UpStairs on the Square

Yummy, Green, and Super Friendly. Definitely one of the best restaurants in Harvard Sq. My friend and I went there to try their special SuperBowl menu. We just got appetizers and drinks, but they were extremely good. The maple-glazed wings especially (though according to the chef, whom we met, there was a lot of bourbon in the glaze, too). And the cocktails were quite creative - I especially liked the smoky-sweet mezcal cocktail. They also had a lot of info on the origins of the alcohols (and whether they were organic or sustainably produced) in the wine menu, which was awesome. And they gave us complimentary dessert, possibly because we got so many drinks. Overall it was a fabulous experience, and the fact that it's a green certified restaurant made me feel that much better about going there.…

A really bad experience. My party of four arrived at 8.30 pm for an 8.30 reservation. The hostess - an ugly disinterested troll - made us wait for 20 minutes in a dark crowded hallway where people were pushing past us to go to the washroom. A second hostess - a younger bimbo with no qualifications - told us that our table would be another 10 - 15 minutes. No apologies or explanation. We were treated like dirt.

(For those readers who think the previous paragraph is sexist, all I can say is that my wife concurs with this assessment of the appearance and behavior of the hostesses.)

We noticed that other people were invited to sit at the bar so we pushed our way into the restaurant and stood at the bar where we waited ten minutes to be served.

45 minutes after arriving I asked the bimbo when our table would be ready and said if it wasn't soon we would leave (which we should have done at that point). Nothing happened so after a few minutes I told her to go upstairs and find out if the table she had said would be ready in 15 minutes half an hour ago was ready. She came back and said it was. This was 45 minutes after the time of our reservation.

We went upstairs to find the staff throwing a tablecloth over a table that really was too big for four people.

We had planned to have the vegetarian and vegan tasting menus promoted on the website but first we didn't get menus for the tasting menu and then the waiter made it pretty clear that, because it was now 9.30, the tasting menu was not a good idea because it took a long time. As if the fact that it was so late was our fault? The vegan tasting menu was not on the menus we finally forced the waiter to give us.

So we left and had a nice meal for about one fifth of the cost nearby.

I can't comment on the food at Upstairs on the Square because we never got any.

But I can comment on the fact that if you plan to make a reservation at a nice restaurant and spend $150/person on the meal, then Upstairs on the Square is not the place to go because their ability to courteously host and seat their customers is hardly world class. In fact, it's unconsciounably bad.…

OVERPRICED HYPE: DON'T GO. HAVING SEEN THE VERY FAVORABLE REVIEW OF "UPSTAIRS" ON CHRONICLE RECENTLY, MY FRIEND AND I WENT FOR BRUNCH YESTERDAY (02/09/09) AND LEFT FEELING VERY DISAPPOINTED FOR THESE REASONS: THE FOOD WAS ONLY MEDIOCRE--OUR APPETIZER OF PROSCIUTTO AND MELONS (AT $10) WAS SKIMPY WITH ONLY TWO THIN NOT-QUITE-RIPE SLICES OF HONEYDEW AND CANTALOUPE; MY ENTREE, FRENCH TOAST ($14) WAS SO DENSE AND SYRUPY RICH THAT I WAS UNABLE TO FINISH IT (IN FACT, I GAGGED AT THE MERE THOUGHT OF SUGAR FOR THE REST OF THE DAY); AND THE COFFEE WAS LUKEWARM, DESPITE REPEATED CUPS, EACH OF WHICH HAD GROUNDS SWIMMING IN THE BOTTOM. MY FRIEND'S FRESH-EGG TART ($13) WAS LITTLE MORE THAN MUSH, THOUGH SHE LIKED THE SALAD DRESSING ON THE GREENS THAT CAME WITH THE EGG DISH. THE BRUNCH MENU WAS VERY LIMITED.

ON THE BRIGHTER SIDE, OUR MALE WAITER, THOUGH VERY BUSY, WAS PLEASANT AND ATTENTIVE, AND THE REST OF THE STAFF SEEMED CHEERFUL. THIS, HOWEVER, WAS SCANT COMPENSATION FOR THE EXORBITANT PRICE OF OUR UNSATISFACTORY GOURMET EXPERIENCE. WE WILL ADVISE OUR FRIENDS NOT TO MAKE OUR MISTAKE, NOR DO WE PLAN TO RETURN.…

Perfect Date. I took my boyfriend here for his birthday, which also happened to be the night of Obama's inauguration. I can't imagine a better place to have spent this important day! We dined in the elegant and romantic soiree room and ordered from the special event menu. Between the two of us we tasted everything on the Obama menu. It's always a challenge finding a place that won't disappoint my boyfriend, a five-star chef by profession. Here he thoroughly enjoyed his meal and didn't try to analyze the complex flavors in his meal-- he simply enjoyed. They also surprised him by presenting him with a beautifully scripted birthday message on his dessert. (I had mentioned his birthday when I made reservations). Strongly recommended!…