Help us eat delicious food
February 6, 2018 7:01 AM Subscribe
Can you recommend a nice restaurant for a four-person birthday dinner around Somerville or Cambridge, MA? It must have awesome desserts and at least one option for a very picky eater (roasted chicken, plain steak or a plain burger, etc). Bonus points if it's not very loud.
Russell House Tavern in Harvard Square might fit your requirements. They have a good mix of creative dishes and non-challenging standbys, plus good desserts. We were very pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food on our first visit and have been back a couple of times as a result. The dining room downstairs is not loud at all.
posted by briank at 7:27 AM on February 6, 2018
posted by briank at 7:27 AM on February 6, 2018
Puritan & Co is awesome and varied!
posted by spindrifter at 7:46 AM on February 6, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by spindrifter at 7:46 AM on February 6, 2018 [1 favorite]
Harvest could work.
Alden & Harlow would be more fun but can definitely be a little noisy.
posted by praemunire at 7:58 AM on February 6, 2018 [1 favorite]
Alden & Harlow would be more fun but can definitely be a little noisy.
posted by praemunire at 7:58 AM on February 6, 2018 [1 favorite]
Oleana and Sarma are the best restaurants in town, with unforgettable food.
posted by Cygnet at 8:43 AM on February 6, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Cygnet at 8:43 AM on February 6, 2018 [2 favorites]
My vote would be for Alden & Harlow, and when you make the reservation, ask to be seated in their greenhouse room (immediately to the right of the entrance; it's much, much quieter).
Admittedly, I might be just a little biased in their favor: my wife and I got married at Alden & Harlow in 2016.
posted by Making You Bored For Science at 10:12 AM on February 6, 2018 [1 favorite]
Admittedly, I might be just a little biased in their favor: my wife and I got married at Alden & Harlow in 2016.
posted by Making You Bored For Science at 10:12 AM on February 6, 2018 [1 favorite]
When my wife lived in Somerville, she ate at Christopher's in Cambridge all the time. I like it, too, but full disclosure: it's the only restaurant north of the Charles I've eaten at. My wife is a supremely plain eater, though, so it'll check that box. Not sure about their desserts, but there's an Emack and Bolio's across the street.
posted by kevinbelt at 10:32 AM on February 6, 2018
posted by kevinbelt at 10:32 AM on February 6, 2018
Sarma and Oleanna are both amazing, and both are usually booked out months in advance and utterly lack boring stuff that would appeal to your picky eater.
Alden and Harlow is also fantastic, but they only make a very few of their burger each night so it wouldn’t be smart to count on it being available.
Also in Harvard Square, Les Sablons is great (although the service was a bit uneven for the price point the last time I was there).
Pammy’s is magnificent and celebratory and has exquisite service, and I suspect would have options that would satisfy the picky eater.
Juliet, in Union Square, is extraordinary. They do prix fixe only, check out what the production is for the date you have in mind.
Bergamot and it’s sister restaurant bisq are both very solid choices.
If you want to try some old school red-sauce Italian-American, I had enormous fun at Louie’s at Night.
Christopher’s is worn down and sad feeling, to me, as is Russel House.
posted by amelioration at 11:05 AM on February 6, 2018
Alden and Harlow is also fantastic, but they only make a very few of their burger each night so it wouldn’t be smart to count on it being available.
Also in Harvard Square, Les Sablons is great (although the service was a bit uneven for the price point the last time I was there).
Pammy’s is magnificent and celebratory and has exquisite service, and I suspect would have options that would satisfy the picky eater.
Juliet, in Union Square, is extraordinary. They do prix fixe only, check out what the production is for the date you have in mind.
Bergamot and it’s sister restaurant bisq are both very solid choices.
If you want to try some old school red-sauce Italian-American, I had enormous fun at Louie’s at Night.
Christopher’s is worn down and sad feeling, to me, as is Russel House.
posted by amelioration at 11:05 AM on February 6, 2018
Christopher's was becoming sad and run down already about 8 years ago when I was in college, even then the only salvageable food was the yuppie nachos (but those were damn delicious nachos).
Bergamot is great and usually has simpler fare for the picky eater. Sarma and Oleana are delicious but have pretty fussy food. Kirkland Tap and Trotter has classic americana, though probably prepared differently than what the picky eater might prefer.
We haven't been regularly since we moved to Concord a couple years ago but Posto in Davis Square always had excellent food, with options that my picky child would actually eat. They have the best pizza I've had in the Boston area and I'm from Italy, so that's saying something. Their tiramisu is TO. DIE. FOR.
posted by lydhre at 11:53 AM on February 6, 2018
Bergamot is great and usually has simpler fare for the picky eater. Sarma and Oleana are delicious but have pretty fussy food. Kirkland Tap and Trotter has classic americana, though probably prepared differently than what the picky eater might prefer.
We haven't been regularly since we moved to Concord a couple years ago but Posto in Davis Square always had excellent food, with options that my picky child would actually eat. They have the best pizza I've had in the Boston area and I'm from Italy, so that's saying something. Their tiramisu is TO. DIE. FOR.
posted by lydhre at 11:53 AM on February 6, 2018
Alden and Harlow is also fantastic, but they only make a very few of their burger each night so it wouldn’t be smart to count on it being available.
I think they do a pretty basic steak, too, though I've never tried it.
posted by praemunire at 12:19 PM on February 6, 2018
I think they do a pretty basic steak, too, though I've never tried it.
posted by praemunire at 12:19 PM on February 6, 2018
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Craigie on Main is top notch and is also well known for their burger. Their sister restaurant, Kirkland Tap and Trotter, might also fit the bill. Oleana is fantastic. Bergamot would be another solid choice.
posted by backseatpilot at 7:26 AM on February 6, 2018 [2 favorites]