Craigie Street Bistro

Oh. My. God. I ordered the freaking chicken, and I mean it was plain old roast chicken, and it was the best thing EVER!!! The wine was good, the service was really great. Simply fantastic. Totally. Believe the hype.

I’m reviewing this on behalf of my Mom. I gave my folks a dinner out there, as an Anniversary present. They finally went last week, and here’s what she had to say:
«Ethereal…the best meal I’ve ever eaten out… Everything was perfect… I’d rather eat out once a year here, than go out to eat every week, anywhere else…»
Wow. I spent my money well, I think.
Both my folks got the Hanger Steak, with a side order of Bone Marrow (of course my Mom got bone marrow), and an Appetizer of Portuguese Sardines and greens. They finished off with chocolate mousse.
I’m surprised that they both ordered the same thing. I’m also surprised that Mom didn’t get something that involved brains, or something…
BTW, she tells me they are moving to Main Street in Central Square, because they are sick of all the parking hassles.

Not nearly up to its pretensions, this cozy but extremely overrated restaurant has a mysteriously loyal following. In fact, we were were taken there as guests of two enthusiastic recommenders, but I really just can’t figure out what the attraction is. Though the staff was friendly and competent, and the ambience was friendly (if a bit noisy) the food was almost bad: average ingredients, thrown together haphazardly and then smothered in heavy preparations and sauces. The place is overpriced too: the tasting menus at the nearby T.W.Food serves twice the quantity of (world class) food at the same price.
Craigie Street Bistro is one of those places who’s reputation requires some explanation, but I can’t come up with one. It is cozy, and in the winter, especially, I can imagine it being a nice place to sit; but the quality of the food is so low, I that I’m just puzzled.
If you must go (don’t, but if you must) be warned that parking will be a serious problem. Your best bet is to part on Brattle, near the Armenian Church.

Now that we’re sporting our first bambino, my husband and I have started a tradition: once a month we go all out, get a sittah’, and treat ourselves to the best of the culinary best. We are total foodies (yes, junior has a Top Chef onesie); this night is sacred, and expensive when you factor in the sitter, or the wine it took to ply a relative.
Cragie St. was our inaugural outing. We’ve been craving this night forever, more than once pressing our sleep-​deprived faces to Craigie’s sumptuous exhaust fan while little peanut cries from his stroller.
So you see where this is going. The stakes were too high, the anticipation, thick like good ricotta. You know when you meet someone who has it all: taste, looks, the Cooks Illustrated subscription, and you so want to fall in love. You eat their 6 course tasting menu, confirm what a great time you had, and then dial your ex from the bathroom?
We sooooo wanted to love this place. And it was great. Really, it was. Every dish was a work of art, beautifully plated with fresh ingredients and perfectly executed. The waitstaff could not have been more helpful and excited about what they do there. The vegetarian tasting menu was especially excellent so if you are a vegetarian, do this. And my main entrée, a perfectly seared wolf fish, came over a surprise of homemade Chinese sausage. And the level of care and attention placed on every plate is clear.
Everything was great, but, perhaps unfairly, we were expecting more than great. I was expecting to cry the cry of my long lost childhood found. I was expecting more of those homemade Chinese sausage moments. Don’t give me what I want, give me what I didn’t even know I wanted. I would go back, take my mom, take a client, take the shrink I probably need. Craigie St, it’s not you, it’s me.

My fiancé and I came here for dinner on a Thursday night. It was somewhat difficult at first to find the restaurant because it’s tucked away amongst houses and residential complexes, but it was a nice retreat from the hustle and bustle of Harvard Square.
I’ve read many reviews about the place concerning the prix-​fix menu, but alas, was unable to take advantage of this menu. Instead, we tried a la carte, and it was fabulous! Though somewhat pricey, compared to other restaurants in this price range, my fiancé and I thought this was one of THE BEST restaurants that we have eaten at (this includes some very nice places in San Francisco).
My fiancé’s chicken breast dish was delicious. I’ve never had such a soft chicken breast dish! The sauce was amazing too. I had a swordfish dish, and it was one of the best I’ve ever had. Normally swordfish is quite difficult to cook, and can often be very rubbery. But the chef made it just right and it was tender and succulent. Mmmmm. My mouth is watering just thinking about it (plus it’s lunch time, :P).
The dessert was heavenly too. I normally don’t like desserts, but we had the corn bread and oh my goodness! It was the best corn bread I’d ever had.
I think this is definitely my favorite restaurant in the Boston/​Cambridge area that I’ve been to yet. I’m excited to try the Chef’s Whim prix-​fix menu, as everyone who’s been says that it is quite spectacular. Plus, at $ 40 a person, it’s quite reasonable given how much you get. So here’s to my new favorite restaurant in Boston! :)

