Tavern in the Square

I moved to Cambridge about a year ago and Tavern in the Square has become my favorite go-to spot for a drink after work and for watching a game. Any game. They have about 30 tvs and are really accommodating about putting on whatever college football game you want to watch on Saturdays. I like going here for games because they offer more than your standard sports-bar fare and, actually, as of my last trip this weekend, have a brand new menu. My old standbys are the stuffed burgers (with cheese and other yummy toppings cooked inside the burger--awesome), which you can get cooked any way you want (sometimes an issue at some restaurants). This weekend I tried the white truffle mac and cheese which was all cheesy goodness and I will definitely order again. It was a TON of food and I ended up taking over 1/2 of it home. The beer selection is really decent (and, along with the new menu, they are now offering Franziskaner---my favorite) and the service has always been on point. Oh and one more thing--definitely go for the Sunday brunch (clearly you can tell where I spend most of my weekends)--the buffet has everything you could possibly want! Pros: Service, stuffed burgers, brunch Cons: Parking can be tough in Central more

This is a great place on game days since they have NFL Sunday Ticket. I went in for the brunch buffet and they were very accommodating with seating me near the TV with my game. The atmosphere is fun cause the fans really get into the games. Their Sunday brunch has evvverything; I always make my own omelette and it never fails to impress- mushrooms, swiss, sauteed onions, spinach, peppers. Another favorite is the stuffed burger, bacon and blue cheese is always a good choice. Service is great, very friendly and efficient. I highly recommend going here for a laid-back afternoon or a casual evening. Pros: Sports Selection, Great Food more

I've been living in Cambridge for about a year now, and looking for a good place to watch the Presidential debates, my girlfriend and I literally stumbled across the Tavern in the Square (30 steps from the Central Square Red Line). The place is usually a sports bar, but being in Cambridge, they devoted one of their two bars to the debates, with three plasma TVs which were easily watchable from any of a half-dozen tables. The waitress came quickly and was very friendly and helpful, suggesting the seared ahi tuna salad for my girlfriend (which we loved). I had a perfectly cooked stuffed bacon and blue-cheese burger, that I wish my stomach was bigger so I could eat it again. Great micro-brew selection (Allagash White Ale, one of my favorites), great cocktails (she had something called a Brazillian Rain Forest, which I have no idea what's in it but it was amazing), friendly and knowledgeable staff... I'll be coming back here for all my sports games. Great all-around bar/restaurant. Pros: Sharp, clean atmosphere Cons: Closes at 1am weekdays more

I was looking forward to dining here. It looked like a nice place from the outside. It went downhill in a big way!\r \r Fast forward to dinner being served. We saw a cokroach (you can't use the real word here for some reason) on the wall. We didn't want to make a huge deal out of it in front of the rest of the restaurant. We called over the manager and she tried to smooth us over with drinks or moving the table. We told her we just wanted to leave at that point. Her compromise was to not charge us for the food. My friend and I just wanted to get out of there at this point and so did our wives. \r \r I wish that was where it ended. Later that night one of us got violently ill from food poising (they had the tuna salad).\r \r STAY CLEAR! Pros: Nice location Cons: Cleanliness more

My boyfriend and I went to the Tavern tonight and it was so bad that we felt the need to write this immediately upon returning home. We went at about 8:30 on Friday night, the place was packed and we thought we were in for some good food. The server came over and was very nice and attentive. The problem came with the food. We ordered philly cheese rolls, which by their description sounded amazing. The order came and it was half burned. We stayed positive and continued watching the sox game until the dinners came. My boyfriend ordered the fish and chips and it was really dry,overcooked and had no flavor. I ordered their ""famous stuffed burger"" which I was expecting to be worthy of the term ""famous"". It was smaller than a hockey puck and also burned. We realize this is not a four star restaurant but we ordered the basics, which shouldn't be hard to do. We will never go back to this place again, and you shouldn't waste your time even trying it. Pros: lots of Tvs Cons: terrible food more

