Monday, September 09, 2013

Storefront of Zoe's and Mixtura in Somerville Collapses

The front of a pair of restaurants in Somerville collapsed this morning, with large chunks of the facade crashing to the sidewalk below.

Universal Hub is reporting that Zoe's on Beacon Street sustained what appears to be major damage to its storefront, with a photo from @magsy8701 on Twitter showing the damage done to the Chinese restaurant, and another picture from @jessegubb showing officials at the scene soon after the collapse. [Update: A new article from Eater Boston mentions that the collapse also affected Mixtura, a Latin American eatery that resides next door to Zoe's.] According to a post from NECN, there are no reports of injuries.

At this point in time, it is not known what caused the collapse, what the extent of damage is to the dining spots, or when they could reopen. (Keep checking back for updates.)

[September 10 update: The Boston Globe mentions that it may be several months before Zoe's and Mixtura can reopen, and this appears to be contingent upon whether the building is so severely damaged that it has to be demolished, which is a possibility based on what a structural engineer might say.]

[December 12 update: Some possible good news for at least one of the restaurants affected by September's storefront collapse in Somerville--Eater Boston states (via a Facebook post from Zoe's) that "repairs are underway" to the building that has been home to the eatery and Mixtura, though the folks behind Zoe's are not sure when the place might be able to reopen. There is no word on whether Mixtura will return to the space.]

Zoe's is located at 296 Beacon Street, while Mixtura is located at 300 Beacon Street.