I took the hubby to Craigie Street Bistrot for his birthday, expecting great things since this restaurant was rated as one of the top in the country by Food & Wine Magazine. Sadly, we were disappointed. The food was good but not amazing, and the service was not good at all. We were also seated next to a very loud group; I can’t fault the restaurant for that, but it did negatively impact our dining experience.
We wanted to do a 6 course tasting menu, with vegetarian options for me and non-​vegetarian options for my husband. After a couple exchanges with a confusing waiter, we were told this wouldn’t be doable. So, we each went with a market menu, prix fixe. My food wasn’t really described well on the menu, so I got items that were different than what I was expecting, and they didn’t taste that amazing. The hubby fared a bit better (an octopus appetizer contained octopus, the scallop entrée had a couple scallops) but his food was also not exceptional.
The worst part was the service — we asked the waiter to recommend some wine and he just glanced at the first page of the wine list and pointed at the chef’s selection (a $ 70 bottle). We’re not wine connoisseurs, so we went with a more reasonably priced bottle ($ 35) instead. I don’t know if that offended our waiter or if something else happened, but we barely saw him after that. Each course was brought out and cleared away by other staff, and he didn’t even bother to bring us dessert menus. Finally, the hostess noticed us sitting there twiddling our thumbs and helped us.
Overall: we wouldn’t go back, and we wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone else.

I brought my dad here for Chef’s Whim last Sunday, and we were both blown away. In general, dad is not very adventurous with food, so (purely for his sake) I was a tad nervous about giving the chef free rein over the 4 courses, but we both loved it. The element of surprise really makes Chef’s Whim a fun event; it seemed that all of the tables around us were Chef’s Whim regulars, and now I can see why. I also liked the fact that this event attracts a younger crowd, making the atmosphere more carefree and fun than most top French restaurants (maybe Craigie St. is always like this?).
We ordered a reasonably priced Loire Valley red ($ 45) that was truly memorable: Domaine de Belliviere Le Rouge Gorge. Very striking spiciness that we couldn’t quite identify (coriander?) but in retrospect may have been fennel. Black cherry and plum, complex, yet light. Wonderful sommelier.
They serve a nice assortment of three types of bread, and a tartare of some sort of Hawaiian white fish, with bits of fresh ginger, radish, and cilantro, made a lovely prelude to the four courses.
Heralding spring like no other vegetable, asparagus burst forth in the first course from perhaps the greatest soup I have yet tasted. This asparagus soup was creamy yet light, satisfying yet refreshing, and came adorned with 2 shellfish, I believe a P.E.I. mussel and a clam.
Next was a delicate salmon-​like filet of Irish sea trout, served rare (as it should be) with a bit of mustard sauce and some very sweet Meyer lemon marmalade. My only complaint is that I wanted more of this curd-​like marmalade :)
Next was a rib eye served over a beef tongue ragout. This was another «best ever» for me– I don’t order red meat often, but this is definitely the best beef dish that I can recall over the course of my 24 years. Unfortunately (well, I suppose it’s not that unfortunate), the wine was taking full effect at this point, so I can’t recall the precise flavors used in the sauce, but the symphony of flavors and textures were remarkable.
Lastly, we were served two different desserts. Mine was corn grits-​based pudding, topped with dried fruits, hazelnuts, and a cinnamon ice cream. It was very good, with a homey flavor resembling a dressed-​up warm oatmeal cookie. However, my dad’s pear and fresh cranberry crisp with «old fashioned» ice cream was even better. Luckily, dessert portions were generous, so that there was plenty to share. Also, excellent coffee.
What a fantastic deal and fun experience! This is an ideal date place; I will definitely be returning.

