What's Open in Newton Centre This Fall 2026? A Status Check

"A matter of days. A few weeks, hopefully."

That's how the attorney representing Lockheart's ownership group described the restaurant's opening timeline to Fig City News in mid-August, roughly two months after Newton's Board of License Commissioners had already voted 3-0 to approve its liquor, common victualler, and entertainment licenses. The vote happened June 16. The quote came in August. As of last week, when Boston.com ran its September restaurant roundup, Lockheart was still being written about as a place that is opening, not one that has.

Newton lifestyle roundups between June and August covered three restaurant plans in different villages. As of September, one had opened and two had not, with the opening process unfolding differently for each.

The Three Names Everyone Wrote Down

Quick version, since you've probably seen some of this already: Lockheart, the Wellesley taco and cocktail spot that opened on Central Street in 2022, is expanding into the 19th-century train station at 70 Union Street, the small stone building beside the Newton Centre Green Line stop that had sat dark since Deluxe Town Diner closed there roughly four years ago. Roger Zeghibe, who also runs Porttown Public House, Beantown Pub, and The Hub Pub in downtown Boston, is bringing an all-day comfort food concept called CircleBack Kitchen & Bar to the former Hopsters space at 292 Centre Street in Newton Corner. And Formosa Bun & Dumpling Factory, a Taiwanese street food counter from longtime New York restaurateur Kristina Pan, took over the old Jake's Falafel Corner storefront at 740A Beacon Street.

Here's each restaurant's status as of September 2026.

One for three. That's not a criticism of anyone involved. It's a reason to treat "coming soon" as a starting gun, not a finish line, the next time you read about a Newton opening.

Why Two Restaurants Have Not Opened

The Lockheart holdup is a licensing problem, not a construction problem. The building itself has moved fast by any standard: a demolition permit in early 2024, a roughly $1.2 million buildout, a fire protection acceptance test completed in June. Newton's own Board of License Commissioners signed off the same month. What the board can't do is issue the state license. That step belongs to the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, and its timeline runs independent of anything the city decides. Eight weeks after local approval, the state's roster of active Newton licenses still showed nothing issued to Union Depot LLC, the entity doing business as Lockheart. That's the gap the attorney was describing when she said "a matter of days."

CircleBack's stall is a different kind of problem. Its all-alcohol license has been sitting ready since November 2025, so licensing isn't the bottleneck. The restaurant simply hasn't opened its doors, and as of the most recent local reporting it's still in the hiring phase. The two restaurants have different reasons for missing their target dates, although both were described as "coming soon" in roundups since spring.

The practical lesson for anyone building a fall routine around either name: an issued license or a completed buildout tells you a restaurant is close. It doesn't tell you it's open. If you're planning an evening around a spot you read about back in June, it's worth a quick look at whether the lights are actually on before you drive over.

Formosa Bun's Opening

According to a Fig City News report, Formosa Bun's path looked almost identical to the other two for most of last year: it announced a target opening in June 2025, missed it, began a takeout-only soft launch that December while permits cleared, and held its grand opening on March 28. The report also includes this account from a retiring city councilor:

"I began helping Kristina early on because she found the City's permitting process cumbersome and time consuming. As a City Councilor, and a big fan of Taiwanese cuisine, I made calls to help speed the process along."

That's Rick Lipof, quoted in a Fig City News report, describing calls he made to help speed the permitting process along for owner Kristina Pan. The opening account also notes Economic Development Director Lauren Berman. The ribbon cutting itself drew Mayor Marc Laredo and Charles C.H. Liao, Director General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office of Boston, who spoke about the pan-fried bao and dumplings on the menu. Pan spent three decades running sushi chains and her own restaurants in New York before deciding to bring her family's bao recipe to Newton. The shop is small, mostly takeout, with a short menu built around xiaochi, or street-food-style small eats: fried bao cooked on a cast iron pan, steamed buns, grilled sausage.

The three projects followed different paths; their different opening timelines do not by themselves show differences in effort or ambition.

Planning a Fall Evening

Right now, if you're building a walk around the Beacon Street stretch near the T stop, Formosa Bun is a real stop, not a rumor. Expect a small footprint, a handful of tables, and a menu built for takeout more than a sit-down meal. If you're picturing dinner at the old train station on Union Street or a night out at 292 Centre, hold that plan loosely. The building on Union Street is renovated and licensed by the city, but until a state license shows up on the books, it isn't serving anyone. The Hopsters space in Newton Corner is further behind, still in the staffing stage as of the last public update.

None of this means either project has stalled for good. Both look close by any normal measure. It just means the calendar most residents built in their heads back in June was optimistic, and a fall evening planned around either address is still a bet, not a booking.

The Fall Dates That Aren't Waiting on Anyone's Permit

Unlike a restaurant buildout, the city's own fall calendar doesn't depend on a state agency's timing. These are locked in:

• Newton Harvest Fair, Sunday, October 18, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. A full carnival with kiddie rides and games, two live music stages, food trucks, and pumpkin decorating. The fair typically draws more than 3,000 people from surrounding communities, making it one of the larger single-day gatherings on the city's calendar.
• Newton's Halloween Party, Saturday, October 24, in Newton Highlands. Activities run 2 to 5:30 p.m., including a corn maze and inflatables at Hyde Field, a wood carving demonstration by Tim Randall, and Halloween family photos from Newton's own Famili Photography of Auburndale. Trick-or-treating happens on Lincoln Street. Ghost stories with Big Joe the Storyteller follow at the Linda Plaut Arts & Culture Center at the Brigham House, and the day closes with a free outdoor movie at the Hyde Bandstand at 6:30 p.m.
• New Art Center fall registration is open now. The center's summer exhibition at the New Art Corridor on Walnut Street closed September 18, and fall drawing, painting, and ceramics classes for adults are filling up.

None of these need a liquor license or a staffing plan to happen on schedule. They're the parts of a Newton fall that show up every year regardless of what's happening a block away on Centre Street or Union Street.

What This Year's Openings Show

This year's restaurant scorecard shows that an announcement and an opening are different events, sometimes separated by the better part of a year. Checking the state license roster alongside the announcement date can clarify a project's status. Rick Lipof said he made calls to help speed Formosa Bun's permitting process. The other two remain unopened for different reasons: Lockheart is awaiting a state license, while CircleBack is still in the hiring phase.

Barrie Naji tracks these shifts across Canton and the surrounding villages because the texture of a place, which storefronts are actually open, which dates on the calendar are dependable, is part of what makes a neighborhood feel like home rather than an address. If you're thinking about what life actually looks like in Newton or one of the towns nearby, Global Lux Collective is a good place to start that conversation. Schedule a private consultation whenever you're ready.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.