209 Boston

Was it my fro? Or the missing appendage between my legs? Hello? Hello?
I was here for dinner the night the AIDs Action dance-​a-​thon was happening at Club Café. Instead of dancing (and drinking) on an empty stomach, I decided dinner was in order. After standing around for a few minutes, I asked a waiter for a table and he told me to wait by the host stand. Side note: Yes, he did this politely. Anyway, after standing there for several minutes, one of the AIDs Action volunteers was nice enough to flag down, I assume, a manager. He told me I could sit wherever. I half jokingly asked if anyone would notice if I sat because the dining room was completely empty. He made sure a waiter came and saw me, but wasn’t apologetic for my wait.
My server was actually very nice. I think he was laughing at my fro on the inside, but he was very polite and very timely with everything. Since it was freezing, I ordered the clam chowder (I know. a rookie move… but it was the only soup and it was cold). It was a huge portion, but for the price, not really worth it. For dinner, I had the veggie wrap that came with tortilla chips and a side salad. The salad was inedible. The greens tasted really off and I had no idea what the dressing was. The wrap was more of a hummus with veggies wrap instead of the other way around. This sounds gross, but I squeezed out ¾ of the hummus inside the wrap. It was just too much. I did eat all of the tortilla chips. haha
I dig the way the restaurant is decorated/​set up, but it was a little too dim for me. Trying to read the menu with the dimmed lights and faux votive candles was difficult. I would like to come back to try something else off of the rest of the menu since it sounds wonderful. I’m really interested in trying the sweet potato gnocchi. The menu does look pretty seasonal which I enjoy. but that means I have to go back soon. Perhaps during the day?

Granted I was here on Pride weekend but good GOD, the service was horrible. People have tried to explain this away with by saying how crowded it must’ve been there. That doesn’t exactly explain why every other table at the place, other than ours and the one other table being waited on by one particular server got completely screwed.
We were sat pretty quickly for having a party of 6 or 7, but that was the only nice part about trying to eat here.
45 minutes to get our drinks.
1 hour and 40 minutes to get our food.
We started asking what was going on about a half hour in. Our waiter really didn’t have any answers, even though as we were sitting there other tables were being sat and served within minutes. Finally we tracked down the manager, who told us it wasn’t our waiter per se, it was that one of the bartenders didn’t like our server. Um yea? And that’s our problem, why? He did offer us a free round of drinks, mind you this is before we’ve even received our FIRST round.
You’d think maybe after the drink debacle, our food would come out quickly. No dice. We watched as literally 6 other tables got served, ate their food and paid before we even saw our food. We never got an explanation why and by this point NO ONE wanted to leave any sort of a tip. We got to complaining so much I even yelled out «And why didn’t anyone tell me I didn’t like grapefruit juice!» as a result of my burning stomach from my pinktini. It just seemed fitting to blame that on the same guy.
Ends up the table right next to us had been going through the same thing all along, and actually got their appetizer 45 minutes after they got their dinner.
I can only imagine our waiter was either fired or quit immediately at the end of his shift, because this was NOT his night.
Besides that moron, the restaurant seemed to be well prepared for the rush they’d be getting that weekend and moved people in and out at a really good rate.
Oh, and thumbs up for the caffeinated vodka!

Amazing stuff– the bar is decent, but also undergoing a renovation, the wine list is expanding, and the food is done so freaking well at every stage! The calamari batter was crisp, cooked perfectly, the steak was full of flavor, tender, and cooked perfectly, the desserts are delicious– especially the ice cream accompaniments, and it is a really varied mix of seatings: from formal to bar to lounge. You could have any number of different styles of experiences here, depending on your menu and seating choices. I am excited to go back there my next day off– you should be, too!

I came here for Brunch because they seemed to have an amazing brunch menu for only $ 17.95. I had banana and blueberry pancakes which were good but honestly (and I’m ashamed to say this) IHOP is better. I only paid for the pancakes because you only pay the 17.95 if your total would be greater. My friend got steak with eggs which was AMAZING. The steak was really very good. The poached eggs with the benedict sauce and lobster wasn’t good. The sauce was so flavorless which is sooo disappointing because there’s so much potential there. The restrooms were under construction so it was a little scary walking into outhouse looking stalls. The place is also a gay bar at night and my date and I were clearly the only hetero couple in the entire restaurant. The waiter was pretty rude at first but then he warmed to us. It was a pleasant dining experience and the place definitely has potential.

Basic American place. Kind of reminded me of an independent version of TGI Friday’s. The food was decent, but I think you could get a better meal elsewhere for about the same price. I’d recommend Laurel around the corner to someone looking for a meal in this area. Much classier atmosphere and better food.
Also, this is on COLUMBUS AVE not Newbury Street.