Masa

09/20/09

average food and the worst customer service in the South End

by Guru1 at Citysearch

I had been to Masa a couple of times, both times I thought the food was sub par. On my third experience the food was awful, my server brought me the wrong order two times, I waited 55 minutes for tapas which was overcooked and they refused to remove from the bill. Management did no seem to care about my experience whatsoever and seemed severely irritated and defensive when I brought this to there attention

I have the opportunity to dine in just about every decent restaurant in Boston due to my profession, and would recommend Taco Bell before I ever mentioned this place to anybody.

• Pros: not really many
• Cons: rude, discourteous, inexperienced, immature management staff

07/19/09

Decent Food, Poor Customer Service

by FrancisKeys at Citysearch

I've lived in the South End of Boston for three years now and have eaten out repeatedly at Masa. On the positive note, nice place, great ambiance., Salsa on Thursdays. Every evening during happy hour they have $1 tapas by the bar (For $10 great tapas assortment that is very filling), and other discounted menu items - they're great. Dinner in the main dining room is also great, including delicous brunch on Saturdays and Sundays (nut crusted texas french toast!).

The huge and unfortunate drawack is the customer service. Everyone from the hostess (who snapped at my guest to hurry up and decide if he wanted to sit at the bar or in the dining room b/c the seat would get taken), the waiter (inattentive), the bartender (I've seen her on multiple occasions cut customers off and slam down drinks on the bar out of frustration when it gets busy), to even the busboy (told our table to move our own plates so he could set down the next course, bad timing all throughout the course). And these all occured on seperate visits.

So in the end it's a tradeoff, food and atmosphere for consistently bad customer service.

• Pros: Food, Tapas, Drinks, Atmosphere
• Cons: Customer Service

07/10/09

Where an Arizonan in Boston goes for Southwestern food

by Tiffany M at Citysearch

Someone took me here when I said I was homesick for Arizona and this helped me feel better.

I LOVED the cornbread and the assortment of interesting butter and jams that were served with it. We got the breakfast tacos to share from the tapas menu and I ordered the BBQ Mac and Cheese for an entree, which was very heavy - which was to be expected, but I ended up being disappointed by it. I wish I had gotten something else. The cornbread was enough to make me happy about the whole experience, though. They use blue corn, which makes it even better!

I missed the Southwestern-look that you see everywhere in Phoenix restaurants! I will come back here when I'm homesick again because there are very few places in Boston to get this same Southwestern experience.

• Pros: Cornbread at brunch!!!
• Cons: Very limited patio seating

03/30/09

Good but not great

by dvautour at Citysearch

If you want upscale TexMex, this is it. A bit on the pricey side but the food was very good. The wines were way over priced. By 10 times or more in some instances. I know because I have bought some of the same wines at the store and the South American vineyard itself when I traveled there. The desserts were just ok.

The service for us was good when we were there. Overall, I would say it was a good experience with good food but not great. The atmosphere was a bit pretentious for what amounted to a tex mex place.

• Pros: good food
• Cons: way over priced wines

03/21/09

Great prix fixe for restaurant week

by bonvivant25 at Citysearch

I went to Masa for the first time last night during Boston's restaurant week. The food was great- even though 'chipotle seasoned new england clam chowder' sounds disgusting, it was actually pretty good! The server wasn't very friendly, but no big complaints the hostess was very nice.

The place was cute, in a great location, and they clear out the tables in part of the restaurant for free salsa lessons & dancing after dinner.

• Pros: everything was delicious
• Cons: unfriendly service

03/12/09

Impeccible service, great date atmosphere

by pluperfect at Citysearch

Went to Masa last night to catch up with an old friend. Our server was attentive but gave us plenty of space. In addition, he was friendly, offered great recommendations, and our food was delicious! And the jalapeno margarita was unique and had an awesome, spicy kick!

• Pros: Awesome margaritas
• Cons: Remote location

02/18/09

Good food, badddd service

by ChrisLinkos at Citysearch

The bartender was a capital B! Rude, not caring, inconsiderate. One of the worst attitudes I have seen. If the tapas were not good and a deal, I would have walked out!

09/16/08

Scrumptious Tapas & Quesadillas

by gipsyqueen at Citysearch

Masa has the most delish tapas & quesadillas. Mmm Mmm good! My friends and I also chowed down on a variety of tasty and scrumptious bread with dip. If you like to eat a bit of everything in small portions this is the place for you. My waitress was very nice. Hospitable and attentive. I recommend it!

• Pros: Ambience, Service, Value, Drinks
• Cons: None

09/06/08

Great food, customer service could be horrible

by sparrowwithabell at Citysearch

I have gone to Masa twice. I think the food was great.

However, some of the waiters could get a bit cocky and not friendly. One of my friends got into a big fight with the waiter and the manager didn't do much about it. To me, the situation was just a bit ridiculous. My friend returned a bowl of fruit salads saying the fruits were not fresh. The waiter took the fruit bowl into the kitchen, came out, and told my friend that the fruit salads were fresh. This was a bit shocking to us. And, my friend wasn't happy about it. Then, this waiter told him, if he weren't happy, he could call the manager. I thought the situation seemed to get a bit out of the hand. And, as for this manager, it's like it's beneath his dignity to say sorry to the customers. He told my friend, they just cut the watermelon an hour before they served it, there was no reason the watermelon could not fresh.

Most of my friends were so mad that they won't go back to this place. But, for the food, I did go back again. However, I will probably avoid brunch so that I won't run into the cranky waiter and incompetant manager again.

In terms of ambience, I think it was okay. It's not a place I will hang out for drinks and some bites.

• Pros: Great food
• Cons: Service could be very bad ...

05/18/08

fantastic

by Cashm at Citysearch

Had brunch here and it was fantastic. I am a huge fan of mexican/southwestern food and this is top of the line. The homemade confiture with the homemade cornbread was fantastic. They should sell the confiture in jars to buy to take home.

The food, the service, all top notch. I would expect service like this in a 5 star restaurant. The food was the best.

I've eaten in top of the line restaurants and this to me was better than Del Posto which I ate at 2 weeks ago.

Sure differnt style, but to me a restaurant is about food, not pretense either.

I've recommended this restaurant to Amex Platinum for their fine dining list of recommendations.

Well Done Masa!

• Pros: everything, food, service, drinks, value
• Cons: none