A structure fire in the La Veracruzana building in downtown Amherst. Smoke coming out of top few floors and a big fire department presence on scene including crews from Amherst, Belchertown, Hadley so far. Prays it’s contained quickly.

New restaurant coming to downtown Amherst! Zhu’s Kitchen Bistro & Ramen to open in the spot previously occupied by Oriental Flavor which was shutdown by the town for repeated health code violations. No opening date yet but they are hiring so it will be soon.

People asking me about White Lion in Amherst & if they are still open. Some folks told me they have not been open in a while. I can't confirm yet but it does appear they have closed. They were not open last night in what is often a big night for businesses with UMass grad.

Downtown updates as we head into June: *Uptown Tap Uptown Tap and Grille is closed until Aug *Masudas Cafe on Kellogg St opening soon *Bruno's Pizza, closed for good & being converted to apartments *White Lion Brewery, not open in months, appears they closed. (Amherst location only)

Amherst restaurant week - June 8-12. A community-wide dining celebration happening in the heart of Downtown Amherst starting tomorrow. Over 15 restaurants participating! More information amherstdowntown.com/restaurantweek

Masuda’s Cafe's grand opening is June 20th. Located downtown Amherst at 17 Kellogg Ave, behind Panda East. A new breakfast and lunch spot for a sit down meal or a grab and go. Best of luck to this new great addition to downtown Amherst facebook.com/profile.php?id…

The end of McMurphy's Uptown Tavern? It appears so! The building they occupy & share with the now closed Amherst Typewriter Shop is inline for demolition to make way for a new 2 story mixed use building. Over 4 years ago this was proposed, looks like it will now move fdw.

As reported by AmherstIndy & anyone who has driven on the Amherst roads this is not a surprise. Amherst ranks last in Mass in public works spending per capita. The town only spent 500k in 2024 on road repairs which was equal to 1 mile. Read more here: amherstindy.org/2025/07/04/amh…

La Veracruzana on the move! Uptown Tap (104 N Pleasant St) has permanently closed & La Veracruzana will be moving into that spot later this summer. Renovations have been on-going. The current La Veracruzana location (63 S Pleasant St) will remain open as a sweets & dessert bar.

Coming to downtown Amherst ‘The Closet’ a store specializing in vintage, new, & new-to-you clothing. Currently located in the Mill District they will be moving to 61 Main St later this summer in the spot most recently occupied by Himalayan Cafe. thecloset.clothing

New restaurant "Asian Taste" to open in the former location of Arigato (11 N Pleasant St) which closed in the spring. No date when they will open but expected later this fall.

A follow-up from our post in June about McMurphy's Uptown Tavern. They will be vacating their current location at the end of the year & will be moving across the street to the location previously occupied by White Lion Brewery. McMurphy's current location will be demolished.

A new sports bar opening soon in downtown Amherst, “The Rec Room” to occupy the building where The Spoke Live was. Same owners just a rebranding & new concept. A sports bar was badly needed downtown, this will fill that void. Play pool, darts, keno, & TVs to watch all the games

Lili's Restaurant in downtown Amherst, 197 N. Pleasant St. already one of the highest rated Yelp restaurants in New England was just named by Yelp one of the top 100 Chinese Restaurants in the country. And it is well deserved, great food. Dine-in or takeout.

Amherst Block Party kicks off in an hour 🎉🥳

La Veracruzana Amherst has officially moved a block more into town to 104 N. Pleasant Street into the spot previously occupied by Uptown Tap & Grill next to CVS. Bigger spot, great outdoor seating space.