Harry's Bar & Grill - Allston, MA - 2007-12-30

Harry's Bar & Grill

I've always liked Harry's food. Great curly fries and pretty good sweet potato fries. The food always tastes fresh and is well cooked. So I found myself there last night for dinner with a few friends and got the veggie burger. It's a premade patty, but was different than the others I've had. It was heavy on the onion which was good, and had a slightly oblong shape. I got it with sauteed mushrooms and peppers with the steamed veggies on the side (though I highly recommend the sweet potato fries for those not watching their diet). The burger was nothing amazing, but it was tasty and well cooked, though slightly expensive, around $11.

Rating: 6.8

Boston Beer Works - Boston, MA - 2007-12-23

Boston Beer Works

Went last night to watch the Celtics game with a friend. We ordered some Buffalo wings which were pretty good. I also got their "Garden Burger". Basically a freezer box Gardenburger, well grilled, with tomato, lettuce, mushroom and a little honey mustard on a white bread bun. Problem, $10. It wasn't bad, it wasn't great. The toppings were nice, and for another $1 per item you can get some other toppings as well. But that just keeps driving the price up on what is basically a Gardenburger. So don't go for the burger, go for the beer, happen to order a "Garden Burger".

Rating: 6.6

Publik House - Boston, MA - 2007-12-22

Publik House

Went for dinner with some friends. As usual the service was bad, but the food was good and the beer selection was excellent. They make their veggie burger patty in house, and its very similar to the Grille Zone patty. Slightly smaller, and they didn't grill it quite enough (like is standard at Grille Zone), but it was quite good. The raw toppings weren't quite as good as Grille Zone but they can put mushrooms, grilled onions, etc. which Grille Zone doesn't have. The bun was also white bread but was a little better than the Grille Zone bun.

Rating 9.3

Lucky's Lounge - Boston, MA - 2007-12-20

Lucky's Lounge

Grabbed lunch here today with a couple friends. Not bad, came with tomato, pickles and lettuce and a side salad. The patty looked to be premanufactured, though the waitress wasn't sure as they make their own burger patties but had never seen them make the veggie patty. It was definitely well cooked and did not feel like it was pulled from the freezer, so at least they defrosted it before grilling, and well grilled it was. For the vegans in the crowd, it does contain cheese in the patty according to the waitress, so beware! The side salad was mixed greens, not just cheap cabbage. the bread was pretty good as well. Overall not bad. We also got some Rhode Island style Calamari which was pretty good, but nothing special.

Rating: 6.8

Lucky's Lounge - Boston, MA

Lucky's Lounge


Lucky's Lounge is classic 40's cool. No sign, just a rounding stair well that leads to a below ground establishment. Think the unsigned bar in Swingers.

Grille Zone - Boston, MA - 2007-12-13

Grille Zone
This review pulled from my personal blog...

Along with b.good, Grille Zone makes their own patties in house from fresh ingredients. The Grille Zone patty is about twice as “volumous” though. It's also a bit softer of a patty, I think it could use to be grilled a bit more than they do. I’ve been twice and while the second time it was a bit more manageable, next time I go I’m going to ask for them to cook it a little more than usual and see how it turns out. The patty is excellent, and the toppings (I usually get lettuce, tomato and pickles) are very good too. The bread, while good for what it is, is a regular white bun. I forgot last time to ask to see if they have any other types.

update 2007-12-14

Last night I went back. No whole wheat buns, but its been a big request so the employees there that night said they’re hoping it gets looked into. They also said they tried sweet potato fries but that they’d need another fryer cause it gunks up the oil a lot faster than the regular fries and so wouldn’t be good to use one fryer for both. No info on the farms they get their produce and meat from, but they’ll tell the boss that theres interest in that. I asked for the patty to be “cooked a little longer than they normally do” which they did, and let me tell you , it was *amazing*. I’d say it was at least 50% better than the first two times i had it. That little bit extra cooking gave a good caramelization to the patty as well as holding together better.

Rating: 9.2

Grille Zone - Boston, MA

Grille Zone


Grille Zone is the height of Earth Friendly restaurants. They are a member of the Green Restaurant Coalition, their goal being to produce a zero-waste stream. They also purchase all their food stuffs from local farms. They make their burgers fresh every morning and if they sell out, too bad! (so do your part for all the meat eaters and order a veggie burger!)

Pour House - Boston, MA - 2007-12-07

Pour House

Really this is only here for completeness. The patty tasted like a gardenburger patty. It wasn’t especially well grilled (little cold on the inside), the toppings and stuff were quite lackluster, definitely not fresh. I ordered it with a side of veggies instead of fries, which turned out to be string beans and they *sucked*. To be fair, the last time i ate there i got some Mexican and it wasn’t spectacular. For their Thursday half price Mexican night its probably worth going, but not regularly. So basically you go here for the cheap beer, nice atmosphere and relatively cute female waitstaff.

Rating: 1.8