Harvard Gardens
This is some of the best bar food in Boston, and it’s served in one of the oldest bars in Boston. We are at Harvard Gardens in the heart of Beacon Hill, the heart of Beacon Hill, right across a Mass General Hospital. And this place has been here since 1930. But they've updated the atmosphere. They've updated the menu and the kitchen is absolutely crushing it.
Right off the bat, I'm going to show you one of the best appetizers in all of Boston. This is the Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Pretzel. So this starts with some dough that they make from scratch every single day. And then they take a mixture of some nice shredded chicken, some hot sauce, some mozzarella cheese, and then they roll it inside of that dough nice and tight. You put this baby in the oven and after a couple minutes, it comes out golden brown, absolutely bursting with cheese. It’s basically like a giant Buffalo calzone but stuffed inside of a pretzel. If there is a better food with a beer anywhere on Earth, I want to find it. Because I will go there and get it. This thing is insanely delicious.
This is such a warm and comforting place with all the brown leather and the warm woods. If it's a cold day or a little bit down, this is a good place to go because comfort food is all over the menu. In fact, every single table in this place at least one person is eating the French onion soup. You have those slow cooked onions. You put that baby into a crock with some croutons and man they stack up that cheese. You throw a spoon inside of this thing. Yeah, you might get a little bit of that broth. Yeah, you might get a few onions but you are going to get one of the world's most seriously delicious cheese pulls. And as my brother David taught me the best part of the whole situation is on the side. The side cheese.
Let's talk about sandwiches. Specifically the Reuben sandwich, one of the most popular sandwiches in all of Boston and one of the city's best to serve right here at Harvard Gardens. You get the sweetness and all that savory from the corned beef that's been sizzled on the griddle. You have that nice sour punch from the sauerkraut. 1000 Island dressing is so creamy, it just rounds everything out. All on that crispy, buttery bread. Take a bite of this baby and you are just in Reuben bliss.
When it comes to burgers, Harvard Gardens makes an absolute beauty. When my first daughter was born right across the street at Mass General Hospital, after everyone was doing good, everyone was taking a nap, I came right across the street and I ordered this burger and a beer. This is a big, beautiful half pound fresh ground juicy burger topped with some aged cheddar cheese, an absolute pile of crispy onions, and a nice bacon aioli to round the whole thing out. So the end to one of the best days of my life was actually one of the best burgers of my life.
Pizzas are very popular here as well. Here's one that's great for the vegetarians, the wild mushroom pizza. This is actually a white pizza. So it just has some cheese right on the crust, a whole pile of wild mushrooms with some goat cheese and arugula. They drizzle it with some truffle oil.The smell of this pizza is incredible. The flavor is pretty darn good as well.
Fish and Chips are one of the specialties of the house here and they just do it flawlessly. Every order of fish and chips comes with not one, not two, four slices of fresh haddock. You got your coleslaw and some lemon on the side. You take a bite of that fish and the coating just gets you immediately crispy, airy, delicate. The fish is super fresh, all you got to do is dip it in some tartar sauce and you'll be happy as a clam or haddock.
Now here's the big ticket item here: the Harvard Garden Surf and Turf dinner. This is a combination of a grilled sirloin steak and six grilled shrimp. And I love how they plate this baby up. It starts with a nice green salad with some fresh tomatoes in there. On one side comes some nice truffled French fries. And on the other side they layer in that beautifully sliced steak and those nice grilled shrimp. Sweet, smoky. Throw some garlic butter over all this so it is so good. Smells so good, flavor is insane.
By the way, Sunday brunch, totally underrated here. And this is the main reason why: the loaded tater tots. I think this dish weighs like five pounds, packed with golden toasty tater tots that are absolutely smothered in melted cheese, lots of bacon, some chipotle crema. And then right over the top three beautiful sunny side eggs. The only things that get me out of bed on a Sunday morning are these tater tots and watching Phantom Gourmet.
So of course, you come here for the food and you come here for the drinks. But you should also come here for the history. This is one of the oldest restaurants and all of Greater Boston. It has been here since 1930. We're talking 90 years. And as the story goes, this is one of the first restaurants to get a liquor license after Prohibition was repealed. And to this day, people are still celebrating and drinking and eating right here at Harvard Gardens.
