This year, Hapa, Zoe Ma Ma and Busaba — three popular locally owned and operated Asian restaurants — made strategic moves to new locations on the west end of Pearl Street. All three now operate between 9th and 11th streets with new looks, significantly more seating and some fun surprises.
In a year when frequent closure announcements have become common, seeing these restaurateurs bet on growth is notable. Zoe Ma Ma and Hapa Sushi moved out of their original locations to larger spaces down the block, while Louisville’s Busaba Thai opened its first Pearl Street location as part of a larger Boulder County expansion.
“All in all, there are a dozen Asian restaurants throughout the downtown district,” said Terri Takata-Smith, vice president of the Downtown Boulder Partnership. “They each offer delicious cuisine and completely different atmospheres. The diversity of restaurants even within this category brings a delightful mix to the entire restaurant scene.”
Here are a few highlights of each business, their owners, and their menus:
Busaba
Under new ownership, Busaba has grown from one restaurant in Louisville to five locations in Boulder County since 2019, when Shekhar Pokhrel bought the Thai restaurant from the Phairatphiboon family. The family had owned it since 2010, when they acquired the former Siamese Plate and changed the name. This November, Busaba opened in Longmont in the Clover Basin shopping center and mid-summer at 1035 Pearl Street in downtown Boulder.
Pokhrel, who goes by SP — a nickname given by the restaurant staff — worked in finance and engineering for 15 years. He became a frequent diner at Busaba while working from home, eating lunch there nearly every other day. SP said the Phairatphiboon family, ready to retire, asked if he wanted to take over.
Being a frequent diner doesn’t often lead to restaurant ownership, but SP’s food credentials included growing up on a farm in Nepal and working at the Siamese Plate in college. He agreed to the deal on the condition that the family train him to cook every dish and sauce, and they agreed. The Phairatphiboons wanted someone to carry their family recipes and reputation forward. After securing an SBA loan, SP put in 14- to 16-hour days for a year to hone his cooking skills, taking over the restaurant in September 2019.
In 2021, Busaba opened its first expansion location at the Baseline shopping center in east Boulder, followed by Erie in June 2023.
Each location tailors its business model to meet community and customer preferences, which SP researches in advance, analyzes in the first three months of opening, and adjusts as needed. They generally operate during lunch and dinner hours, with a break in between.
For instance:
- Longmont: A fast-casual setup where diners order at the counter and seat themselves. SP says this is to meet the on-the-go pace and keep costs down for the clientele.
- Boulder’s Pearl Street: A sit-down, family-friendly atmosphere that allows diners to enjoy the views from the large front windows, which also open to fresh air in warmer weather. This location offers lunch specials featuring popular dishes and closes at 9 p.m. This, SP explained, is designed to be in contrast with the late-night, louder spots focused on college students and a party atmosphere.
- Baseline in Boulder: Primarily take-out space, created to alleviate the former two-hour wait in Louisville, with a few indoor and outdoor tables added.
- Erie: A fun, family-friendly vibe, open evenings Sunday through Wednesday and for lunch Thursday through Saturday, since there is not enough lunchtime traffic to sustain extra hours.
SP said they’ve been able to internally finance each new location, though delays and permits have been a hurdle, especially a six-month delay for the Longmont opening. He said they got lucky with Pearl Street.
“I always wanted to be on Pearl Street, but it was very hard to find the location. I saw this open, and then it had multiple bids — everybody wanted it,” SP said. “But the good thing is, the owner actually happened to be a Busaba fan.”
What do customers love? “Hands down, Pad Thai,” SP said, “then noodles, followed by Panang curry. We make everything from scratch and preserve authentic flavors.” This includes bringing freshly grown lemongrass and Kaffir limes from California growers, mango sticky rice made with fresh mangoes in season, and homemade coconut ice cream.
SP said vegan and vegetarian options are highly popular at the Erie and Boulder locations. “Most of our dishes, about 90% of them, can be made vegan and gluten-free. Dairy is only in a few recipes, mostly desserts,” SP explained.
The original Louisville location remains open, offering indoor and seasonal outdoor dining, with shorter waits since the expansions.
Busaba Locations:
Downtown Boulder
1035 Pearl St., #102
11:30-3, 4:30-9 daily
Longmont
2343 Clover Basin Drive
11:15-2, 4:15-8:15 daily
Zoe Ma Ma & Dragonfly Noodle
The original 20-seat Zoe Ma Ma Taiwanese street food restaurant opened on 10th Street in 2010, when founder Edwin Zoe (pronounced zoh, not zoh-ee, as so many mistakenly say) brought his mother, Anna, to Boulder and set up shop as a project to help them cope with the grief of his father’s death.
