In 1969, Chen opened her third restaurant, a much larger space seating 500 people, in an existing building located at 500 Memorial Drive in Cambridge. This restaurant, also called Joyce Chen Restaurant, benefited from its proximity to MIT and Harvard. However, the restaurant closed in 1974 when the building was demolished so that the MIT dorms New House, and later, Next House, could be built on the site. New House was jokingly known by MIT students as the "Joyce Chen Small Living Place" for a time.