Peach Farm, the low-key basement seafood spot on Tyler Street that has kept Chinatown’s late-night crowd fed for decades, is about to go dark, at least for a spell. The current owners announced this week that they are stepping away and that the restaurant will likely close sometime this month, as a new ownership group lines up to take over. In the meantime, regulars have been filling the dining room to squeeze in one last meal before the changeover.
Owners step aside after 31 years
“All good things have come to an end, and this will most likely be the last month of us running Peach Farm Restaurant,” the owners wrote on the restaurant’s Facebook page. Co-owner Tom Leung also told Boston.com that he is retiring and that new owners plan to keep the concept going, even though the Facebook post itself did not mention his retirement.
Licensing board signs off on the handoff
At its March 5 meeting, the Boston Licensing Board approved the transfer of Peach Farm’s common victualler license, granting Peach Farm Boston, LLC the right to operate in the same underground space and naming Washan Ching as manager. The board’s minutes update the description of the premises to include both 4 and 6 Tyler Street and confirm a 2:00 a.m. closing time in the transfer paperwork. As noted in the City of Boston licensing minutes, the transfer was formally granted.
Who is taking over, and when?
According to Boston.com, Ching is one of four shareholders behind the new ownership group that sought the license transfer, and that team previously ran East Ocean Seafood in Quincy. The restaurant’s official website currently lists closing hours around 12:30 a.m., although the new license would allow the future operators to stay open later. For now, there is no public timeline for when the dining room might reopen under the new crew or whether the menu will look different once they do.
A Chinatown staple under strain
Peach Farm has served as a neighborhood anchor since the Leung family took over the business in 1995, earning a loyal following for Cantonese seafood and a reputation for drawing late-night crowds. The Boston Globe has chronicled how the spot turned into a favorite hangout for local chefs and how the pandemic chipped away at that late-night business, including the furlough of a longtime server known to regulars as Debbie. That backstory helps explain the strong emotions now surfacing among both diners and staff.
Neighborhood reaction
Reactions have been rolling in across social media and neighborhood forums, as customers share memories and scramble to lock in farewell dinners. A local Reddit thread pulled together patron stories and reposted the owners’ announcement, capturing a mix of nostalgia and nervous questions about what the change means for Chinatown’s legacy restaurants. For the moment, the transition is playing out one takeout bag and one last reserved table at a time on Tyler Street.