Cragie St. is my go-​to restaurant– I can always count on Tony for inventive combinations and attention to quality ingredients. If you’re looking for classic French preparations mixed with some Asian flavors, this is the spot. I appreciate that all his meat is locally raised on small farms in a humane fashion, and I wish I could get introduced to his mushroom guy. I had a dish of wild mushrooms with a poached egg that was out of this world last time I was in.
The room is cramped, but that will be alleviated soon as it sounds like he’s moving to a bigger place. I just hope he can keep the same charm in a bigger room. It will be nice to not be elbow-​to-​elbow with your fellow patrons. Once he’s in a bigger room, assuming the food quality stays the same this will be a no-​brainer for five stars.
Finally, bistrot = casual = waiters in jeans. That’s part of the point. Yes, bistrot also means «cheaper» in France, but good ingredients are really expensive here. I don’t understand why you would come here if you’re going to complain about this– it’s not trying to be L’Espalier.

I love the coziness of this place. It’s like walking into a secret library where they have special manuscripts that few are allowed to see, let alone touch or sink their teeth into. How’s that for a metaphor, Unilocalers?
I usually get the Chef’s Whim prix fixe menu on Wednesday and Sunday evenings after 9:00 pm, four-​courses for $ 40. You don’t get to choose anything, so this is not a meal for those who lack a sense of eating adventure. Each dish makes you scratch your head, asking «What is that flavor??» Chef Tony Maws is a genius! The only thing I haven’t loved was the oreille de cochon — yup, a pig’s ear. Imagine cutting off and frying up an ear and then eating it. Gross.
Craigie Street has other special deals too, so it’s worth checking out their website. In my experience, reservations are key.

S. surprised me with dinner reservations here on Valentine’s Day. They were prepared for us with two special vegetarian prix fixe menus. I was a little disappointed that there were no options on the menu (meaning that we couldn’t share food), though we did get to share the dining experience, and that was great.
Craigie Street Bistrot deserves that fourth star for the adventurous dishes with absolutely excellent wine pairings. The wines themselves were wonderful, but they were really a perfect complement to the food, and the food a perfect complement to the wines.
The black truffle dishes (of which there were two) were much more earthy-​flavored and less musky than I would expect of good truffles, and to be completely honest, that was a disappointment.
The vegetables, in particular the brussels sprouts, were superbly prepared– still a bit crunchy and very flavorful.
The potage of gillfeather turnips with fava leaves and curry oil was unbelievably delicious and satisfying.
The candied fennel on the strawberry-​champagne sorbet intermezzo was a lovely touch, and I am tempted to try my hand with a big vat of syrup and some fennel at home.
The waiters were pleasant and attentive without lingering too much. We did not harass them too much with questions about the food, though we did ask what ‘Biogenic’ meant– something something, ‘more than organic’, something about moon cycles, yeah. The answer about what an Oroblanco is (a pomelo-​grapefruit hybrid) was a lot more convincing. In the meanwhile we have not been able to find a definitive answer for ‘Biogenic’, only ‘Biodynamic’, which I hope is not the same thing.
I enjoyed the earl grey chocolate truffles that arrived after dessert along with a single hardy red rose and a little jar of vanilla sugar. Nice touch.
I would definitely return, but S and I agree that we’d also rather just go to Oleana.
Remind me, I’ll write more later.

First off, my apologies to the diners within earshot last night, who had to hear things like, «Why is this SO f*cking good?» or «Omg omg… I think I just came.»
I just can’t get enough of this place! I went last night for the Lyon in Winter special event (but have been several times on non-​themed nights).
This place is hog heaven… so to speak. Tony Maws never misses a chance to cast pig in the leading role of a menu, so if you’re pig-​shy, don’t waste your time. But, if like me, you hope that in a future life you come back as a pied de cochon stuffed with black trumpet mushrooms and foie gras, then you must come here.
Another reason I love it is that CSB is so free of fluff and pretense. It’s in such an unlikely place — a basement of an apartment building. Most of the waiters are so friendly and just a little bit awkward — enough to make you feel comfortable.
My only wish is the they somehow dampen the noise in the place. The low ceilings make the place really noisy when full.
Oh, and it’s expensive — like nice-​handbag-​expensive, but all worth it.

