Broth is returning as a pop-up inside Saloon 139, an American Chinese restaurant at 139 Green St., more than a year after a fire shut down the Worcester ramen shop. Saloon 139 will keep its ownership and most of its menu; Broth will operate as a food concept within the existing restaurant.
Saloon 139 owner Jack Zheng remains the owner and has final say over the restaurant, according to MassLive. Broth owner Jay Grey began helping Zheng with the menu, food costs, social media and promotion, and the two eventually developed a consulting arrangement that led to the pop-up, the outlet reports. Grey has not purchased Saloon 139 and is not a partner or manager there, per the same account.
The partnership will leave about 90% of Saloon 139’s menu intact, Grey said, with the restaurant having already trimmed a handful of items that weren’t selling. Saloon 139’s regular menu of American Chinese food and sushi will remain available for both dine-in and takeout, and the restaurant will keep its usual six-day-a-week schedule as a first-come, first-served spot that doesn’t take reservations.
The Road Back to Worcester
Broth closed after a 2025 fire at @ The Common caused water damage to tenants in the building, including Broth and Odd By Worcester, forcing both businesses to shut down. By July 2026, Grey told the city that electrical power to the businesses still had not been restored after more than six months, according to a separate MassLive report. That left Broth in limbo for over a year before the Saloon 139 arrangement came together.
Licensing and Other Restaurant Recoveries
The City of Worcester says its License Commission regulates city-issued licenses, including those for purveyors of alcoholic beverages. Its general description does not explain food-service approvals or establish whether this pop-up changed Saloon 139’s licensing status, according to the City of Worcester. A separate Worcester restaurant recovery offers a shorter documented timeline: the Worcester Business Journal reported that Vivienne Coastal Mediterranean, at 446 Main St., reopened six months after a refrigerator fire forced it to close five days after opening Sept. 1…