A new restaurant is bringing the flavors and traditions of Uyghur cuisine to Watertown this fall, taking over the former home of a longtime local favorite.
Badam Uyghur Cuisine is set to replace Home Taste at 58 Mount Auburn Street, according to recently filed city permits. Owner Adila Sadir told What Now Boston that she purchased the business after seeing an online post from Home Taste’s owners.
Although Home Taste announced in early September that it was temporarily closed and expected to return in about a month, the restaurant’s Google Business listing now shows the Watertown location as permanently closed.
For Sadir, the new restaurant is an opportunity to introduce more diners to the cuisine and culture of her Uyghur heritage. The Uyghurs are a predominantly Muslim ethnic group native to the Xinjiang region in northwestern China, with cultural and historical ties to the Turkic peoples of Central Asia.
“Uyghur restaurant is the best way to introduce ourselves and Uyghur’s culture to locals,” said Sadir. “We are not only selling food here. We want more people to know about us. I came to Boston when I was a high school student, and at that time, not many people knew about us or had even heard about Uyghur.”
The new restaurant isn’t Sadir’s first foray into Uyghur cuisine. According to a previous report from WGBH, Sadir first came to Boston from Xinjiang as a teenager to attend college. She ended up settling in the city and in 2017, she opened Silk Road in Cambridge, which became the only Uyghur restaurant in Massachusetts at the time.
Silk Road is known for its signature Uyghur specialties such as hand-pulled noodles, rice pilaf, lamb soup, and homemade yogurt topped with walnuts, raisins, and honey.
The Watertown restaurant’s name, Badam, comes from the traditional Badam Doppa, a type of Uyghur headwear embroidered with intricate floral and geometric designs. The name pays homage to Sadir’s Uyghur heritage and the traditions that will inspire the restaurant.
The menu will focus on authentic Uyghur dishes, with a relatively small selection to start. Diners can expect samsa, pilaf, kebabs, lamb soup, big plate chicken, and laghman, a staple Uyghur dish made with hand-pulled noodles prepared in-house. Sadir is also considering adding chao mifen, a stir-fried dish that has become popular in her hometown.
“We want to start with a smaller menu to ensure that we can provide an authentic experience and excellent service to our customers,” she explained.
Badam Uyghur Cuisine will occupy approximately 850 square feet and is expected to seat up to 16 guests, with proposed daily hours spanning from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sadir is hoping to welcome diners in November 2026.
Home Taste originally opened in 2015, serving options like hand-pulled noodles, stir-fried vegetables, handmade dumplings, Chinese “burgers,” and Szechuan dishes. Although it’s unclear if the Watertown location will reopen elsewhere, another Home Taste remains open in Arlington Heights.
