A North Shore restaurateur is cooking up something new in downtown Natick.
Sa Nguyen, owner of the Soall Viet Kitchen concepts in Marblehead and Beverly, is partnering with local developer Stuart Rothman to open an authentic Vietnamese restaurant called Nhậu. The new concept will be located at The Block, Rothman’s mixed-use community situated across from Natick Common at One South Main Street.
In Vietnamese, nhậu means “social drinking,” and the restaurant aims to celebrate the joyful, communal aspect of Vietnamese food culture, according to the Natick Report. Nguyen, who fled Vietnam by boat at age nine, says the concept will allow her to “reverse engineer” the flavors of her childhood.
The intimate space will seat roughly 50 guests and feature a full bar. Diners can expect authentic, shareable dishes like fried fish, cháo gà (chicken and rice porridge), and beef carpaccio.
Nhậu is slated to open by the spring of 2026, alongside two other eateries at The Block: San Sushi Bar and a yet-to-be-named takeout concept focusing on Asian street eats.
“Natick is evolving as a culinary destination,” reads a Facebook post from The Block. “Nhậu + San Sushi Bar represent fresh, sophisticated additions that promise to enrich our local dining scene—and our sense of community.”