Their food, made with love, Zoe said, earned accolades such as recognition in the Michelin Guide and a James Beard Award semi-finalist nod. “Most importantly,” Zoe said, “the community has really embraced us.”
Limited seating meant customers often had to wait and then felt rushed during their meals, he explained. When the former Chipotle location at 919 Pearl St. became available, Zoe jumped at the opportunity to move just half a block from the original location and transform the space into a more immersive Taiwanese cultural experience.
The new Zoe Ma Ma retains its fast-casual walk-up counter but now seats 75 people indoors, with additional outdoor dining on a streetfront patio during warmer months. Zoe added a Mahjong table in the back that seats four and can be rented to play. The space is designed to evoke the feeling of being in a Taiwanese night market, with red paper lantern lights, a curated music playlist, and screens showing videos of street food vendors.
A larger kitchen has allowed an expanded menu, with new dishes like Black Pepper Bing (a bao with minced beef) and Garlic Cho Sum (a Chinese stir-fried vegetable similar to broccolini). All noodles are freshly made at Zoe’s sister restaurant, Dragonfly Noodle.
Dragonfly Noodle, located at 2014 10th Street next to the former Zoe Ma Ma, was created from the ruins of Chimera (2018–2022). Zoe’s venture into a sit-down, full-service restaurant with a broad Asian menu had to pivot during the pandemic to become ramen-focused. Zoe said Chimera’s table service model proved unsustainable, so he reinvented the restaurant as Dragonfly, specializing in noodle dishes and a few ramen bowls.
Dragonfly has a walk-up order counter and light table service. It also serves as the hub for handmade egg noodles supplied to all of Zoe’s restaurants in Boulder. (The Denver Dragonfly location produces noodles for his Denver restaurants.)
As for the original Zoe Ma Ma space, Zoe said he is considering turning it into a poke restaurant that would feature both mainland and Hawaiian-style poke. Mainland-style poke typically includes sides with the protein and rice, while Hawaiian-style consists of simply protein and a base.
Anna Zoe, now 81, still visits the restaurants to make her signature potstickers and bao. “She’s slowing down, but I think having something to do as you get older is really important — you know, a sense of mission, of purpose,” Edwin Zoe said.
Zoe Ma Ma
919 Pearl Street
11-9 Sunday–Thursday, until 9:30 Friday & Saturday
Dragonfly Noodle
2014 10th Street
11:30-9 Monday–Thursday, 11:30-9:30 Friday, 12-9:30 Saturday, 12-9 Sunday
Hapa Sushi Grill & Sake Bar
Hapa, one of Pearl Street’s original Asian-fusion cuisine restaurants, was founded by Mark Van Grack in 1999. The restaurant hosted guests for 24 years on the bricks at 1117 Pearl Street before moving west to a newly renovated 5,600-square-foot location at 1048 Pearl Street. It is now part of what Takata-Smith of the Downtown Boulder Partnership calls “the foodie haven” on the west end of Pearl. The area includes three other Asian restaurants and more than a dozen additional restaurants and bars within a two-block radius.
The original location (which is now High Country) could seat approximately 100 people and had a sushi bar with counter seating. Hapa’s new location is nearly five times the size, plus ample outdoor patio seating for 72. An urban chic vibe inside, with the added bonus of excellent soundproofing, makes diners feel like they’re in the mix of a vibrant social scene while being able to hear their party’s conversation easily. A DJ comes in to liven things up from 10 p.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday nights.
Hapa’s menu is Japanese-Hawaiian fusion, with a special focus on 30 gluten-free dish options to accommodate dietary needs, including those of Van Grack’s family. For a sushi restaurant, it is widely known in the community as a place where even non-seafood lovers can find delicious options, like Karaage Sliders (fried chicken on Hawaiian sweet bread) and ginger pork gyoza potstickers.
Four new menu items debuted in November, including inari bombs (tofu pockets stuffed with tuna, spicy mayo, cucumber, and rice) and grilled sweet chili salmon with baby bok choy.
The drinks menu features craft cocktails, a large selection of sake, and one of the best mocktail lists in the area. The sake collection has five different styles, ranging from sweet to dry, plus curated flights and specialty infused options.
It’s a good idea to make reservations. Hapa’s new location is often filled with people on dates, having business meetings, big celebrations, and family dinners. And if you like Hapa’s style, the team also founded Motomaki, a fast-casual restaurant specializing in sushi “burritos” and bowls.
Hapa Sushi
1048 Pearl Street, Suite 105
11-10 Sunday–Thursday, 11-12 Friday & Saturday
Happy Hour 2:30-5:30 daily