Ate bone marrow… Check. Another one off the list. I’ve been to Sorelina, Oleana, Mistral, Taranta and some others and Craigie Street Bistro ranks right up there with the best of them. What CSB has over these other guys is their looser, more casual/​comfortable vibe. At both Mistral and CSB I had a confit chicken dish — while Mistral’s was slightly superior, I would prefer to go back to CSB if given the choice.
Also, the waitstaff at Craigie Street was impeccable. I don’t think it’s all that common for your waiter to also be the wine buyer for the restaurant, which was the case for us. Now I’m thinking every place should be set up that way. The staff is very knowledgeable, attentive but not too attentive and seem happy to be working here and passionate about what they do.
The passion comes from their use of only organic locally grown ingredients which goes so far as to list where everything came from on the last page of their always changing menu. Even while we were having diner we overheard that additions were still being made to the menu for later in the evening because some new produce had just arrived.
Everything we had was delicious by the way — the chicken, the sardines, the scallops and greens — if a tad on the rich side. There’s no way you should leave this place feeling underfed. I can’t understand if the menu might not strike you as being filled with dishes that jump out at you — this is a place that might require some adventure. I can remember the last time I ate a sardine, but at CSB you know it’s going to be prepared beautifully. There’s some awesome plating going on here btw.
So if you’re not interested in maybe going outside your comfort zone a little bit you can try somewhere else. I was honestly looking forward to it being a bit more exotic but I got to have some perfectly prepared bone marrow (not on the menu) so I can’t complain at all. No sir, not at all.

Craigie is a cozy little space, with friendly staff and an attempt to do interesting things with food. The flavors are fairly adventurous and innovative, and while some things didn’t mesh quite perfectly (goat’s milk caramel overpowered a fantastic fresh pear sorbet), I appreciate the effort, and would much rather have something tried with only partial success than eat yet another mediocre attempt at a veggie pasta or napolean that lacks imagination. I agree with the other reviewers who said that this place is all about food. It’s unpretentious and likeable, if a tad bit on the expensive side, for what you get. On the other hand, we had an excellent bottle of burgundy at under $ 50, which is rare.
If you’re a fan of ginger, don’t miss out on the gingerbread pain perdu with young ginger ice cream. yum. Also, their appetizers with the egg in the middle (forget exactly what else went into them, chanterelles, etc) were very well executed, and among the best starters I’ve tasted recently.
I’d definitely like to come back to try out their omikase-​style late night experience. Around 9pm, the place started filling with in-​the-​know locals who clearly come regularly, and for whom you can tell it’s the highlight of their week. That is what a neighborhood bistro should be all about.

At first, I thought this was a nice little step down bistro not much different from the others that preceded it — catering mostly to the residents of the nearby apartment buildings.
After a nunmber of visits over the last five years, I’ve come to realize its the head quarters of the Tony Maws food cult. What first tipped me off was noticing the reverence the staff have for the food and for the chef/​owner. While appearing simply attentive, its obvious that their aim is to convert innocent restaurant goers who will fork over gobs and gobs of cash in order to participate in the nightly rituals.
One key to the cult is the attention paid to the ingredients, all fresh and very high quality. Cult members will tell you that Maws lets the ingredients guide his menu. It shows ine very dish.
One of their more devious recruitment techniques are their price fixe menus. Chef’s whim and the neighborhood menu are highly affordable and are appealing entry points into the cult. If you take advantage of these relative bargains, beware the cult’s persuasive power. One waiter explained that he had come there and was so amazed by the flavorful chicken that he filled out a job application along with the credit card slip.

