The First-Ever Milk Bar and &Pizza Combo Shop Is Officially Done

Dessert chain Milk Bar, run by lauded pastry chef Christina Tosi, is calling it quits on its lone Boston-area location nine months after its partner in the Harvard Square space, fast-casual pizza chain &Pizza, also shut down. A sign posted on Milk Bar’s front window says the last day of service is February 19, according to the industry blog Boston Restaurant Talk.

The bubblegum pink-hued bakery debuted its first Boston-area location under unusual circumstances in February 2019. D.C.-based pizza chain &Pizza was already jockeying for a prime space in Harvard Square, but it was hitting roadblocks with community members in part because it was a pizza chain trying to open in an area already full of pizza restaurants. &Pizza’s leadership sweetened the proposition by promising that the operation would be a collaboration with candy-coated industry darling Milk Bar, run by Tosi, who got her start in chef David Chang’s Momofuku universe. (Both brands share an investor in RSE Ventures.) The Harvard Square location, a nod to old-school fast food combo shops, marked both &Pizza and Milk Bar’s first restaurants in the city.

The collaboration appeared to be well-received at first, with Milk Bar churning out its signature confetti sprinkles-laced birthday cakes and &Pizza producing its oblong-shaped pies, but the idea did not survive the pandemic. Last May, &Pizza shuttered its side of the restaurant, leaving Milk Bar as the lone tenant in the space. Now, the bakery has announced that it is shutting down at the end of next week.

Eater has reached out to Milk Bar for more information on the closure and will update this post if we hear back.

Disclosure: David Chang is producing shows for Hulu in partnership with Vox Media Studios, part of Eater’s parent company, Vox Media. No Eater staff member is involved in the production of those shows, and this does not impact coverage on Eater.