New Clover Location to be a 24-Hour Operation

Earlier this year, when the MBTA announced there late-night pilot program, Cambridge businesses began petitioning Cambridge’s Licensing Commission for longer hours to coincide with the T’s extended service. One of the first to take advantage was the Kendall Square Cinema, which has since been showing movies well past midnight. Now, Ayr Muir, owner of Clover Food Lab has successfully won the commission’s approval to serve food 24-hours a day at his new Clover location opening at 496 Massachusetts Ave., in the old Hi-Fi Pizza spot.

“I honestly don’t know why Cambridge doesn’t have 24-hours service already,” Muir says. “It might be because there’s no demand for it, but I highly doubt that. I used to go to The Tasty [Sandwich Shop] in Harvard Square all the time when I was in school, and it was always busy.”

When I talked to Muir in April, after announcing the location of his sixth restaurant, he discussed his interest in having a late-night menu featuring house-made sodas, fried Grillo’s pickles, and crudités. With the commission’s favorable decision, Muir is now considering a heavier focus on egg dishes, doughnuts, and breakfast sandwiches.

“I think with the academic and research population in Cambridge—all of whom are working odd hours—it’s really going to be embraced,” Muir says. “People don’t realize that there are a lot of people working in those labs and they’re a the beck and call of their research and experiments. That’s not a nine-to-five kind of job. I also know that our employees start work at 4 or 5a.m. and you can’t even find coffee on the way to work. So, I think there will be other people in various service professions who are looking for late night food options.”

Due to open this fall, Clover Hi-Fi will become the first full-service restaurant with 24-hour service in Cambridge. Currently, the only other option is a Dunkin’ Donuts with a 24-hour drive-through window. Depending on the reception of the late-night service, Muir is considering petitioning for other Clover Food Lab locations.

“We’re thrilled about the decision and we’re always trying to implement new things,” Muir says. “So, we’re super excited to try this out and just take it from there.”