Five words: spanish octopus a la pole. OH, you frightening beast that curled around my taste buds and dragged me to the depths of a basement, your sweet and cozy lair, aka Craige Street Bistro. Future patrons – do NOT be scared. I know the sucker-​filled appendage looks like it came from a monster that would eat you if it had the chance, but try to work past that. Never in a million years would I have thought that octopus could be this damn good.
Ginger ice cream (made on the premises) paired with a scrumptious light ginger brownie-​type dessert is also worth noting.

I very much like Craigie Street Bistrot — it’s cozy and pleasant and the food is interesting and very, very good. I notice the reviews are oscillating between «fantastic!» and «what? people like this place?». I’m in the fantastic camp, but there are a couple of things that potential diners should be aware of:
1. The food has a lot of character. It is not classic french bistrot, it’s a fusion of american trendy meets organic once a long time ago met french bistrot. It’s considerably more imaginative than anything you would eat at a bistrot in Paris. You may or may not care for that feature.
2. It’s small and very, very cozy. Also nice and quiet, and in a quiet spot.
3. One natural consequence of small is that although the menu changes daily on any particular day it is somewhat limited. If you don’t happen to care for the ingredient-​of-​the-​day you may find yourself less than thrilled with the choices. One reviewer had a problem with all the pork on the menu; that’s the kind of thing that happens here. Call ahead and if you don’t like what you hear, cancel and make another reservation. I use opentable, and this is the kind of place where I just make a three reservations and cancel two of them. Note: if you do this, be a good sport and call and if necessary cancel in the morning, not 20 minutes before you get in the car. Cancel all your backup reservations the moment you know you don’t need them.
4. There is no parking to speak of. Yes, there is a tiny lot but at 7:00pm it will be full. Take one quick cruise around the neighborhood to see if it’s your lucky night, but it’s sometimes more pleasant to just park in Harvard Square and walk, particularly if the weather is nice.
5. The desserts are not up to the rest of the menu, as one reviewer noted. You’ll probably be too full anyway.
6. It’s all about the food. That’s fundamentally unromantic. A romantic meal is one where *I* am on the pedestal, not my dinner.
7. It’s all about the food. The atmosphere of the restaurant is much more casual that most places with this kind of price tag. It’s not ratty shorts casual, but it’s not very dressy either. The waiters wear jeans, and you can too.

I went there for a dinner on Sunday and was very disappointed. I had suggested it as a place for my friends to take me for my birthday. I was so embarrassed.
The place is charming but the food isn’t. We had a hard time deciding what to order because nothing looked good on the menu. One of my pet peeves is when chef’s use pig as a seasoning for food. Almost everything on this menu from the salad to fish had some form of pig in it. I know that McDonald’s uses bacon to cover up for dry bland food by adding bacon— what is this place trying to cover.
I ordered the chicken and it was juicy but the sides were not memorable and lacking interest. One of the people I was with ordered the Striped Bass, which I tried, and it tasted really fishy, something that Striped Bass should not be.
They told us it would be a 25– 30 minute wait for our entrees and we should order an app. Well none of the apps looked interesting, so I ordered a $ 12 salad. with nothing but a few flowers and some onion on it. I didn’t understand why the food would take that long and I thought it was tacky that I felt obligated to order something.
I use to drive by this place and wonder about it. I will now just drive by it.

