Hi-Rise Bread Company

06/29/2008 Posted by AlonGoren

We went there today thinking it would be fun to have some good salad after a run. So - the salad seemed to be cut at least a day or two ago, the service was horrible (they kept on forgetting the things we ordered), but worst of all - even thou that we sat at the place they serve everything in plastic - plastic boxes for the salad and plastic utensils - it seems that these people didn't hear that the environment is fighting for it's life. The prices are high enough for them to afford some dishes and a dishwasher.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful

06/29/2008 Posted by CAC07

The staff is either snobby or unhappy. Plenty of better bakeries with nicer people around. Hi-Rise should change it's name to Lo Rise. Any positive reviews you read pertaining to great customer service must be written by the owner himself and/or the staff. I've had enough, they have lost my business. Recommendation: Petsi Pies, Cambridge & Somerville

Pros: pastries, bread,rolls

Cons: bad attitude

05/21/2008 Posted by johnbarry

Hi Rise is the best bakery I have experienced, and they are as friendly as time permits... The cutting reviewers are overly solipsistic......, and seem to want to always be greeted with "hugs and bouquets... Too bad... I would go there daily, if I lived there (Huron/Concord Ave.) year round. jack barry, san francisco and cambridge

03/10/2008 Posted by pattyelston

Just read the reviews and you get the picture. I've been going here for 8 years just to get a decent sandwich (Dan's Havana Heaven - #23). They also have very interesting and inexpensive wines. But that's where pros end. Now onto the cons: The answer as to why the servers are so rude is simple. The owner is a real ahole. I've come across this guy several times and he should not be in a service industry. He once asked me to step away from the breads as I was too close and was "breathing on them". You can just imagine what I wanted to say back but I got my sandwich and left. This sums up Cambridge and greater Boston in a nutshell. The area is so densely populated that the owner knows that they can be complete jerks to everyone and they will still be packed every day so why bother being nice? And the girl with the pigtails is still there. She's gotten older and her face is now contorted whereas she used to be cute. Must be due to all the frowing at customers over the last decade. For shame Hi-Rise, you should fire the whole staff and start over. You could be great but for some reason the owner doesn't see it or more likely doesn't care as long as the $$ kjeeps rolling in and you can keep raising prices. I predict the sandwiches will be over $10 in 6 months. Right now they are $9.50, up $2 since 2003.

Pros: sandwiches, wine, iced tea

Cons: prices, service, pigtail girl...uh, wench

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful

01/30/2008 Posted by AvidRita

Count me as one more townie who loves the Hi-Rise. And I know that service can be spotty at times, but I see that as a direct result of the volume of very demanding customers that they cope with because their products are just so fine. The quality and variety of their breads are just amazing. Sandwiches are yummy, creative, oversized (ordering half is fine). Take out dinners are fresh, healthy home cooking. We also enjoy their wine selections, their jams (I go for the Blenheim apricot). Prices run high, and you get what you pay for. They are one of those locally owned joints that make Cambridge a great place to call home.

Pros: Highest quality baked goods and other foods, wines. A place with personality.

Cons: Yeah, parking is difficult, and service can be tough when its crowded.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful

01/05/2008 Posted by achaerontamovebo

After reading the negative reviews some people have written, I just HAD to say something! I live in the neighborhood (of Hi-Rise on Concord Ave), and go to Hi-Rise two, three times a week. The clientele is generally nice - academics and writers, leftist types, yoginis, lots of families, and a few yuppies. The regulars come in during the week, so that's the nicest time to go. I have also had dealings with EACH member of their staff, and they are all to the one gracious gentle people, very passionate and knowledgeable about the food they serve and extremely polite, even when there is a feeding frenzy, for example, for Sunday brunch. Their quiches are exquisite, also their jam brioches, homemade jams (the ones with plums are to die for), soups (mushroom- YUM!) and cookies. HINT: try their prepared dinners - warm and change every weekday. You can just pick one up for take-out when you are too tired to cook yourself dinner - I can't wait for the lamb and rice one (and I'm a vegetarian!!!) The food is consistently FRESH, which is great; they actually run out of things because they cook them fresh every day; you know you are not getting some pre-processed junk. I love the friendly reviews of wines posted in the store, and they often have good deals on them, too. This is the CLOSEST you can come to a European-style bakery in Cambridge-Boston. Hi-Rise is a neighborhood institution and a very cozy place - the kind of place you go when you're in a bad mood and need some comfort food, or just to hang out in. I wonder if some of the people who have written the negative reviews are just used to assembly-line service, and never-ending supply. Hi-Rise is a real bakery, and the staff are real human beings. Yes the prices are high, but Harvard Square/West Cambridge is a very high-priced area (even Au Bon Pain has become more expensive of late), plus Hi-Rise gives you HUGE portions. Their sandwiches are VERY GENEROUS, and they will do half-sandwiches if you request.

Pros: great service, fresh homemade foods, great wine and jam selection, smells good when you walk by!

Cons: crowded on weekends

12/05/2007 Posted by whiter3

It's never easy to lambast a place with good food, but I have no choice. I don't know if I can recall a place quite as pretentious and rude as the HiRise. Such a shame. I will give a perfect example. We walk into the Harvard Square location for breakfast in the morning at 9:30am. We order the "toast basket", which consists of, um, toast and jam. And we are told "no, breakfast is not served until 10am". And with the toaster right behind the counter, in plain view, the counter person simply walked away. I understand restaurants must set limits, and that makes sense. But you have got to be kidding. No TOAST at 9:30am? And it is not simply the absurdity of this fact...it is the WAY it was handled. I have been to the HiRise multiple time, always willing to give it "one last chance". But I am done. I can find food equally good, almost anywhere in Cambridge, without having to put up with this adolescent nonsense. Perhaps the owners should listen to the multitude of reviews here. There is a way to become friendly and accommodating, I just hope it is without becoming obsequious or ingratiating. I don't know where the defect in this place is, but I suspect it is deeply rooted.

Pros: Great bread

Cons: Dismal and miserable service

11/08/2007 Posted by tropicalbirder

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.

Pros: bread and wine

Cons: np parking, too cool staff

07/13/2007 Posted by boobii

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. =)

Pros: Food, Service, Everything

Cons: Haven't found yet

03/04/2007 Posted by francophile

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.

Pros: Quality of what they make from breads and pastry to awesome sandwiches

Cons: None that I've noticed