Back Bay Harry’s

Came for brunch. Next thing you know, IT’S LIT! Absolutely recommend this place for brunch. Great looking staff as well.

This place has fantastic cocktails, specially the mojito! Really good! The waitress was very friendly and talkative :)
You can join a beer or cocktail with friends here while watching sport on the big screens. Gay-​friendly bar too.

Two very, very important words: baked Brie. This is one of the only restaurants I’ve ever gone to that has baked Brie on the menu* and, boy, do they do it well! I would go here everyday for lunch if only to eat the baked Brie!
The group split baked Brie (duh) to start, and I ordered a grilled avocado salad with salmon for my meal. The portions were generous; the salad was delicious (even without dressing!); and I left with a happy, happy belly.
*If any folks know of other restaurants with (yummy) baked Brie on the menu, please send their names my way!

If a restaurant isn’t going to serve from the full menu during their operating hours it should be posted especially when one makes a reservation. After seeing the matinée of a nearby play a friend and I wanted to have a late lunch/​early dinner. We got there at 4 pm to find out the kitchen wasn’t serving from the full menu until 5 pm so we had to settle from the limited late night bar menu. The service was lackluster, the food blah and I sent back one of the worse cups of coffee I’ve ever tasted. Highly doubtful I’ll go back.

Back Bay Harry’s is right next to my job so its usually where we go if we don’t want to walk very far. I have been here 3 or 4 times already, so this review is a little late.
Last night I came here to grab a drink. I got the Pineapple Express drink (I believe that was the name). Main ingredients include Vodka, some jalapeño, and smoked pineapple. Smoky/​spicy pineapple drinks are starting to be my new fave so I was glad that it was done so well. $ 11
Today, we decided to come here for lunch because it was rainy and didn’t want to walk to the original location. I got the burger that originally comes with bacon, gouda, fried onions, lettuce and tomato and BBQ sauce, but substituted the burger for the veggie patty. It was a black bean burger but still so good. I like their fries, they are well seasoned. The pickle seems to be homemade and VERY salty. OMG. this cost me $ 15 but the meal is pretty big so I was not able to finish.
This place is solid. I may try the Brussels sprout Caesar salad next time I come, since my friend had it and It looked pretty good (minus the Brussels sprouts part)

If you’re going to get too drunk at your work party, this is the place to do it. Drinks are good, food is delicious (I suggest you eat) but most of all the staff and bartenders are a class act.
The ambiance is wonderful for gatherings and they rent out/​provide appetizer catering making it a really nice spot in Back Bay for a party.

Really like this place — both as a location to get a late night drink as well as early dinner.
Drinks are great (as is selection /​options). Food is excellent. They will take care of your ‘special’ requests with no issue. Oysters delicious. Pizza /​burgers very good. Have only gone casual so far so can’t comment on entrees. Definitely worth checking out if you are in the area and are looking for a nice, comfortable place to hang out and be well taken care of — with a good selection of drinks and bites to eat. Recommended.

It’s small but has a nice, friendly environment. Drinks are reasonably priced and the service was pretty good

Was pleasantly surprised when I dined here for dinner! Have lived in back bay for a feeblest sand never heard much hype about this place and after going I don’t get why! Great service, food, and drinks. Had some beers and a quest fundido dip to start which was a vat of cheesy goodness! We then split a flatbread pizza and a burger which were both tasty and enjoyable. Need to come back here and try brunch too!

My wife and I went to Back Bay Harry’s this past Sunday to redeem a 4 course brunch deal I purchased online. Even being a little early for our reservation, we were seated promptly. Our server Daniel brought us our complimentary drinks and informed us of the set menu.
The first course was brought out quickly, and it was quite tasty (I don’t recall exactly what it was because I never actually saw a menu). While eating, our plates were cleared very quickly, and the next course was promptly brought out. I personally would have preferred more time to sit, relax, and enjoy the nice atmosphere of the restaurant. The second course was also pretty good, but it was an interesting combination of a salad and some sort of hash that contained what appeared to be cubed deli meat. Again, very quickly we were eating the next course, which was some french toast with a half-​cooked, somewhat dry apple slice on top. The whipped cream and syrup were quite good on the toast.
Somewhere around this time, I received a drink I had ordered. It was supposed to be some concoction with whiskey and egg whites, but what I got tasted exactly like the mimosa my wife had had. We pointed this out to the server, and he took it back and brought the correct drink. I don’t really mind, but it was very clear he had no sense of what my drink would have looked like if correctly made or he was very distracted possibly.
The final course was some tasty doughnuts with some sweet toppings in side dishes to add. The toppings were sloppily scraped into the dishes, but were all very good (whipped cream, a berry medley it seemed, and a lemon custard?) and went nicely with the doughnuts.
Overall, the food was pretty good for the price of the deal I bought, but the service was very rushed. I would have preferred a more leisurely Sunday morning brunch, as opposed to the sit-​down fast food I had.