I heard so many good things about this place and I was so disappointed.
The courses were uneven – sometimes savory, but sometimes just plain bland. The plating was a mess, no direction in concept. My first course, for example, was immersed in a soupy sauce. I was so sad when my delightful little quail egg disappeared underneath the waves. Where did it go? I wanted to eat you! Though the ingredients were fresh, I didn’t feel like they were used to any distinctive or remarkable effect.
Aside from that, parking is difficult, the location of the restaurant is not really T accessible, particularly on a cold winter day, located in the tiny basement of a brick building. If you’re tall, like me, it’s no fun bending over to avoid the low beams. All this could be overlooked if the food and service were stellar. But they weren’t.
The seating is disastrous. Despite having made reservations in advance, I was seated in a corner seat in a mostly empty dining room which stuck out into the walking path of most waiters. I kept getting bumped all night with no apologies from the waiters.
I’m a sucker for details in a high-​quality restaurant. If someone goes an extra mile on presentation, you know they care not only about the food they serve, but the experience of it as well. Waiters in jeans? why did I bother to dress up? a clipboard for a menu? UGH. wilted flowers on the table? Baby, if you can’t handle fresh flowers, get rid of them. They’re only getting in the way of your enormous plates on itty bitty tables anyway.
As for the service, although there were about 5 different servers throughout the night giving me implements, water, etc, there was a serious problem in their communication. In a fine dining restaurant, you don’t want every server asking you which plate belongs to who, you want them to know this information in advance and put it down without interrupting your conversation. You also need coordination in the plates – you don’t want to sit around for 15 minutes, letting your appetizer get cold because your date’s appetizer still isn’t ready. tsk tsk. You also don’t want to spend $ 13 on a bottle of sparkling water only to have someone come by and refill your half full glass with tap water.
You could say Craigie Street Bistro is a competent restaurant. But do you really want to spend a lot of money and time on something that’s just competent? Or do you want something special? If you want something special, skip this place.

Craigie Street Bistro is located in a strange place, it’s underneith an apartment complex. So when you first get there, you think ” ??? «to yourself. And then you go downstairs, so are like » ?#@&?? «. Then you go inside and get seated, it feels like you are in Paris. Not the gorgeous touristy Paris. It’s the cozy and local feel of the regular bistro in your neighborhood atmosphere (in Paris). But the food, is not the regular bistro level (higher). Price is not regular bistro price (higher) but it’s totally worth it.
Pros:
They have seasonal Prix Fixe menu. This is usually around $ 60 – 90 per person and has 2 or 3 choices in each section consisting of: amuse-​bouche (starter’s starter), entrée (real starter), plat (main dish), then desert and desert wine. Food is just amazing.
The ingredients are also very fresh, since it’s mostly local.
Wine list is superb, and yes French are snob about their wine, everything on the wine list is from France and only France lol And French are justified for being a snob about their wine, because it’s good.
Cons:
Parking. They have only 2 spots in the lot for parking. But then again, you could park on street near the Armenian church. Or on Concord Ave or Garden St. If you have Cambridge resident sticker, you can park on the streets anywhere. So it’s just not the easiest, but not that bad.
Also, the bistro has 2 weird tables. They are angled funny, and not very comfortable because if people behind you pull their chairs back, they bump into your chair. So one should ask for the seats that are near the walls. I don’t really know what the deal is with those 2 tables, but I think the bistro needed to put extra tables because the food is so good and lots of people want to come. Two times I was there they seated me in that strange table.
If it weren’t for those strange tables I would have given them 5 stars. Their food is definitely 5 stars.

The service at Craigie St is something to behold. I had a very complicated booking and they bent-​over-​backwards to accommodate me, my parents, their car and our dog. My parents were arriving on a Friday evening after a week long drive with the dog all the way from Los Angeles via Wyoming and I needed to book not only a table on one of the busiest nights but also try to secure parking right in front of the bistro so that we could easily keep an eye on our dog throughout the meal. The Bistro went as far as getting me a spot in a local neighbours driveway whilst she was away for the weekend. Amazing.
Once in the restaurant the service level never dropped. Every dish was beautifully described with wine choices carefully suggested without being forceful. Our waiter even got us an amazing selection of fresh marrow for our dog (a true doggy-​bag!) and the chef sent out wishes to our dog as well. A lovely touch.
The interior, presentation and size were exactly right for a French Bistro and the menu and wine list complemented this further. I enjoyed the food and actually found it and the wine very good value compared to similar dining in Europe. The atmosphere was a little stuffy for me, but this is typical for good French restaurants — my parents loved it. Personally, I’m not the biggest French cuisine fan but perhaps places like this can turn me.
Two tips for a great meal at Craigie St…
1. Don’t wear your tightest trousers possible in an attempt to look chic and French — it just makes it increasingly uncomfortable with every bite swallowed. Schoolboy error on my part.
2. Get Dad to pay.