shop inside a bank branch a "first of its kind" concept.
Here is how long each business in this story has held its spot, set against the retail plan for the Masala Art space:
- Mandarin Cuisine, 238 Highland Ave.: 37 years, since 1989
- Masala Art, 990 Great Plain Ave.: 23 years, since 2003
- French Press Bakery and Cafe, 74 Chapel St.: 11 years, since June 2015
- Village Shop pop-ups, planned for 990 Great Plain Ave.: four to six months per brand
One storefront that held a single restaurant for 23 years could host two or three retail brands a year once the shop opens. The bank branch would be the long-term tenant, and the shop space is meant to keep changing.
The Wellesley branch shows how it works
The model isn't theoretical. Village Bank opened its first Wellesley branch on Sept. 16 at 579 Washington St. That's the former home of E.A. Davis, which was there for 120 years. The Swellesley Report says the 4,300-square-foot space includes a 24-hour ATM. The bank displays the old E.A. Davis sign and a cash register in the storefront, and historical photos hang on the walls.
The first pop-up there is Piper&Cloth, Yvonne Piper's children's clothing brand, which will stay through the holiday season. Piper has sold online since 2022, and this is her first physical shop. UpNext matches small businesses to the space for four to six months, rent-free. The same arrangement is planned for Village Shops inside future branches in Needham and Newtonville. More than 45 businesses have applied so far, and Yee said the pitches have ranged from nonprofits to apothecary products to home goods to candy.
Yee told the Swellesley Report that the format is designed to lower the cost of getting started. "There's a lot that goes into launching a retail shop, and if you have to make long-term commitments and major dollar investments up front before you really get proof of concept, it's not the best way to go about it," she said. "That's where pop-ups come in."
Masala Art moved into a former retail store in 2003 and stayed for 23 years. Under the new format, a business can test Needham Center for one season before signing anything longer. The Wellesley branch holds a ribbon cutting and open house on Oct. 7 from 9 to 11 a.m., so the setup will be on display there before anything is built on Great Plain Avenue.
What is still open on Great Plain this month
A few blocks of downtown are still waiting on answers this fall, and new independent businesses are still preparing to open here. Nicole Connolly's bookstore and cafe, Chapters on Chestnut, is planned for 7 Chestnut St. She expanded into the adjoining 1,000-square-foot former Wesleaf space at 1020 Great Plain Ave. and has been working through cafe equipment and permits. Its public timeline still says fall 2026, with no confirmed opening date.
Where each handoff stands as of Oct. 5:
- Mandarin Cuisine closes Oct. 31. Buda X Inc. has applied to take over the liquor license as the incoming operator, and its concept, name and opening date have not been announced.
- French Press is transitioning from Jay Spencer to Arthur Davtian. No date for the handover was reported, and Spencer stays on as an advisor.
- Masala Art is winding down, with no announced last day. Village Bank's build-out is targeted for early 2027.
- Chapters on Chestnut is aiming for fall 2026 and has not confirmed an opening.
Mandarin Cuisine still has its tables, its lunch specials and its Peking Duck until the end of the month. Its farewell post invited customers to come by for one last visit before Oct. 31.
When a Needham business changes hands, what carries over shapes the street around it for years. If you own a commercial or mixed-use property in Needham Center and are weighing what comes next, The Agency Boston's development-minded team can help you think through renovation, reuse and positioning. Request a Complimentary Consultation.
