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Friday, March 29, 2024

The lobster roll and homemade potato chips at Harvest. (Photo: Tom Meek)

Tucked away in a cozy enclave just off Brattle Street, Harvest is old school. The quaint brass-and-leather eatery – now part of the Himmel Hospitality Group, which includes Grill 23 & Bar in Boston – has been cooking up fancy feasts since 1975, long enough that alumni include Lydia Shire, Barbara Lynch and Chris Schlesinger. 

Intimate and inviting, Harvest is a treat, especially with its well-maintained back patio encased by trellises. My Harvest visits tend to be on the lunch side for noshes of cream of asparagus soup and salad; during the summer, there’s a lobster roll that comes with potato chips that arrive just made, warm and crisp. It’s a good, rich salad of well-diced lobster with not too much mayo, but plenty of celery and other herb and green accents, and served at the right temperature – not cold, but not room temperature – brimming over a golden-toasted bun. You need a knife and fork to eat it all. The thing I like to have with my roll with is the Harvest’s sangria, a light, crisp and slightly bubbly orange twist on the summertime adult ade.  

Now about the other side of that “treat”: Lobster prices are up, and the Harvest lobster roll is not cheap – at $30 not as much as the lobster rolls cited recently by The New York Times and WBUR, but close. But keep in mind that with the price tag, you’re getting an intimate atmosphere unique to the square, and prompt service to boot. If Harvest has been on your list of Harvard Square places you couldn’t get in, summer is your time: The students are gone and folks are on vacation.

Harvest (44 Brattle St., Harvard Square)


Tom Meek is a writer living in Cambridge. His reviews, essays, short stories and articles have appeared in the WBUR ARTery, The Boston Phoenix, The Boston Globe, The Rumpus, The Charleston City Paper and SLAB literary journal. Tom is also a member of the Boston Society of Film Critics and rides his bike everywhere.