Ivy Restaurant

I went a few weeks ago with a party of 25 to celebrate a birthday. If it was not for friends and family I would have been irrate. I returned two signature drinks.....HORRIBLE, and picked at the food beacuse I felt as though it was not all that great cosidering the hype, a small break may be due because of the large party, however my biggest gripe is the owner trying to justify prices that you would see for entree at other restaurants with simply tapas here and calling it haute. Even more dissapointing is the fact that there menu is very much Italian based cuisine, I stand to be corrected but is it not true the idea of that type of food (Italy) is suppose to be BIG< oversized> and to be shared! NO way was I gonna share my $18 bite size italian tapas steak...........Tapas is great but the combo of Italian and tapas is not and neither is the soaring high price for it and the cough medicine after taste of their drinks to wash it all down! Pros: Atmosphere Cons: Price, Signature drinks, more

I went here with two friends after Christmas shopping downtown intending to have dinner and drinks. We put our names in for a table and decided to have a couple of drinks while we waited. Among us we have about 40 years of waitressing and bartending experience in Boston and New York, so we're more than patient and understanding when servers and bartenders are swamped. We are less understanding when we're ignored and treated with attitude. Cons: Service more

Ivy is a great place to grab dinner in an upbeat atmosphere. The waiter was top notch and really made the experience. The food was exceptional as well. I would absolutely go back here and would reccomend it to anyone looking for a great italian meal. Pros: Food, service more

This is a good spot for pre theater dinner/drinks or for an after work get together with friends. There's more of a bar atmosphere on the lower level. more

Ivy is a great Italian place that serves large quantities of food at a very reasonable price. The food and the service were phenomenal!! They have a great wine list for around $25/bottle. I was unsure about a couple of things on the menu and the wait staff was more than helpful in explaining everything. Great atmoshphere anytime of the day. Highly recommend! Pros: Food, Service, Price more

I went to The Ivy with girlfriends before going to see Dirty Dancing. We had wonderful and friendly service and the food was delicious. You can't beat the value either! They offer a theater menu with several food options as well as wine for only $30/person. Pros: Great Value and Service more

I've been to Ivy at least 10 times. Its a great place to meet up for a drink with friends as well as dinner. I highly recommend the Gnocchi with pull braised duck. Pros: wine list, comfortable Cons: Parking more

My friend and I were planning on having a nice lunch here during restaurant week thinking that the food would be exceptional - especially during restaurant week. The food that we were served was not only tasteless and stale, but the service left much to be desired, as well. Cons: Old, stale food. more

I have to say that is was one of the worst restaurants my husband and I have ever been to in Boston and I will never go back and would not send anyone I know to go there either. We had a dinner reservation that we arrived on time for and had to wait for our table for two for nearly 45 minutes. We checked in three times at the hostess stand to see when our table would be ready and each time she seemed more annoyed. When we finally sat down and began to eat we realized that this loud and over crowded (with young club goers) restaurant served small over priced portions. Our ""server"" checked in once and brought us bread with our meal. DO NOT WAIST YOUR TIME OR MONEY. more

I won a giftcard to The Ivy in the downtown crossing and prior to that, had never heard of the restaurant... more

I won a giftcard to The Ivy in the downtown crossing and prior to that, had never heard of the restaurant before. There were four of us for din... more

I went to Ivy for New years...first of all it was $150 for free drinks all night (which was good) and what was supposed to be food from 10-3...so for food there was bruschetta which was the size of my pinky and what i think was shrimp they left on spoons (so imagine how small that is) and gross who knows how many people were near it and touched it, and that was it...so all in all i wish i can call someone to get my money back..thank god the DJ was good and made it somewhat fun..i will never go here again.. Pros: bartender was very nice.. Cons: not worth my money more

I went there on wednesday night with a group of friends and had a great time. We were sat quickly and greeted almost immediately. Our waiter went down the menu with us and told us about the $26 dollar per bottle wine list and the small plates. It was a fun to be able to order a few different things between us and share them. Our waiter was attentive and knew a lot about the menu and guided us through our first time. I would definitely recomend this place to anyone I know. more

