A specialty coffee and butter mochi café has closed its doors in preparation for its next chapter.
Pixlcat Coffee & Butter Mochi is relocating from its original Massachusetts storefront at 32 Cambridge Street in Charlestown to a new home at 5 Washington Street in Natick, the team recently announced on Instagram. The new café is expected to open in mid-to-late fall 2026, with a dedicated kitchen and production line that will allow the team to significantly expand its butter mochi production.
The Charlestown shop closed its doors on June 19, but Pixlcat hasn’t exactly disappeared from the local food scene. While the new café is under construction, the team is continuing to sell butter mochi through its online store, as well as popping up at farmers’ markets throughout the Boston area, including at SoWa, Copley Square, Davis Square, Central Square, Natick, Framingham, Revere Beach, and Assembly Row.
Founded by brothers David, Dennis, and Daniel Lee, along with longtime friend Jeff Kim, Pixlcat got its start in San Francisco before making its Massachusetts debut in Charlestown last fall. The Lees’ hospitality roots, however, stretch back to Boston, where they grew up working at Dah-Mee, their mother’s longstanding Pan-Asian restaurant. The Lees later went on to operate popular Korean restaurants in San Francisco before turning their attention to coffee and butter mochi.
The Charlestown storefront allowed the team to quickly establish Pixlcat in Boston while building its presence at local farmers’ markets. “Our Charlestown location was a great turnkey opportunity that allowed us to get up and running quickly, serve customers in Boston, and build the brand alongside our farmers market presence,” Dennis told What Now Boston. “Since it was a shared space, the goal was always for it to be a stepping stone toward eventually opening a place of our own.”
That place will be just down the street from where Dennis grew up and where his mother has operated Dah-Mee at 25 Washington Street for more than 25 years. The two family-run businesses will soon be neighbors—and they’ve already found a way to collaborate. Dah-Mee is currently serving Pixlcat butter mochi à la mode for dessert.
And there will be plenty more butter mochi at the upcoming café. The chewy, gluten-free treat is at the heart of Pixlcat’s menu. It’s made with mochiko, or sweet rice flour, as well as real butter and premium coconut milk, resulting in crisp, brownie-like edges and a soft, chewy center. Current flavors include the classic, matcha, black sesame, and s’mores.
In addition to butter mochi, the new Natick café will offer a variety of sweet and savory options. Dennis said the menu will include butter mochi layer cakes, a full selection of pastries from Iggy’s Bread in Cambridge, gourmet sandwiches, musubi, and other “fun” offerings.
As for beverages, Pixlcat will continue its focus on specialty coffee and matcha, with coffee roasts from both George Howell Coffee and San Francisco-based Four Barrel Coffee. The café is known for its creative espresso drinks and signature Dopo Panna Latte, an iced espresso drink inspired by Vienna’s classic Einspänner available in flavors like honeycomb, ube, vanilla, mint chip, and strawberry.
More than anything, Dennis and the team want the new Pixlcat to feel like a place where people can relax and settle in for a while. “We want it to be a warm, vibey space where you can come for great food and really good coffee,” he said.
