After 14 years in a cramped kitchen, Zoe Ma Ma has outgrown its original space in Boulder.
The Taiwanese restaurant plans to relocate from 2010 10th St. to a larger space just around the corner on Pearl Street. “The kitchen was so tiny that we were really limited in our offerings and held back on some more homestyle items, but this frees our hand to offer more Taiwanese specialties,” owner Edwin Zoe said.
Zoe Ma Ma is the brainchild of Zoe and his mother Anna, honoring the authentic food they grew up eating. The new Boulder space, located in a former Chipotle at 919 Pearl St., opens on July 11 with new menu items, like a black pepper bing, a famous Taiwanese baked bao with steaming minced beef. It’ll still have its usual chalkboard and walk-up counter but with ample seating, including 60 spots inside and 15 on the patio.
The Zoes have been surprising guests with their dim-sum and handmade noodles since they first opened their tiny Boulder shop in 2010, followed by a second near Denver’s Union Station five years later. Edwin was a 2022 James Beard Award semifinalist and Zoe Ma Ma has been featured on Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” and is among the 30 recommended restaurants in Colorado’s inaugural Michelin Guide.
In 2022, Zoe transitioned Chimera, his four-year-old Pacific Rim-menued Boulder restaurant into Dragonfly Noodle; it will remain operating next door to the old Zoe Ma Ma space. He also opened a second Dragonfly two years ago on the long-suffering 16th Street Mall.
“It’s been extraordinarily challenging without food traffic and visibility, because of the ongoing construction, but they plan to reopen the block within a week or so, and the Mall Ride should be operational by Labor Day, which would be key milestones for us,” Zoe said.