New Noodle Restaurant Opens In Downtown Melrose

This eatery has found early success, selling out in its first 10 days of operation.

By Benjamin Pierce, Patch Staff

Sep 29, 2026 1:40 PM EDT

A sign for the business first appeared at its location in July. (Ben Pierce/Patch)

MELROSE, MA — A new noodle restaurant has opened in downtown Melrose after taking over the former Comella's storefront.

Slurp Noodle held its soft opening at 478 Main St. on Saturday, Sept. 19, several months after signage for the new restaurant first appeared in the vacant space. The restaurant serves a variety of noodle and rice dishes, including ramen, pho, and rice bowls.

The restaurant appears to have seen strong demand during its first week of business. Slurp Noodle announced Monday, Sept. 28, that it had sold out of food and would close for the day to restock and prepare fresh ingredients. However, the restaurant reopened on Tuesday.

The business is owned by a woman who goes by T and her partner. T has lived in Melrose for the past five years, while she and her partner each operate other restaurants in Somerville and Maynard.

The restaurant is still fine-tuning its menu following the soft opening. Current offerings include several ramen dishes, with T identifying tonkotsu, which is made with a pork bone broth, as her favorite. Pho and rice bowls are also among the restaurant's offerings.

Slurp Noodle offers both dine-in and takeout service and is currently open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. The interior of the former Italian restaurant has also been renovated and includes a large mural in the dining area.

The storefront had previously remained vacant since Comella's permanently closed in March after more than a decade in business. The Melrose location opened in the summer of 2014 and was the 11th restaurant for the Massachusetts-based Italian chain at the time.

Company leadership cited operational and financial challenges specific to the location as the reason for the closure. Comella's was founded by Gene Comella in Wellesley in 1988 and continues to operate locations in several eastern Massachusetts communities.