West Newton's 1937 Cinema Is Setting the Schedule for Washington Street
"We were looking around for a space, and found Flora's Wine Bar up for sale, and we thought this neighborhood was missing a coffee shop." That's Tai Huynh, who owns Moments Cafe with his wife, Phuong Nguyen, speaking to the Newton Beacon in September. The cafe sits at 1284 Washington St. The West Newton Cinema is at 1296.
Look at what changed on this stretch in 2026 and one pattern stands out. The new businesses and the new infrastructure have gathered around the theater's schedule. Moments fills the morning, when the cinema is mostly dark. A private garage opened its evening hours to the public after the cinema pressed the city for parking. And the cinema finished its biggest repair in years. Taken together, West Newton Square spent the year adapting to its oldest tenant.
Moments Cafe soft-opened in late July and held its grand opening on August 7. Huynh told the Beacon that turning a wine bar into a coffee shop didn't take major renovations, just new paint and furniture. The space went from evening drinks to morning coffee without much change to the room.
The menu leans toward drinks you won't find in many places nearby. There are several matcha lattes, a hojicha latte that's milder on caffeine, an Einspänner, a cortado and a tiramisu latte. The food runs from bagels and muffins to croffles, which is croissant dough pressed in a waffle iron and served sweet or savory. Huynh's own order is a regular hot latte.
The hours matter most for the rest of this story. Moments is open every day from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The room has several small tables, one large table and a window bar. Huynh said people come in to work, hold meetings and meet friends. Mayor Marc Laredo and a city councilor came to the grand opening, and Huynh said the other business owners on the block have been supportive. Asked in September how things were going, he said, "So far, so good."
The evening side of the block got its own fix this summer. In late July, the private garage at 24 Chestnut St., across from the Police Annex, opened to the public as a pilot. According to Fig City News, the terms were:
The weekday hours make sense once you know the building. The garage serves an office building of nearly 90,000 square feet, home to Commodore Builders and several hundred workers. Those spaces free up at 5:30 p.m., which is about when the dinner-and-a-movie crowd starts looking for parking.
Lauren Berman, Newton's director of economic development, said the city started looking for more parking after hearing from business owners. The cinema was among those that pressed the issue hardest. "There's a need for parking in West Newton," Berman said. The city then connected with the building's owners. Joe Albanese, CEO of Commodore Builders and one of the owners of 1230 West Newton LLC, said opening the garage took new access, tracking and security systems, insurance changes, and an investment he expected to reach several hundred thousand dollars. "We're not looking to make any big profit here," he said. The owners also set the rate below what LAZ's parking study recommended. Berman said that, as far as she knew, no other private garage in Newton is opening to the public this way.
As of early October, it's not clear whether those spaces are still open. The pilot was scheduled to run about two months and end around late September, and we haven't found any public update since then on whether it was extended. Berman said the decision isn't the city's. "That's really up to 1230," she said, since the owners made the investment and hold the LAZ contract. Check the signs at the Chestnut Street entrance before you plan an evening around it.
A single movie theater shapes city parking talks because of what nearly happened to it. In 2022 the cinema was sold to a developer and slated for demolition. The West Newton Cinema Foundation, a nonprofit, bought it in August 2024 for $5.6 million, backed by an anonymous benefactor, major donors and more than 1,200 supporters. The theater is now community-owned, and the foundation's June 2026 campaign update lays out a long rebuild:
The full renovation is projected at $19 million, with another $4 million planned for an endowment. We haven't found a public update on the summer 2026 items. The projection and sound upgrades and the roof are the only Phase A work the foundation reports as finished. The theater has stayed open throughout, and its site lists October showtimes, including accessible screenings. The planned lobby bar and Theater 2 stage would give people more reasons to arrive early and stay late, which is the same evening traffic the garage pilot was meant to handle.
Further along Washington Street, two storefronts got new tenants this spring. Crunch & Boba opened in early May at 1385 Washington St., in the former Shogun space. It serves milk teas with steamed buns, rice bowls, dumplings and crispy wings.
Next door at 1391, Mexicana Grill & Cantina was open by early April. Owners Antonio de Trizio and Nicolas Ruiz also run Latina Kitchen & Bar in Needham. They previously ran Ninebark Kitchen + Drinks at the same address and closed it in early 2026, a little over a year after Ninebark replaced Burke's Alewerks. That's three concepts at one address in roughly two years. The cinema end of the block, by comparison, has added a daytime business and is planning upgrades into 2030.
Here's how the block lines up through mid-October:
More foot traffic is coming from the east end of the square. As of the city's April 8, 2026 project list, Newton Crossing at 1149–1185 Washington St. was under construction with 292 homes, about 8,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and underground parking. The West Newton Armory at 1135–1137 Washington St. was also under construction, being redeveloped with apartments and community and office space. Albanese told Fig City News that development in the area was part of what he weighed before buying the Chestnut Street building.
Washington Street itself won't be torn up again soon. The city lists the Washington Street Pilot, which runs from Chestnut Street to Lowell Avenue in Newtonville, as complete, including its separated two-way path and accessible bus stops. The commuter rail work is happening one stop east. The MBTA plans to start construction at Newtonville in November 2026, with completion projected for June 2029 and no shuttle planned. Upgrades at West Newton station are still waiting on additional funding.
If you own near West Newton Square and want to know how a new cafe, a garage pilot and a cinema rebuilt into 2030 might affect your home's value, Valerie Wastcoat tracks this block closely and is happy to walk you through it. Request a complimentary home valuation.
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