Smoot Standard
In a city that runs all day, it helps to have a restaurant that does too.
“Whether you're coming in for breakfast, lunch or dinner, or just a drink after work you’re guaranteed that great time.”
And they’ve set a whole new standard for all day dining at Smoot Standard.
Set in Central Square, Cambridge, The Smoot Standard is a neighborhood go-to, whether you’re here for five minutes or five hours, for morning coffee or a late-night cocktail.
“The Smoot Standard is an all day cafe serving breakfast and lunch, and in the afternoons and evenings, we open up our cocktail bar and serve dinner. So it's the kind of place where you could kind of come in the morning, get a breakfast sandwich, get a coffee and stay all day, get a cocktail with friends at night and have some dinner as well.”
Since he’s but steps from MIT, Owner Alex Tannenbaum decided to name his restaurant after Oliver Smoot, the MIT student famously used to measure the Harvard Bridge in some lighthearted hazing.
“When he was in his fraternity, they used his body to measure the length of the Harvard Bridge. He's five foot seven. And it turns out one Smoot is five foot seven, and it takes 364.4 Smoots to get across the bridge.”
And he has created a menu with a little something for everyone at every meal and built a space that serves the community from their first cup of coffee…to last call.
“We're really lucky to have a number of places to sit and grab a drink and grab a meal. We have the bar in the windows facing Mass Ave. We have plenty of tables in the inside, but we also have the mezzanine upstairs, which is kind of a really cozy nook. So it's really a cozy, quiet place to be and very inviting and very welcoming any time of day.“
If you choose to start your day at Smoot, you’ll find everything from Avocado Toast to one of the best breakfast sandwiches around, stacked with a crispy hash brown, eggs, melted cheddar and whatever breakfast meat you choose all on buttery brioche.
“When you take a bite, you get that pepperiness from the arugula. You get the mayo, the black pepper mayo. We don't make the egg too runny, but, you know, just runny enough. And of course, it gets some nice cheddar and the fresh, you know, fluffy brioche. It's the ultimate breakfast sandwich.”
There’s Smoot’s breakfast burrito stuffed with house smoked pork, black beans, Pepperjack cheese, pico de gallo and pickled jalapenos. And a beautiful Belgian Waffle topped with fresh fruit and honey butter. This thing is so good, customers order it all day long.
“People buy our waffles all day long and on weekends, and, you know, not just for brunch, but late in the afternoon, you know, we serve them all day. So getting the honey butter and the fresh berries, it's a really nice Belgian waffle.”
At lunch, it is all about the handhelds. There’s a beautiful banh mi piled with house roasted pork, carrots, pickled cucumber and jalapenos with a cilantro mayo. Or the absolutely succulent brisket and Swiss melt.
“The beef brisket sandwich is certainly one of the most comforting sandwiches on the menu. We braise the brisket overnight and slice up thin and just melted in the oven with Swiss cheese and a whole grain mustard and some sweetened onions. It's a really amazing sandwich.”
Smoot offers a unique fried green tomato and mortadella sandwich topped with a sweet and spicy vegetable relish.
“It's like so bright and acidic and vinegary with the mortadella, it's really like just a kind of a very exciting experience, and it's a really fun sandwich to have.”
And the meatballs are so mouthwatering, they make their way onto both the lunch and dinner menu.
“We make our meatballs in house here. Our meatballs are so good. They're really addictive, they're spicy, they're rich, they're tomatoey. They have a nice little kick to them, a little, almost like a jerk seasoning to them with the tomato sauce. So you get the really great marinara we make in house. And then the meatballs give you that little heat on the back end. We serve it on an amazing sub roll during lunch hours, but it's also available for dinner as an appetizer plate or on fresh spaghetti.”
Other Italian entrees include the Chicken Milanese featuring a pan fried cutlet topped with arugula, kale pesto and parmesan or the satisfying spaghetti in pistachio pesto.
“The pistachio pesto is a really nice, just a really acidic vegetarian pasta option that is super popular and that pesto is just, like, so addictive. I just, I would literally eat it on anything. So it's great to have it on pasta, for sure.”
And what would a neighborhood bar be without a burger—and at Smoot Standard they aim to please.
“If you're going to be like a bar and restaurant in Cambridge, and you want to be a neighborhood place, kind of have to have a good burger. And this burger certainly fits the bill there. We cook it nice, medium rare and good cheddar cheese, Vermont cheddar, that fresh brioche. The quality of meat is really a plus. You take a bite of the burger, you get the pepperiness of the arugula. You get that sharpness of the cheddar, with the real rich meat, that nice, fatty, juicy burger meat, and on that fluffy brioche. And I love this burger.”
And however you measure it, you’ll find the standard of deliciousness is set high at Smoot Standard.