This place is pretty average. Came here after a concert on a Friday evening.
Good — I like the atmosphere/​décor. They’ve done a good job in that area. The appetizers were actually the highlight of the meal. Calamari was great. The nachos were great as well.
Not so good — No one in the party was thrilled with their entrée. The salad one person ordered was very disappointing. I ordered the monkfish, which was actually cooked well, but flavors were off. It came with a capers/​olive relish, which totally overpowered the fish. Even when I brushed it off the fish, it still was difficult to taste the fish itself. They should consider putting the relish on the side. The greens underneath the fish were too salty. The ‘chorizo & chickpea stew’ had two tiny pieces of chorizo in the entire dish. I honestly could’ve given the place 3 stars, but when we ordered the nachos appetizer, we specifically and clearly said ‘guacamole on the side, there is a food allergy in our party.’ A few minutes later the nachos come with guacamole on top of the nachos. Hence why I am giving this place 2 stars instead of 3. That shouldn’t happen.
Parting thoughts — If you find yourself here, your probably best off sticking to a few appetizers and drinks at the bar. It’s not like the entrees were a bargain, so I can’t say I’d see myself coming back here for dinner.

I came here late at night with a group. We were in the back room and hoping to get a quick bite before heading home for the weekend. The service was pretty slow and the food was nothing to write home about. A few of my people got some drinks (which I sipped) and they were really weird. I think one of them had butter in it? I try to have an open mind with these things, but one sip and — nope.
That being said, it was late at night and I think the kitchen was close to closing time. My food was fine and good portions, but I’ve also had better. I’ll have to head back again during more normal hours and try it again.

I’ve only been for cocktails and for Beyonce brunch, and the cocktails here are pretty fabulous. The food at the Beyonce brunch was very disappointing, but I would go back to give them another shot. Maybe the brunch was just an off menu.
Read more here:

When I read that Back Bay Harry’s was throwing a Mean Girls’ themed brunch, I had found my mission of the day. Combining a few of my favorite items [brunch, good friends, a day time movie and scrumptious 3 course menu.
The location is fantastic, placed directly by Columbus ave in back bay, and the place was packed. Bartenders walked around in cut out tank tops and everything pink [as appropriate] and made sure you felt right at home. You were poured a complimentary glass of champagne and you would browse around the menu, filled with pictures from the movie, quotes and the name sake brunch items. For the actual event, they show the entire movie, so 3 times that day in case you had worked that whole shift.
To the food itself:
You start off with latkes with applesauce for the table and are adequately given enough for your party [there were two of us and we got 6 latkes]. Also, they were huge and delicious. I could’ve just munched on those but it would have spoiled the rest.
You get to pick your main course which is one of 4, I opted for the Regina George’s «So you think you’re really pretty croquet madame», while my friend got the Gretchen Wieners «That’s so fetch» French Toast. Again, these dishes are huge! Incredible. The French Toast came smothered in blueberries and sugar spread like you would have found on one of Gretchen’s genius father’s inventions [the Toaster strudel] and maple syrup. It was clearly enough for two people.
The Croque Madame came nestled in a bed of [Aaron Samuels] Arugula salad and smothered in melted cheese. Slowly, I made my way through the layers. The flavor was just outstanding, evenly balancing out the delicate prosciutto and parmesan and getting a whiff of fried basil here and there. I wanted, I NEEDED to stop, but I just get eating away at it and the movie continued and continued. I needed to keep room for desert, the «Sweatpants are all that fit me right now» Chesecake; a New York style Cheesecake slice with delicious crumble crust and covered in Strawberries. Amazing.
Unfortunately, we needed to depart before the movie was quite done so we needed to take the desert to go, but the staff had no issues packing it up for us. No deliciousness was lost on its way back to the house.
Things I will note to the movie:
1. Remember how long movies are? So make sure you budget enough time on these themed brunches and eat accordingly.
2. There’s a pretty substantial gap between entrée and desert so when we needed to leave it was a little hard in tracking down a staff member who had all disappeared to the back for other chores.
3. It’s very loud. Movie theater loud. So it’s awkward to socialize.
However, all in all a delightful experience and worth the $ 35 price tag. Normally I consider that a little pricey, a portion of the proceeds are donated to a theme appropriate charity [in this case and anti-​bullying charity]
Do come to one of these.

