Hi-Rise Bread Company

Recommends

tropicalbirder

Joined 6 years ago

Staph infection. The bread is good and the wine selection is nice. The crowd is definately well- healed and can afford the huge prices for average sandwiches and ok soups. Watch out for the staff, in one second they can turn from coolish and aloof to nasty and unpleasant. Somebody should explain to them why they call it the hospitality business. No parking.

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boobii

Joined 6 years ago

Best Sandwich Anywhere, Cute and Homely. This is my favorite neighbourhood bakery (another High-rise in Harvard Square as well), so far and forever. While I've been there so often, I've never had any experience of being treated illy. Super nice service. And the best part is of course, the food -- bakeries, sandwiches, cookies, salads... My only wish is that they could make the price a bit lower... But hahaha, I'll keep on going anyways. =)

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francophile

Joined 10 years ago

You get what you pay for. O.k., I may not be from Boston or Cambridge but I do know good bread, wonderful food, and the joy of going to an independently owned neighborhood bakery. Every time I've visited this bakery I've been so blown away by the quality of the product...hands down this bakery does a great job with breads, pastries and food. Customer service is important and while I've never really noticed the staff as rude, they have always been efficient and fast moving. I just don't understand the "anti independently owned business" slant that so many reviewers have taken. It's sad that so many folks in Cambridge don't appreciate what they have until it's gone. Part of the charm of this neighborhood is the smell of freshly baked bread every day. This can't be an easy feat. Maybe if Panera or Starbucks or better yet a real estate company moves in, then everyone will have what they want...a totally generic neighborhood with zero ambiance. And once a business like this goes away, do you think another independently owned business will take its place? I seriously doubt it.

At the end of the day it should be about the quality of the product and these guys are damn good.

And no, I do not own the place, work there, or have any involvement with the managers and the owners.

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neighborhood

Joined 6 years ago

real-life neighborhood place. interesting to read these reviews. seems reviewers' expectations are for standardized, trained-smile, "it's-my-pleasure" customer service--like mcdonalds, starbucks, or whatever generic corporate outpost. and yes, the food is expensive.

some context: cambridge has more million-dollar houses per capita than anywhere else in country. commerical space is also extremely expensive. that's a pain. please don't take the prices personally. it's not arrogance. it's how to make a living as enterprise here. I would rather have a bakery that raises its prices than have it replaced by another real-estate office (which is mostly what's been happening over the last decade or so). so if you don't have much surplus cash (my situation), then buy less; eat more slowly; sip don't slurp. watch the people. breathe. if you don't like it, leave. that's okay. (there's a place called "sarah's" across the street (never been there) and quite a few places in the Square. one of my favorites is the other hi-rise; it's on mt. auburn, in the old blacksmith's house (cf. Longfellow's poem); has the best outdoor cafe in cambridge.)

people who go regularly (as many do) know the people who work there. it's mom-and-pop-ish with all the variability that implies. weird to hear such emphasis on "service." it's unpredictable. _especially_ if you don't know the people (i.e., even when you do). people can be idiosyncratic and moody. like real life, before corporate rule, timeclocks, and big-brother behavioral conditioning.

(there are not enough "characters remaining" in this text box, so I will (sorry) stretch the rule here a bit and continue the "review" in next post (see above).)

Doesn't Recommend

jmi52

Joined 6 years ago

I'm from what is supposed to be the RUDEST city...(PHILADELPHIA) I think HIGH-RISE has the whole city beat. In passing through Boston over the weekend we decided to stop drive through town and find some great Pizza eateries. On my way to Armandos- which by the way has great pizza- I stumbled upon a Bakery which looked absolutely lovely....from the outside. I couldnt resist after I saw a man walk out with what looked to be a long warm baguette. So I decided to stop in and see what was going on. Its pretty easy spot an out of towner who has absolutley no idea where to being. I didnt know WHERE to order or what I was even ordering. LOL With big eyes and a nice smile I looked to the girl behind a counter for some help. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA was that a JOKE! She was the rudest human being I have ever met. NO ONE would help me. I felt like an alien with 10 heads. All I wanted was a stinkin loaf of bread to take home to my mother! Finally I found someone a tad less rude, but definitly still RUDE, to help me. He complained that I was paying for a single loaf with a $50 bill. Sorry, it was all I had....and with those prices I'm sure they had change!!!! I left with my bread and I will never going back. Im now driving back to Philly with my 8 dollar loaf of sourdough. Im tempted to toss it out my window. THIS BREAD BETTER BE GOOD!!!!

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heatheru

Joined 9 years ago

There are much better bakeries in Boston. Hi-Rise is cute, the communal tables can be fun (when it's not packed), and the bread is always very good. But the prices are sky-high and the baked goods are inconsistent. Sometimes a brownie is divine, sometimes a cookie is dry and mediocre. A number of really good bakeries have sprung up around Boston lately, and maybe that will encourage Hi-Rise to lower their prices and/or improve their quality. Until they do, I'll be going to Bread & Chocolate, Flour, or Petsi.

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mariecp

Joined 7 years ago

Great sandwiches, horrible customer service. Great sandwiches, horrible customer service. I can't get over it -- it is consistently horrible. I swear that I won't go back, then I drive by and think, oh, it can't be THAT bad. And it is, all over again. Skipping right over people in line, talking down to customers, completely forgetting an order after a long wait, telling my three-year-old, egg-allergic son must have his food served on challah, they cannot serve it without the challah. I could go on and on. The saving grace is that the sandwiches are great. I'll probably go back, but only after I recover from my most recent experience. This is the first time I've been compelled to write a review. I did call the manager after today's experience, and she was very nice, so there is that.

Doesn't Recommend

sarabrown02139

Joined 7 years ago

WORST SERVICE ON EARTH!. DON"T GIVE MONEY TO THIS PLACE!

The owner hired his best friend's daughter to work the cash register. The best friend's daughter proceeded to hire and train the RUDEST GROUP OF PEOPLE ever to walk this planet -- The food is good, but that is nothing when faced with such rampant RUDENESS and INEPTITUDE. The LACK OF SERVICE combined with the incredibly HIGH PRICES make this a MUST MISS bakery.

Save your money and go a little way down the street to Formaggio for delicious coffee and FAB baked goods/sandwiches!

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Contributor

Joined 10 years ago

Cambridge favorite serves sturdy sandwiches and mouth-watering sweets.. In Short
Earthy, academic types sit at a long, wooden communal table, dining on chewy raisin-pecan bread and fresh cornbread made with stone-ground corn. Citrusy orange-lemon scones and lime-poppy cakes are also big draws. Among standout sandwiches is the Mahatma Gloves--a curried chicken sandwich with cashews and lime-mango chutney. The chocolate sandwich cookies are filled with extra-thick vanilla cream.

Doesn't Recommend

jsawers

Joined 7 years ago

AVOID AT ALL COSTS. The worst service ever. We were so insulted by being ignored at the bread counter that we left when one of the little madam waitresses decided to count her tips in front of us rather than wait on us. There were insects all around the baked goods too. A horrible, horrible place