Tamarind Bay Closes After Nine Years in Harvard Square

Harvard Square will lose one of its beloved bistros Saturday as Tamarind Bay shuts its doors after nine years of serving Indian delicacies.

According to owner Vik Kapoor, the decision to close the restaurant came after a new landlord acquired the restaurant’s building, and the rent increased twofold.

“For an independent, 50-seater restaurant such as ours, [paying the new rent] was not possible,” Kapoor wrote in an email.

The loss of the storefront, located at 75 Winthrop St., follows the closing of the restaurant’s Brookline location this past May. When the visa of the chef at the Brookline kitchen was denied, management decided to focus solely on Harvard Square.

Now, in the wake of both closures, Tamarind Bay, which was once one of three Indian restaurants in Harvard Square, faces an uncertain future.

Kapoor said that for now, his priority is to find jobs for the existing staff. No decision has been made about a potential new location for the restaurant, he said.

“Once they are all settled in, we will start looking at future plans,” he said.

Leaving behind Harvard Square, Kapoor said that he would greatly miss “not only the culture and the hustle and bustle, but also the fact that we were so loved.”

Katrina D. Malakhoff ’15, a patron, said she is disappointed to see Tamarind Bay go. She said she loved enjoying the restaurant’s high-quality Indian food with friends and cited the student discounts as one of many reasons why she frequented Tamarind Bay. The restaurant often partnered with the Undergraduate Council to offer discounts for students with a Harvard ID, including a 15-percent-off deal during the UC’s Junior Week last winter.

Malakhoff said that while she will try the several remaining Indian food options in Harvard Square, Tamarind Bay will be missed.

—Staff writer Nikki D. Erlick can be reached at nikkierlick@college.harvard.edu. Follow her on Twitter @nikkierlick.