Great cocktails with even greater names. Of course my favorite one has the least creative name IMO, Dark Krystal, but it’s so very delicious with its pomegranate tequila, citrus, agave nectar and champagne float. A bit on the sweet side (as you can imagine given the ingredients), so I typically stick to just one and then switch to something tamer.
On my 3^rd visit, I finally tried the food. The menu is pretty interesting, with some inventive dishes like chicken fried bacon (what is that?), deviled duck eggs w/​tuna tartare, rosemary spiced cashews, and about a dozen optional add-​ons for the salads. FYI: the menu online was not the same as the menu at the restaurant, not sure if they ever update the website.
My dining companion and I started with the cashews which were a delightfully spicy/​salty/​sweet treat. I had the Baby Kale Caesar. Quite large and equally tasty, but not exactly as it was described on the menu. She had the Arugula Salad with grilled chicken added, and informed our server of her dietary restrictions (GF & DF). When it arrived, the server assured her the chicken was not cooked with butter or any dairy, and the side of oil & vinegar would be ok. Except there was cheese on the salad. Not a big deal, she happily & apologetically took it back and returned promptly with a fresh salad that was actually DF. Again, it wasn’t as it was described on the menu, but still good.
Overall, we were both pleased with our dining experience and agreed we would almost certainly return to sample some of the other intriguing menu items (and cocktails). The restaurant/​bar has a nice vibe to it with some more opulent design elements balanced out with a more casual, relaxed atmosphere. Very clean, bright bathroom! Friendly, helpful staff. Definitely worth a visit for after-​work drinks, a casual dinner for two, or even a festive group outing. I’ve also heard great things about the brunch, specifically the themed brunches. Def gonna check those out.

Boston has many brunch options, but if you need a spot to fit a good-​sized crowd, that can be a bit tougher. That is, till I found Back Bay Harry’s! They not only took my reservation, but didn’t blink an eye when I later called back to up the number.
As a pleasant surprise, we found that we were set up in their lovely private room in the back, away from all noise (well, except for some persistent pounding from the kitchen). Generally, it has a long table that seats 20, and an end wall decoratively filled with shelves of books and knick-​knacks.
Back Bay Harry’s had a reasonably priced delicious sounding brunch menu that had initially enticed me to look into this as the location of our outing.
Fresh Made-​To-​Order Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts served with three sauces $ 8 arrived as 5 balls of dough tossed with cinnamon sugar, with:
. peanut butter
. caramel
. white chocolate mousse
The peanut butter was thick and seemed to basically be peanut butter. It was my least favorite, while the light white chocolate mousse was by far my favorite such that I ate the remainder straight up.
Crab Cake Benedict two crispy eggs, wilted spinach, cajun hollandaise $ 15 sounded terrific. It also looked terrific. But the taste fell a little short, though I have no idea what was missing.
Their Churro French Toast $ 10 lacked the crisp texture churros are known for, but what do you expect after a soaking in an egg batter bath?
The Open Faced Fried Egg BLT $ 10 sounded great, but was found to be a difficult dish to eat daintily. So consider yourself forewarned.
Back Bay Harry’s Weekend Brunch is only served Sundays from 11am — 3pm.

