Bred Gourmet, a Dorchester burger restaurant, has expanded to Cambridge, at MIT-owned 730 Main St., in The Port neighborhood between Kendall and Central squares.
It’s entering a burger-rich landscape – within easy walking distance are Tasty Burger, Roxy’s, Veggie Galaxy, Miracle of Science, Cambridge Deli and more – but founder Tambo Barrow believes his burgers can hold their own. All the burgers at Bred are made with smoked prime beef patties, an invention that happened by accident: Barrow’s Dorchester store was formerly a barbecue restaurant, and when it moved out and Barrow moved in, there was a smoker left behind.
“Our griddle was only about 24 inches, so one of our first issues was that it was taking too long for people to get their food,” Barrow said. “I said, all right, let’s try smoking the burgers. That cut the ticket times down drastically, but it also made the burgers 100 times better.”
The smoked burger concept won Bred Boston Magazine’s award for best burger in Boston in 2021, an honor that went to its now-neighbor Little Donkey the following year.
Barrow didn’t have a background in food when he opened Bred in the Lower Mills section of Dorchester in 2014, just a passion for burgers and a recognition that big chains such as Five Guys and Shake Shack were starting to grow in popularity.
“I knew I could make a great burger too, so I decided to take the leap of faith,” Barrow said.
Pulling on his family’s roots in the West Indies, Barrow wanted to make burgers that rethought the classics and represented his culture’s flavors. Today, the menu is full of funky combinations. The Maui, for instance, is a smoked prime beef patty topped with grilled pineapple, pork belly, sweet plantains, crispy onions, habanero pepper Jack cheese and sweet barbecue sauce. The Yosemite has applewood smoked bacon, caramelized onions, tomato, jalapeños, smoked gouda and aioli atop its smoked prime beef patty. The chicken sandwiches are equally distinctive: The Rude Bwoy has jerk chicken, red onion, peppers, habanero pepper sauce, pepper sauce, pineapple and barbecue sauce, while the Kobe is buttermilk fried chicken tossed in a gochujang sauce with cilantro and pineapple. Sides include creole slaw and sweet plantains alongside parmesan truffle fries and sweet potato fries, and there are wings, chicken tenders, smoothies, salads and desserts.
Bred offers a happy hour special from 2 to 6 p.m. weekdays with $5 buttermilk fried chicken and smoked cheeseburger sliders and $3 fries. The Cambridge restaurant, unlike the Dorchester original, has a full bar with a variety of cocktails and other drinks. On Saturdays, Bred serves brunch – there’s a Breakfast Sando with smoked pork belly, tomato jam, egg, cheddar, greens and chipotle aioli, and the Honey Butter Chicken of buttermilk fried chicken and honey butter served on a waffle, among others – along with its usual menu.
“We’re trying to get our brunch series up and running; we have a DJ come in on Saturdays and just try to have a little vibe,” Barrow said.
That bar means Bred is open to hosting events, something that wasn’t possible in its smaller Dorchester site. Bred also offers catering with customizable packages for office lunches or personal events such as birthday parties.
Since opening Oct. 11, Barrow has struggled to fill the 3,900 square foot space, largely due to an issue with Google maps not verifying its location, so Bred doesn’t appear on the map. Its website and Instagram are reliable for the most up-to-date information.
“It’s been hard, but we have seen a steady increase in business every day since we’ve been open, so we hope to keep going up from here,” Barrow said.
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