The Middle East

Located in Cambridge’s Central Square, this restaurant/bar and performing arts complex of adjoining rooms includes five live-music venues: Upstairs (194 capacity), Downstairs (575 capacity), Sonia (350 capacity), ZuZu and The Corner Bakery (70-person capacity). For more than three decades, owners Joseph and Nabil Sater have been stupendous scene supporters and a premier part of Boston’s rock club scene. 

Restaurant beginnings, Becoming a music venue

The Middle East opened as a Lebanese restaurant in 1970 and the Sater brothers bought it in 1975, eventually remodeling it into a storefront at 472 Massachusetts Avenue. They maintained the ethnic food offerings and had Arab-language bands and belly dancers to compliment the atmosphere. In the 1980s, they began to book blues and jazz bands and the first rock show was performed by a solo Roger Miller of Mission Of Burma fame in 1987.

A few months after Miller appeared, the late local legend Billy Ruane threw a birthday party next door at T.T the Bear’s Place, but he’d overbooked the space and asked the Sater brothers if some of his party could spill over to The Middle East. That led to Ruane asking if they’d be interested in having rock acts appear at the venue, and the Saters said it sounded like a fine plan. Always one to jump on an opportunity, Ruane started booking some of the overflowing talent in the area at the new place and could be seen nightly enthusiastically dancing madly, with a drink in his hand that never spilled, as the group he had brought there played.

The wealthy, not-exactly-mentally-stable heir often bought any and all band merchandise that was on sale at the show, giving it away to any interested members of the audience. According to The Boston Phoenix, Ruane made a comment about his early involvement at The Middle East’s 20th anniversary party; “I threw a fuckin’ party that got too fuckin’ big,” he said.

The Corner Bakery, The Middle East Downstairs, Zuzu

In 1988, the club expanded and the bakery on the corner of Brookline Street and Mass, Ave. was turned into a restaurant and bar known as The Corner Bakery, with a little stage set against a large window. Small bands and acoustic artists, comedians, deejays and belly dancers perform there to this day. In 1993, to create a larger space for bigger bands and national acts, the basement of the building, once a bowling alley, was converted into a music venue with a stage and bar.

During the construction, workers discovered an unknown underground spring that delayed the opening for two weeks. In the middle of Cambridge, no less! Now known as The Middle East Downstairs, the upstairs Corner Bakery serves as an entrance waiting area and box office for ticket sales to the lower area. During the early ’90’s The Middle East became a central and  instrumental part of the whole music scene and culture as Central Square began to take over as the most prominent part of the area’s music scene in terms of spotting new talent and finding places to play or to listen.

In 2001, the Saters took over the lease of the last remaining section of the Middle East between the upstairs front and the Corner Bakery, which was an Indian Restaurant at the time. They renamed it ZuZu (after the childhood nickname of one of the owners) and gave it more of a nightclub vibe; these days, it’s an upscale restaurant with live music and deejays several times a week.

Sonia, Notable media attention

In March 2017, the Saters added the final piece of the puzzle when they opened Sonia, named after their sister, in the space formerly occupied by T.T. the Bears Place (where Billy Ruane’s big, bountiful birthday party started the whole story). It opened as an all-ages club while red tape, legal dramas, poor laws and slow government action made the liquor license transfer from T.T.’s to Sonia’s unsuccessful. No alcohol could be served on the premises while watching live music until a new liquor license was finally approved a year later.

Throughout the years, the Middle East has been praised in a lot of ways in a lot of different outlets, including The Weekly Dig (“reigning supreme as Boston’s best rock/and or roll joint”), The Boston Globe (“the city’s hippest night spot”) and Rolling Stone (“the exalted Middle East”). These days, the club still delivers diversity with jazz, blues, funk, reggae, ska, pop and hip hop bands. Given its first-rate reputation across the US, it’s no surprise that hip-hop artists Mr. Lif, 7L & Esoteric, OuterSpace, Los Nativos, Jedi Mind Tricks, Killah Priest, Irepress, Masta Killah and Jake The Snake perform there regularly.

Live Recordings

• The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – Live From The Middle East – released October 20, 1988
• Lif – Live at The Middle East – released February 22, 2002
• The Minibosses – Live at The Middle East – released April 2, 2004
• Dinosaur Jr. – Live at The Middle East (DVD) – recorded live December 4, 2005
• Harry and the Potters – Live at the Yule Ball (EP) – recorded live December 21, 2008

Awards

• 2004-2007 – The Boston Phoenix – “Best Club for Rock”
• 2005-2008 – The Weekly Dig – “Best Mid-Sized Music Venue”
• 2008 – The Improper Bostonian – and “Boston’s Best Rock Club”
• 2008 – Citysearch – “Best Live Music Venue”
• 2009 – The Boston Phoenix – “Best Tattooed Bouncers”
• 2009 – City Voter – “Best Live Music Venue”
• 2009 – The Weekly Dig – “Best Middle Eastern Restaurant”
• 2010 – The Boston Phoenix – “Best Hip Hop Venue”
• 2010 – WBZ’s A List – “Best Live Music Venue”

(by A.J. Wachtel)