Arlington Openings Fall 2026: Colette, Wine Shops, Brewery

Arlington did not allow alcohol sales until 1978. That was 45 years after Prohibition ended, and for the 50 years since, the town has added liquor licenses only "incrementally," as economic development coordinator Katie Luczai put it to YourArlington. That caution still decides when new places open along Mass. Ave.

This fall Arlington is adding a French bakery, two wine shops, a brewery taproom and a garden near Spy Pond. They were all announced within a few weeks of each other, and they will open months or even years apart. What separates them is how much permission each one needed.

The bakery that only needed a lease

Colette Bakery opened on Friday, October 16, at 681 Massachusetts Ave. in Arlington Center, in the storefront that used to be Symmes Mini-Mart. It has about 20 seats and serves baguettes, naturally leavened breads, croissants, kouign-amann, quiches and Parisian sandwiches. Hours are 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends. It's closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

It's the family's fourth Boston-area café. Nathalie and Franck Beddiar moved from Toulouse in 2017 and opened their first bakery at 509 Main St. in Medford in 2020. Melrose followed in 2022, and then 517 Columbus Ave. in the South End. Their son Valentin is the pastry chef, and their daughter Clémentine helps run the business.

Even the simplest opening on this list ran late. The owners told Patch in August that they expected to open in September, and the doors opened in mid-October. A one-month delay is about as fast as anything opens in Arlington this year. Everything else on this list waited on the town.

The wine shops that needed a ballot question

On October 5, the Select Board voted unanimously to award two new package-store licenses. One went to Arlington Center Fine Wines at 5 Medford St., a short walk from Colette. The other went to Ruby Wine and Spirits at 1340–1342 Mass. Ave. in the Heights.

Getting those two licenses took most of two years. Before this spring, Arlington allowed six package-store licenses. State law would have allowed up to 20, and the town has always kept its own cap lower. To add two more, the town had to go through the state:

2025: Town Meeting voted 112–92 to request a home-rule petition.
December 8: Bill 4815 was filed in the Legislature.
February 17: State Rep. Sean Garballey pushed it through the Legislature.
February 19: Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll signed it.
February 20: The Select Board put the question on the ballot, on the last legal day to do so.
March 28: Voters approved it, 9,497 to 3,833, with 71.25 percent voting yes.
September 28: The Select Board heard three applicants. One withdrew before the vote.
October 5: Both licenses were awarded.

For Pietro Giglio and Chris Lianos, the owners of Arlington Center Fine Wines, the wait started even earlier. They applied for an Arlington license in April 2024 and were turned down because none was available. When the vote finally came, Giglio summed it up for YourArlington:

"Now it's the real work."

Town officials gave practical reasons for the change. Luczai told YourArlington that at least one prospective business, which would have sold other goods alongside alcohol, left town because no license was available, and its intended storefront "remains vacant to date." She also said that when a town hits its cap, licenses start trading privately at inflated prices. The same article noted that in Boston's private market, a single liquor license can cost up to $600,000. Some Town Meeting members and an existing shop owner worried that new stores would split a fixed amount of business. Voters approved the change anyway, by a wide margin.

The brewery that needed two permits and a phased plan

Arlington Brewing Company broke ground on October 21 at 15 Ryder St. It's building a production brewery, taproom, full-service kitchen and outdoor beer garden, and it expects to open next spring. The site is in the town's Industrial District, just off Mass. Ave. near the town recycling yard. YourArlington also puts it near the Minuteman Bikeway and Ed Burns Arena.

Patch called the groundbreaking the start of a project "nearly two years in the making." The company was founded in 2021 and started selling beer in 2023. Until now it has grown through pop-ups, temporary beer gardens and contract brewing. The Town of Arlington says the Redevelopment Board approved the original special permit to turn a vacant building into a brewery and restaurant with a taproom. The board later approved an amendment letting construction happen in two phases. According to YourArlington, the amendment pushed a 1,000-square-foot addition and a mezzanine into phase two. Back in 2025, the Select Board had turned down a plan for beer gardens on the Ryder Street site that had no bathrooms or indoor space.

The brewery's own Visit page still says it hasn't broken ground and expects to open in 2026. The page hasn't caught up. Spring 2027 is the current target.

Until then, the brewery keeps popping up around town. Its calendar this fall included Saturdays at the Jason Russell House in September, Oktoberfest at Schwamb Mill on October 3, and two Brats & Beer Nights at The Roasted Granola, 1346 Mass. Ave., at the end of October. The Roasted Granola is next door to Ruby Wine and Spirits' future address. That puts a run of new drinks business in the Heights, around Ryder Street and the 1340s of Mass. Ave. The brewery's events page lists upcoming dates.

The garden that has only goats so far

The last item on this list needs no license. It does need money and plants. For four weeks this fall, Halé Sofia Schatz of Goodwin Hill Goat Farm in Lexington brought her Nigerian dwarf goats to graze a half-acre town lot at 21 Pond Lane, near Spy Pond. The lot is under the Select Board's control and has been neglected for years. People cut through it, and invasive plants have taken over.

The town set a $15,000 budget from Community Preservation Act funds to study the lot and hired Ben Barkan of Home Harvest to write the feasibility report. Residents told him they wanted an "ecologically beneficial oasis," a garden like a secret garden with a path around it, and many opposed any concrete or major built features. Barkan told YourArlington the goats are only a start:

"Ultimately they need to really make a large investment to clear out the invasive plants and then plant literally thousands of new plants to create the kind of dream that I came up with with the community."

Schatz also called the goats "just phase one."

Where each one stands

Place	Address	What it waited on	Status in early November 2026
Colette Bakery	681 Mass. Ave.	A storefront fit-out	Open since Oct. 16, Wed–Sun
Arlington Center Fine Wines	5 Medford St.	A state bill, a town ballot vote, a Select Board award	License awarded Oct. 5
Ruby Wine and Spirits	1340–1342 Mass. Ave.	Same as above	License awarded Oct. 5
Arlington Brewing Company	15 Ryder St.	A special permit, then a phasing amendment	Under construction, spring 2027 target
Pond Lane garden	21 Pond Lane	Funding and a final design	Goats finished phase one

Colette opened a month later than planned. Arlington Center Fine Wines' owners first applied for a license in April 2024 and won one in October 2026. Arlington Brewing's permanent home has been nearly two years in the making and still has a spring of construction ahead.

Two dates on the November calendar

Arlington Diwali Mela runs Friday, November 6, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Arlington High School, 869 Massachusetts Ave. The town calendar listing shows it sold out. Arlington Open Studios is Saturday, November 7, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Arlington Town Hall and the Arlington Community Center, according to Arts Arlington. Town Hall is a short walk from Colette on Mass. Ave.

I follow openings on Mass. Ave. as closely as I follow sales. If you'd like to know what the new wine shops, the Ryder Street taproom or the Pond Lane garden could mean for your corner of Arlington, David Gordon is happy to talk it through. Let's Connect.