I'll probably never go back to this Central Square bar again, even though I used to go often.\r \r I went recently on a Sat. night with a bunch of people - and spent lots of money on food and drinks. Last call was announced late - at around 1:55 AM. After we all ordered our last drinks, a dark haired muscular guy ( a bouncer I assume) came in and said ""Get out."" (Not giving us any time to drink what we purchased.)\r \r When someone responded politely that he thought he could finish his beer first, this bouncer grabbed his arms, wouldn't let go - and physically pushed him out of the bar and into the street shouting ""get the F out.""\r He said the same to another friend who asked if he could finish a drink. He also said the same, and inappropriately touched one of our female friends.\r \r These actions were completely unprovoked. I know most of the time, these arguments have two sides of the story. In this case - it was totally one-sided. Not only that, but physically grabbing someone like that, as well as not giving enough time to drink what they purchased is against Cambridge Laws. They should've called Last Call at 1:30 - but they didn't. And that isn't the consumer's fault.\r \r This is not the first time I have had poor service at this restaurant. I would recommend Management have conversations with both waiters and bartenders and re-train them in service... or this bar won't last long.\r \r Pros: location Cons: extremely rude staff more

I got seated and waited twenty minutes for a server to come. No drink order, no dinner order... it's clear that they're certainly not hurting for business, and certainly had no interest in mine.\r Maybe they were distracted because it was because it was quiz night, and somebody was shouting through a PA that was waaaay too loud. I walked out. Pros: Uh, busy? Full of people? Cons: No service, and thus no way to rate the food or the drink. Loud. more

Went there for the first and last time with an out of town guest. Music was insipid and loud, so we asked for a quiet table, were shown to one at the back of the restaurant, and still had to yell at each other. The waitress was nice and attentive, but the spinach/artichoke dip consisted of a stringy garlicky glop that reminded me of half-dried elmer's glue with lumps in it. The sangrias were mediocre at best. Our main course had just arrived, an mediocre pastiche of lumps of grilled chicken on a bed of arugula and canned fruit, when my friend spotted a rodent with a long skinny tail at our feet. The rodent zig-zagged around underneath our table, and then made its way through the shadows towards the table where other diners were. We put down our forks, and glumly looked at our plates. \r \r Our waitress soon came, and asked what was wrong. She politely apologized when we told her the reason for our sudden loss of appetite, but she did not seem surprised, and indeed indicated that previous incidents like this had taken place. She told us she would get the manager to handle the situation. \r \r The manager was completely different from the waitress... smug, annoying and totally unapologetic. He explained to us that this was, after all, Central Square, and that such animals were a part of daily life in Cambrige. Really? I didn't know that, after nearly 2 decades of living in Cambridge. I mean, I'd never enountered any such an animal at my feet before in any restaurant during all those years!\r \r The manager then grandly proclaimed that our drinks would be on the house, and assured us that ""we run a clean establishment here."" How very reassuring. \r \r The waitress, when she collected our money for our uneaten meal, was once more apologetic, and asked if the manager's settlement were satisfactory. I politely shook my head, we paid for the food and left. The appropriate department at city hall will be notified tomorrow morning. Pros: Friendly and attentive waitress, ok decor in a bland, corporate sort of way Cons: Noisy, below average food, arrogant manager, and rodents more

I must be a masochist. That is the only reason I can explain going back to the Tavern after two terrible experiences with them. The Tavern continued its streak with a third flop - no more! \r \r The lowlights of the first two experiences are typical service failures and poorly handled food which I regret not reporting to the Dept of Health. Anyway, a few of my friends wanted to play trivia but our usual haunts had canceled for the Fourth. I had phoned the Tavern to see if their Tuesday night trivia was still on. I asked an uncertain hostess, Lily, to check with a manager when I called. She put me on hold and came back with an affirmative. Fast forward a day to Tuesday, eight of us got there an hour early to ensure a table and to order dinner and drinks. Luckily, my meal seemed safe and it was only my beer that had a foreign object (a fly) in it this time. A hour later, there's no trivia. I asked a manager about it and she said trivia had been canceled a week ago. When I told her I had called and was given wrong information, she apologized in a simperingly, insincere way and added ""there's nothing I can do."" Here's a few suggestions: keep your staff informed, update your website, and/or give us a discount on the sub-par meal we just choked down. To add insult to injury, when we asked for our check, our waitress disappeared for nearly a half hour. When she finally returned, she asked if we wanted our check! Another fifteen minutes to get our check and another ten minutes waiting for our waitress to come back before we tried to pay at the bar. They held our bill at the bar until our waitress came back. With so many establishments in Central Square with better food and service, there's no reason to go to the Tavern. Pros: Location and good selection of beers Cons: Horrific service, cleanliness more