I had one of the worst dining experiences of my life at Ivy. We went out to celebrate a friend's new job and pending move. Two members of our party arrived first and informed the hostess that not everyone was there but she said, ""not to worry"" and chose to seat us anyway. Within 10 minutes the hostess came back to our table to inform us that we would have the next 90 minutes for dinner and then our time was up b/c a larger party was coming in!!! WHAT? Who does that? Pros: An eclectic menu with reasonable priced food and wine Cons: Rude staff and hit-or-miss food more

I am surprised to see the bad reviews! I went with a party of 30, on a friday night and had wonderful service and a great experience! We LOVED the inexpensive wine list and the small plates made for an engaging group dining experience. Our server took pictures, cleared promptly, offered great suggestions....the atmosphere was swanky and the small bill was a pleasant surprise! I highly recommend this place. Pros: upscale with low prices. great group dining! more

This dabbled as my favorite restaurant in Boston for awhile... the food is usually fantastic, the wine list is excellent and well-priced... and usually decent service. However a few of us went to Ivy's a few weeks ago around 9:30 on a Friday night. The place was nearly empty, but after giving us a run-around for a few minutes, the hostess tried to shoo us to the bar even though we were there for dinner. The bartender came around and asked us if we wanted a table, which we had just tried to get. He talked to this hostess, some discussion ensued and we were finally seated- apparently in a section of a waitstaff who wanted to go home. Her first words to us were: ""So do you know what you want?"" I worked in restaurants for ten years, everything from casual to upscale, so I almost always give the benefit of the doubt. This time however, never was I so aggravated within ten minutes of arrival into a restaurant. Then our food came out rushed (some not very hot), and our waitress said one or two words to us the entire time. It was terrible and the manager seemed none too concerned. He pretended to apologize and told us the waitress was ""having a bad day."" The next time my two friends and I spend $150 at a restaurant on a Friday night, it is not likely to be there. Pros: Food, wine, desserts Cons: Service more

After hearing all these reviews, I decided it would be a perfect place to take my sister for her birthday along with 10 other friends, our waitress was a total bitch...and it all started when we told her we didn't want any alcholcholic drinks, when anyone from our party asked her to explain something on the menu she was rude and condesending... also I went over and told her it was my sister's birthday and the first thing she said (yelled) is ""i don't sing happy birthday"" I was little taken back...I said that's fine just bring out a cake with a candel on it and we'd do the rest! Such horrible service!!!! Pros: beautiful place Cons: service & food more

I recently dined at the Ivy for the first time. Patrons walk into a tastefully designed space filled with the requisite beautiful people and are greeted by a hostess with an exotic accent. My first impression was that the Ivy would be a typical trendy restaurant experience. I am happy to report otherwise. Pros: Food and wine service, good value Cons: Water service. Our water glasses stayed empty for most of the meal and were refilled only upon request. more

I am warning everyone reading this not to go here with a group (perhaps just avoid at all cost). I threw a party for 20 people to celebrate a birthday and we were not even given a chance to enjoy our company, food or wine. Two days before the event, the booking manager told me that there would be a party coming in after us at 10 (our reservation was for 8:00), I was obviously a little annoyed with this time constraint. We arrived for our month standing reservation and were asked to wait, who knows the reasoning? So we get to our table and our waitress comes and tells us we have ten minutes to order?!?! What, we are here to celebrate, have some cocktails and enjoy our friends birthday. Not allowed. Our wine, which was ordered with our meals, because we had no time to order a drink then a meal we had to order everything at once, arrived after our two tapas dishes were served. Unacceptable! Not to mention that the servers were pulling tables away from our long table to get ready for the 10 o'clock reservation. All in all I would never ever suggest this to anyone I know or don't know! Pros: food was ok Cons: awful experience in every way more

We went to Ivy to celebrate my wife's birthday with a group of about 15. We figured the ""tapas"" style would be fun for a group - getting people to share and thus be more social. The food itself was very good as was the service. I've read some reviews of Ivy where people were disappointed with the portion size but I would strongly disagree with that assessment. Two small plates was plenty of food for this big appetite. more