Coming to Harvard Square: Belgian Waffles, Korean BBQ, and More

Tired of the same old dining hall food and late-night snack options? Hungry students and visitors are in luck: Harvard Square will soon be home to eight new restaurants. We talked to Denise A. Jillson, executive director of the Harvard Square Business Association, and found out that over the course of the school year, all of these eateries plan to open in the Square:

Al’s Harvard Square Café: Boston sandwich shop Al’s State Street Café is opening a new outpost in the Holyoke Center. Occupying a space across from Oggi’s that has been vacated by a Harvard office, Al’s will open this fall. “They have a big lunchtime sandwich crowd,” Jillson said of Al’s Boston location. “They’re very well-known for being incredibly efficient…it looks like they have 100 people. Really, it’s 6 to 12 people behind the counter working very fast.”

Bull: If you’re hankering for Korean barbecue ever since HUDS started serving it (and stopped, and started again), you can satisfy that craving at Bull once it opens in October on JFK Street.

Clover Food Lab: This popular MIT food truck will open a permanent store this spring at 7 Holyoke St. that will serve vegetarian fast food.

Enzo: After Finagle A Bagel closes at the end of August, this pizza stand will start moving in to its space on Mass. Ave. According to Jillson, pizza will cost $3 per slice when this no-frills eatery opens in late October.

The First Printer: The owner of Herrell’s, the ice cream shop which closed its Harvard Square branch last fall, hopes to open this new restaurant this fall.

Maharaja: This Indian restaurant will replace Bombay Club, which has relocated to Boston. The new owners, Jillson said, “are doing an awful lot of work on the space. It will probably be a really beautiful restaurant.” Jillson said she expects that Maharaja will open in the spring.

Pinkberry: This popular frozen yogurt chain will move in to the long-vacated Alpha Omega building, near the Harvard Square T station, in the early spring.

Zinneken’s: “They have a wonderful waffle machine,” Jillson said of this shop, opening this fall. “They make your waffles hot and fresh while you’re standing there, and there’s just an amazing variety” of toppings.