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Union Square’s hidden maker market has added new storefronts just off Somerville Avenue — and there’s even more food to enjoy.
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Bow Market has expanded directly onto Somerville Avenue, and a passageway between the new storefronts leads to Bow’s backyard (the Remnant Brewing beer garden). / Photo by Carlie Febo
Five years ago, Bow Market effectively doubled the number of stores in Somerville’s Union Square when small businesses like Remnant Brewing, empanadas-and-more shop Buenas and an all-vegetarian version of downtown restaurant Saus opened in the courtyard. central local maker marketplace. Since then, the neighborhood has changed dramatically. The long-promised Green Line Extension has finally opened (then closed and reopened, but who’s counting), and the nature of the surrounding business district has changed. The Bow Market itself has also evolved. Last week saw the unveiling of the most dramatic change yet: storefronts on Somerville Avenue.
The major expansion will create more space for five businesses already in the marketplace, including two restaurants scheduled to open in large, new storefronts in December. (And new companies are joining the market and taking over the vacated space.) “It’s something we’re really proud to be able to offer people,” says Bow Market co-founder Zach Baum, who purchased the additional commercial space with him Bow Market business partner Matthew Boyes-Watson renovated it. The duo always envisioned the development as the next step for the kind of mom-and-pop shops you see at farmers’ and artists’ markets. “It’s really exciting to see people building their businesses and growing,” says Baum.
Hot Box, purveyor of South Shore-style bar pizza and North Shore-style roast beef sandwiches, is a quirky Bow Market grocer taking over one of the new spaces along with its breakfast sandwich sister, Mike & Patty’s. Meanwhile, Carolicious Gourmet co-owners Carolina Garcia and Carolina Salinas have found the first home for their Venezuelan cuisine in Bow Market as a long-term pop-up restaurant and will return this winter with their first full restaurant. Both of Bow Market’s new restaurants will continue to focus on takeout, but customers will be able to enter the storefronts from Bow’s backyard, which also houses Remnant Brewing’s beer garden.
Bar-style pizza from Hot Box. / Photo courtesy of Bow Market
Also moving: Tiny Turns Paperie, a stationery and boutique gift shop that grew out of a smaller shop on Bow’s second floor, and Blue Bandana Relics, a Bow Market fixture ever since, selling select vintage goods and provisions. These two companies have taken over the prominent stores on Somerville Avenue. This new section of Bow Market is connected to the rest via a neon-lit passageway. Additionally, Soft Space Wellness, a massage, strength and recovery studio previously located on Bow’s second floor, is now located in a larger ground floor space accessible from Bow’s backyard.
Since it opened, Bow Market has had 56 permanent stores come and go, Baum says, and more than 80 pop-ups have been held. Relative newcomers include Korean-American bakery Nine Winters; Southern Pines Diner Car, a lavish sandwich concept from chef Matthew Bullock; and Eaves, a Vietnamese restaurant and bar from James Beard Award semifinalist Vincenzo Le and Duong Huynh of Cambridge coffee shop Cicada. Additionally, stints at Bow Market have helped launch 40 other brick-and-mortar businesses in Boston and beyond, including female-owned establishments in Cambridge like Davis Square sandwich shop Shirley, screen-free cafe, and dessert and wine bar Zuzu’s Petals. award-winning wine bar Dear Annie and socially conscious gift shop Abroad Modern. “We started Bow Market to give people the opportunity to start small,” with lower barriers to entry, Baum says.
For Hot Box owner Ania Zaroda and her business partner Mike Gurevich, who bought Bay Village breakfast nook Mike & Patty’s from its founder a decade ago, opening in Bow Market was a way to test new concepts. “We just had a feeling it would be a good place,” says Zaroda, and they were right. “It’s nice to see the growth of other brands that were also there,” she adds. “We’re friends. It’s a really nice community.”
A few years later at Hot Box, Zaroda and Gurevich brought their daytime concept Mike & Patty’s to their Bow Market space, serving the latter’s menu for breakfast and lunch and the former’s for dinner. The market has managed to encourage more foot traffic throughout the day, Zaroda says, and business with third-party delivery apps is doing well, especially as the neighborhood has grown, she adds.
But the dual concepts overwhelmed the capacity of the super small kitchen with a walk-in window. Hot Box and Mike & Patty’s upcoming combo location gives them about 50% more square footage and a more efficient kitchen setup because they were able to design the structure from the ground up, Zaroda explains. There’s also room for a deep fryer, so hash browns and fries will be on the menu when Hot Box and Mike & Patty’s move later this year.
Arepas by Carolicious. / Photo courtesy of Bow Market
Carolicious Gourmet is the first full-service restaurant from Garcia and Salinas specializing in arepas filled with cheese, beef, black beans, plantains, avocado and chicken. The Venezuelan duo launched their brand at the culinary incubator Commonwealth Kitchen in Boston. At Bow Market, Carolicious was among the rotating vendors who opened the Nibble Kitchen space, an initiative by the city of Somerville to support immigrant entrepreneurs. In 2019, they moved full-time to a residency at Aeronaut Brewing Company, just a few blocks from Somerville Avenue. “Today, Carolina and Carolina stand on the precipice of a new chapter and are ready to take Carolicious to new heights,” reads a crowdfunding campaign they launched this month. Carolicious is looking to raise $20,000 through Patroncity to purchase new equipment.
The expansion of Bow Market also creates space for new businesses in the main part of the marketplace. Coming soon are Lexie Butterfly Vintage, a seller specializing in psychedelic, colorful pieces from the ’60s and ’70s; Homebody General, a home improvement store; and the Barber’s Den, a two-seat salon. Homme Repair, a repair shop, will also open this year.
Additionally, Fauve Chocolate is scheduled to open in the coming weeks, where Gâté Comme Des Filles, another chocolatier, recently left its location. (Gâté founder Alexandra Whisnant is now focusing on her Cambridge store, Zuzu’s Petals, where she will continue to offer her decadent chocolates ahead of various holidays. Another favorite from her closed Bow Market store, the ultra-thick hot chocolate, is available at ( Zuzu’s Petals during daytime café hours.) Fauve chocolatier Erica Russom previously managed several Bow Market stores and will fill her new store with rotating handcrafted chocolates, baked goods and retail items.
Baum says the Bow Market team hasn’t found a new tenant for the Hot Box space yet, but points to “some very exciting candidates.” Considering Bow Market’s track record over the last five years, you’re definitely in for something new – and probably delicious.
The new wing of Bow Market opens onto Remnant’s beer garden
Brew. / Photo by Carlie Febo
1 Bow Market Way, Union Square, Somerville, bowmarketsomerville.com.
