Fans of the popular cafe and teahouse Ceremony are in luck: a second location is set to open within months on South Main Street.
Ceremony will join the School of Public Health and Hemenway’s Restaurant at 121 South Main St., in the former lot of Cafe La France. “The new location will be more focused on food,” including “onigiri, yubuchobap, fruit sandos and comfort foods like egg sandos,” Ceremony’s owner and founder Michelle Cheng wrote in an email to The Herald.
According to Cheng, her team is aiming to open the new location before March. While the closure of the Washington Bridge has impacted businesses across the city, Ceremony’s current location has not experienced any negative impacts, she said.
The tea shop first opened on Thayer Street Dec. 2019 and moved to Euclid Avenue two years later in order to refocus on tea ceremonies, the original purpose of the shop.
“Ceremony’s brand message has always been to build a bridge between cultures,” Cheng wrote. “It has been an honor serving this community and watching people find comfort in the products we offer, either because it reminds them of home or (discover) something new.”
When Cheng’s team came across the new location on South Main Street, “everything fell into place organically, just like how it happened with our current location,” Cheng wrote. “I knew that it was meant to be before we signed the lease.”
Through their offerings, Ceremony hopes “to expand our community’s palate and acceptance to things that are unique to other cultures,” Cheng wrote. With the shop’s success, she also hopes to inspire chefs and entrepreneurs with dreams of opening their own shops in the future.
“Ceremony brings people from different backgrounds together organically through their love for food,” wrote Cheng. “We want to share this special space we have created with more people.”
Samantha Levin ’26 had not previously heard about the new location but is excited for the opening and hopes a second shop will help with the long lines.
“I really like Ceremony because it has fun and unique drinks and great vibes,” she wrote in a message to The Herald.
Trinity Williams ’26 is also looking forward to the new location. “I honestly would take the trek to go to Ceremony and try the drinks anywhere else,” she said.
“The people here are so great and it’s just a nice place to stop by on campus after a super long day,” Williams said. She praised the quality and consistency of the drinks along with the tea shop’s seating, which provides a more accommodating space for students to study.
Williams also gave a special shoutout to the matcha with lavender syrup and coconut milk. “It’s amazing,” she said.
Additional reporting by Avani Ghosh
Rhea Rasquinha is a Metro editor covering development and infrastructure. She also serves as the co-chief of illustrations. She previously covered College Hill, Fox Point and the Jewelry District. Rhea is a senior from New York studying Biomedical Engineering.
