Before the end of the year, Lexington Liquors will be transformed into Commune, an all-day health and wellness cafe offering global cuisine.
Husband and wife, Sam and Kinnari Patel, who own the liquor store in the Center, are turning it into a lifestyle cafe that will serve food and drinks for all meals of the day. Their new business venture is called Commune All Day Cafe.
“The community’s so welcoming,” Sam told the Observer. “Even though we didn’t get the start we needed [with Lexington Liquors], this concept, it’s huge. Nobody under 21 will step into a liquor store, whereas everyone will walk into this concept and they’ll have food.”
For breakfast, customers can look forward to George Howell coffee, breakfast sandwiches, smoothies, and boba teas, among other items. For a savory afternoon or evening pick-me-up, customers can choose from tacos, sandwiches, acai bowls, affogato, or gelato. The Patels are applying to get a liquor license in Lexington so they can serve beer and wine, too.
Sam noted the eatery won’t sell any fried food and won’t cook with any seed oils. It will also offer Promix protein products that customers can add to smoothies for an extra boost.
Commune will be open from early in the morning until 10 p.m. with plenty of seating for families to stop in for a meal or a Minuteman Bikeway cyclist to stop in for a quick smoothie.
The interior design of the new restaurant will be light and bright yet cozy, Kinnari, who hand-picked all of the materials, explained.
“We are thrilled to welcome Commune to the heart of Lexington Center,” Sandhya Iyer, Lexington’s economic development and tourism director, told the Observer. “Small businesses like Commune play an important role in creating welcoming community spaces, supporting local economic vitality, and strengthening Lexington as a destination for tourism, recreation, and connection.”
This isn’t the Patel’s first restaurant venture. They have owned and operated Turnpike Market in Billerica for 12 years.
Both immigrants from India, Sam and Kinnari have lived in Massachusetts for about 20 years. When Sam got to the States, he worked at Subway making sandwiches and eventually pivoted to working in software sales. The couple wanted to leave their jobs and get an investment property after both working corporate jobs for years. They came across Turnpike Market, a deli and convenience store that’s been a Billerica staple for over 100 years. It was the first place in Billerica to obtain a liquor license in 1961.
Sam wanted to expand the kitchen side of the business and turn it into a restaurant. He convinced the owner to not only sell to him, but to also help him make the old Turnpike’s signature homemade meatballs for his first year owning the place.
“He used to make a meatball for us every two weeks…we did that for one year and then slowly we took over,” Sam recalled.
Twelve years later, Sam and Kinnari renovated the outside of Turnpike Market with modern siding, built a large deck off the back overlooking Nutting Lake, and developed a menu of Italian-American style food for lunch and dinner. The lower level of Turnpike is a liquor store.
Now, they’re expanding their repertoire of restaurants and opening Commune, with a location not just in Lexington, but in Billerica and Carlisle, too. Billerica’s location (pictured), which is just a mile up the road from Turnpike Market, opens on June 15. The interior of Lexington’s location will look almost identical to Billerica’s.
Sam and Kinnari look forward to bringing healthy global cuisines to Lexington Center.
“You can come in the morning and get a masala chai and some samosas, or get a hummus pate, or get chips and guacamole, or get a French croissant and a cappuccino,” said Sam. “It’s something unique that Lexington hasn’t seen.”