I have just returned to work after eating lunch at The Tavern. This was pretty much the worst service I""ve ever experienced. I sat in the side of The Tavern which is mostly empty during lunch hours (there isn't anyone working at the bar in that section of the restaurant) First off, it took 10 minutes for me to be seen by the Hostess, not a Waitress. The only thing the Waitress did was bring me my food, after I was waiting 40 minutes for a burger. A burger that was topped with ice-cold lettuce and tomato (It's temperature was as if it had just been taken out of the fridge.) My bun was still frozen in parts. Apparently, all though my onion rings were cold, the plate hadn't sat long enough under the heat lamps to finish defrosting the bun. \r \r It was simply the worst service I've had at The Tavern. The other table in the same section that I was in were also complaining and saying that they weren't going to return there again. I don't know if they filled out a suggestion/comment card or not though. I had, and I'm sending this e-mail just in case my card doesn't make it into the managers hand. \r \r The waitress' name on the receipt began with an A. Allison maybe? I don't recall.\r \r Either way, I've come to The Tavern about once a month for lunch since back when it was called Good Times. The service has become steadily more aweful over time and I don't intend to come back any longer.\r Pros: The waitstaff will leave you be for a long time Cons: The waitstaff will leave you be for a long time more

I guess if you're desperate for a bar and have to have it right in the middle of central sqaure and don't want to go to one of the pubs, then this is a fine choice. The food is typical bar food burgers and wings, though they now and then pretend to do better. more

If you want somewhere to hang out and watch TV all night where the staff will leave you alone and not bother you, this is the place. \r \r We went there on a Saturday afternoon to grab some lunch and have a drink or two. We did get the two drinks, that is, only two people in our party were ever served drinks. We had to walk up to the hostess to get menus. We were there for an hour an a half and could not get anyone to take our order. We considered walking back to the kitchen to place our own food order but then decided it would be faster and more enjoyable to just go somewhere else. Pros: Lots of TV, staff won't bother you Cons: Lots of TV, staff won't bother you more

Tavern is a great place to go for a beer with friends and/or to watch a game... but that's about it. The food is so-so at best and overpriced for the quality. I will recommend the spinach and artichoke dip as well as sweet potato fries but beyond that, most everything is bland (chicken especially), run-of-the-mill and lukewarm. Service is irritatingly slow at times (during the World Cup!) and you find yourself with an empty beer glass and no one offering a second round (uh, hello? that increases your tip!). Go with low expectations and you won't be disappointed. Pros: Beer, crowd Cons: Average service on a good night, bland food more

Okay, brunch buffets...usually not so good, everything tastes the same, yadda, yadda, yadda. Not the case at The Tavern in the Square. Fresh, made to order omlette's that they serve to you at your table, green salads, eggs, meats, 3 kinds of potatoes, fish, pastas, cheese blintz, amazing desserts, ice cream sundaes and a full table of fresh fruits: blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, pineapple, etc. For $14.95 a person, this is an unbelievable value and delicious too! Pros: fresh fruit, cheese blintz, ceasar salad Cons: parking, unhappy hostess more

The food here is bad. The menu options are boring, just like what you would find at any sports bar type of pub. And both times I've been the sandwiches have come missing things listed on the items, the fries are too salty, and the overall taste is bland. This place is only good to watch sports at the bar and have a beer. more

nice atmostphere- brown theme makes is seem classy for a restaurant/bar and the wish bar is good for a fancy mood. i enjoy the food... turkey wrap is always good... the woodgrilled pizza's are fanstastic- especially the buffalo chicken one- and the chicken milanese is delicious! The prices could be lower, but overall its a great place with good food, drinks and people. The waitstaff has always been friendly and accomodating and there isnt usually a wait for tables. Pros: Good food, late nite menu Cons: could be cheaper, loud at certain times more

If you enjoy mediocrity, then you will love Tavern in the Square. I have given the food at this restaurant/bar more than enough chances to even mildly impress me. I have tried many items on the menu and have yet to find one morsel that doesn't define ""bland."" The steak tips are not worth the $14.95 price tag. Don't even think about getting a pizza...unless a burnt cracker with mere hints of sauce and cheese flips your culinary switches. The onions rings are an extreme disappointment. The cuban sandwich is so-so. I did enjoy the turkey tips. Upon my next visit, I noticed that they had been removed from the menu. Why? I was told ""lack of interest."" My advice to the owners is to reduce the scope of the menu and concentrate on a few choice items. Pros: plenty of room Cons: bland food more

great food, especially in wish.Great place to bring a date. The Tavern is the place to go, if you are interested in music or sports.Staff are all very nice and friendly. A true neighborhood hangout. I love it! Pros: food, music, people Cons: crowded, no parking more