The past few times I’ve been to BackBayHarrys its been a clean, sophisticated, pleasing experience. This time the bar was the place to be. Family and friends of mine went in for a later happy hour/​game before the club (yes we were there for a while). ‘Melissa’, behind the bar, was so on top of everything, she seemed to know when to recommend food/​another round of drinks & was overall intuitive enough to keep the moods lively. She had complete control of the bar with a ease/​grace showing professionalism at its finest. Food was tasty, clean and satisfying. The menu was clever; with Will Ferrell’s character quotes as drink names and out of the ordinary ingredients on food items/​plates. This not so casual place serves great signature drinks, awesome food and has a calm vibe in a place making it comfortable for one on ones/​bigger groups on the night out. Cheers!

This is a mixed review for me, I chose BBH’s for dinner during Dine Out Boston week. Once we were seated, they only handed us the Dine Out Boston menu and with no choice but to wonder what other options they had in house.
Drink menu had a wide variety of different beverages to choose from including wine options, beer options as well as house cocktails. I chose the Shake & Bake only to bring it back to the bar because it just lacked of any substance in there for me. gin?lemon juice? just a weird combination and the server wasn’t surprised because she explained that the cocktails tend to be surprising for a lot of people too.
For dinner I chose:
++Ahi Tuna: 4 blocks of tuna seared pepper encrusted tuna cuts on top of a dollop of spicy mayo? some herbs and a sliced of fried avocado. Maybe I should stop ordering seared sashimi because I prefer fresh rather than seared. I mean it was okay… the fish was fresh and the spicy mayo was a nice touch but nothing amazing about the dish.
++Special of the day: veal, pureed turnip, cranberries and maple sauce. I wanted to try something different and I was so glad I went with this option. Not sure if this is a regular on their menu but it was the special for the day. It was my first time eating veal. I think… and the texture of it was almost similar to moist chicken. The gravy sauce at first on its own seemed very sweet but it was a nice pairing with the veal. The turnip purée was a nice touch but it was really the sweet and tart sauce that tied the dish together.
++Beignets: Maybe I have a huge sweet tooth when it comes to my desserts but this wasn’t sweet enough for me. I didn’t really enjoy this dish — you have about 5 beignets which are soft, sugar topped munchkins paired with a whipped sugar cream? and chopped strawberries. If I’m going to stuff my face, please make it a bit more pleasurable.
Overall, the restaurant tries to put a new spin/​twist on regular entrees but it falls short due to the lack of the taste combinations. I had the chance to try my two friend’s dishes (salmon entrée & mussel entrée) and I was not impressed. I would give it another chance since I enjoyed my dish and perhaps the regular menu may have something else to boast about.

I waited until I had been to Back Bay Harry’s several times before sitting down to write this review. This is something I don’t normally do for most restaurants. However, I had a mixed experience on my first two visits and since my fellow diners really enjoyed their meals and I had heard great things about the restaurant and chef I kept coming back.
Overall, the menu is reasonably small and you may have trouble finding something you are in the mood for. Not all of the meals are exactly what they seem. For example I ordered a salad expecting something of reasonable portion size and with lettuce and what I got was a few varieties of tomatoes carefully placed around my plate.
That being said the food they make is high quality and it is delicious. If you find the right things you will be in for a treat. At this point having dined there 6 times, I can say that for lunch you should consider only three options:
1) Grilled Avocado Salad (add chicken, steak and/​or bacon)
2) Back Bay Burger
3) Pork Cubano Sandwich
All of these meals are absolutely delicious and since it is conveniently located next to where i work, i will continue to go back and order these things.

Haven’t tried the food yet, but the cocktails are excellent… $ 11 will get you a well-​crafted, unique, delicious cocktail with hilarious movie reference names («School for Ants», «Shake and Bake», «Scotchy Scotch Scotch», «Tigers Love Pepper, They Hate Cinnamon»). My «MA! The Meatloaf!» was excellent, a local rum-​based cocktail with pistachio that I’d happily drink all night. Service at the bar was excellent, and the seats are cozy and perfect for long stays, albeit a bit too close together. Solid place to come for a drink when you’re in the area.
My one comment is that in the cold weather, every time the door opens, a chill rushes directly over to the bar– would be nice to install some kind of curtain or wind blocker.