Harvard Square just doesn't look the way it used to.

But while Square preservationists may lament the closing of several landmark Cambridge institutions, newcomers to the Square this year say their businesses are thriving.

This past year was marked by the closings of two of the Square's oldest businesses: the Harvest and the Tasty.

Harvard Square Defense Fund President Gladys "Pebble" Gifford said earlier this year she was concerned the opening of chain restaurants in the Square would negatively affect its image.

"The Square is more fun if it has places like Mr. Bartley's instead of McDonald's, which is in both Central and Porter Squares," Gifford said. "Why would people come to the Square if the shops and restaurants here are the same as everywhere else?"

The Harvest Restaurant closed in September after serving new-American cuisine to Cambridge residents for almost 25 years.

The owners of the Brattle Street restaurant, Patrick Rowe and Jane Thompson, filed for bankruptcy shortly before its closure.

One Cambridge resident summed up the feelings of many earlier this fall, calling the end of the Harvest "a terrible loss."

The Tasty also closed its doors at the beginning of November after serving up famously greasy hamburgers and thick milkshakes for 81 years.

Much to its customers' despair, the Tasty was forced to close because its landlord, the Cambridge Savings Bank is renovating the building which houses the restaurant.

But for those Tasty fans who feared that their last glimpse of the restaurant would be in the movie Good Will Hunting, there is still hope.

Tasty owner Peter A. Haddad announced in February that the Tasty will reopen within the new building being built by the Cambridge Savings Bank on the corner of Mass. Ave. and JFK Street.

"We'll be just what we've been before," Haddad said in a February City Council meeting. "We want to be back in the Square and doing what we've been doing for the last 81 years."

Fresh Faces

While some businesses may have shut down at least temporarily, several new shops have opened up in the Square during the past year.