Sprigs Restaurant

Sprigs closed well before the holiday season but If anyone has unused gift certificates, I’m sure Martha and Gregory will refund your money (
). I loved this restaurant and miss it terribly.

We’ve enjoyed Sprigs over the years. And we have quite a few unused gift certificates in our family. We understand that Sprigs was selling this past holiday season. Anyone know what we can do about this?

We’ve lived in Littleton for over 4 years and only made it to Sprigs recently. Why did we wait? I’m not exaggerating when i say that the cold smoked ribeye is THE BEST steak I’ve ever had.
I also love the ambience. Very cute and cozy.
This is a definite recommendation from me :)

The restaurant closed and we couldn’t be happier. It was a faux restaurant.

I wanted to like Sprigs. I really did. And I’d rather give it 2 ½ stars instead of 2, but that is not an option.
I give it two stars for a couple of reasons. Keep in mind I don’t dislike the place, and wouldn’t discourage you from going. I just have high standards for high-​priced restaurants, and Sprigs didn’t do it for me. I would consider going back because I like the feel of the place and it is quite nice inside.
First, we ordered glasses of wine. There was a limited selection, and we just couldn’t find a glass of wine that was to our liking. My wife likes the Sauv Blancs from NZ, they don’t have them. So she get the Pinot Grigio, and it was cheap.
I got the Cab and it was fine but pricey and not that great.
Our appetizers were the Wild Mushroom turnover, which was okay but sort of dry. It was Tuesday, which is their first day of the week, so maybe the stock wasn’t fresh? Leftover from Saturday?
We also had the Apple Walnut salad. It was good.
Our entrees were the ribeye and the lobster ravioli. Good but not great. The steak was not a great cut, and had too much salty sauce on top.
I liked the fact that the chef came out to check on us. That is a nice touch.
What I disliked is the following:
* waiter was young (maybe teens?!?), lacked training («how are you guys doing tonight? Let me get those for ‘you guys’»)
* Waiter had questionable hygiene. I’ll leave it at that.
* Food was good, not great. For $ 140 for two people, it should be great.
* wine by the glass isn’t up to snuff. Should be more selections and some delicious options. We rarely buy by the bottle.
I wanted to have a great experience. It was our anniversary. But our experience at Sprigs was just average to slightly above average.

The bartender was our waiter and helped us to our seats right away, but then disappeared for 5 minutes without even giving us water. We sat in this alcove, which was nice-​ish, but I wasn’t impressed with my surroundings. We had a recessed light right above our heads shining brightly on the table. The ambience was off– lights too bright, tables and chairs were mismatched, and the table had an old school puffy top (when you cut something on your plate the entire thing rocked back and forth). The olive and oil dip served with the bread had no flavor (wasn’t salted or seasoned). The appetizer we got (mushroom turnovers) again had no seasoning or flavor and didn’t taste like there was much cheese in them at all. The puff pastry was good, though.
Our dinners came and looked as if they came from a family restaurant, not unlike Chilis. The ribeye my husband ordered was smothered in a brown sauce and the poor slab of meat looked like hyenas had already torn at it before it was served to us. The fries fried in duck fat were mushy. The zucchini on the side was good.
I got the «chicken under a brick» which was overcooked and somewhat tough. It had bones (menu says «boneless organic ½ chicken»). Again, the dish had no flavor. It sat upon some pearl barley (or something) and some mushy small pasta pieces in a thick, pasty sauce that I couldn’t identify. I needed to add salt, again, which I hardly ever need to do anywhere.
Water was replenished only once I finished my glass. Our waiter was very attentive, but he seemed to be trying too hard and came across as a 5-​star restaurant waiter mockery. He really was nice, but he was just a little too serious and jokey at the same time.
The dessert was fine, but it didn’t seem too fresh.
I give them 2 stars because you can tell they really are trying, but I have a feeling that since it’s one of the only «nice» options in the area, not much will change. The food was definitely overpriced for what it was. I went home full and felt satisfied, but I probably won’t be going back.

Service is superb. Ambience is wonderful. Food is ok. Way overpriced for quality and taste. Kudos for imagination and innovation.

Great meal ~ all around pleasant experience! The food prep was perfect and the flavors on the mark. Even the slight mix up of not bringing the dressing I requested was very quickly acknowledged and corrected. No complaints on our part at all (well, maybe the skunk we encountered in the parking lot, but that was more «end of evening comedy» and not the fault of the restaurant ~ although it added to the adventure) — Sorry for that aside. Overall, our Sprigs experience brings with it no reservations from our perspective for a return visit. In fact, we may debate whether we return this season or await a season change to find out what the chef offers with a new lot of fresh ingredients. A minor suggestion that may be valid could be the offering of a better selection of wines by the glass… that said, however, the bottle menu was very nice! Thank you, Sprigs, we enjoyed our visit!

Came here early on a weekday for dinner with the boys.
It was a little hard to find, and the front door was not marked in any way. We stood for a few seconds trying to decide if this was in fact the entrance. (It was!)
The food was delicious. It was a bit more expensive for the portions than I might expect, but I suppose that is pretty typical of farm to table type fare. We had lamb chops and risotto’s, and both were very taste. I have nothing in particular to complain about the meal, but it seemed to fall just a little bit short of earning 5 stars. I’d definitely give them another shot though to see if we could bump that up.
The drink selection was nice, with a good list of custom cocktails. They cost about $ 10 dollars which is a little higher than I like, but not unreasonable. The luxardo cherries (a take on maraschino) are amazing little liquor soaked delights. Get something with them in it (or just ask for a couple to try)

My family had a great experience with Sprigs a few months ago, so we went back for the rehearsal dinner of our wedding this weekend. The dishes were all different from before (many outside of the normal menu), and all of them were brilliantly executed. The lobster pizza and the «chicken under a brick» were especially wonderful, but honestly I have complete faith in any dish/​drink that Gregory and Martha come up with. I couldn’t recommend Sprigs enough!

Enjoyed this dinner experience as a «date night in the suburbs». 4 stars for the very courteous and professional service by Tony, which made the night even more pleasant. I would probably give the food I had that night 3/3.5 stars. We had the ribeye and the lobster ravioli — both were decent; we really enjoyed the appetizer of house-​cured meats. From the outside, the restaurant looks almost like a residential house when viewed from Great Road. When you walk inside, you are immediately in a small bar area where I saw locals hanging out. The dining room has a more traditional/​quaint vibe to it.

The food is delicious and the service is professional. Having been to a number of great restaurants, including Gaslight, Grill 23, 80 Thoreau, etc, Sprigs is right on par.

Just had a lovely dinner at sprigs, and very much enjoyed ourselves.
The ambiance was great — the music selection was both unobtrusive and interesting (ranging from early Tom Waits to Janice Joplin to Leonard Cohen), and the waitstaff attentive and courteous.
We ordered a 3-​course meal:
We got the salad that was today’s special: a baby arugula salad with heirloom tomatoes and some fancy cheese that looked mysteriously like a poached egg. The salad was topped by homemade croutons that were wonderful and chewy on the inside — clearly made from scratch. The mixture of flavors was perfect, with the sweetness of the tomatoes and the vinagrette salad dressing balancing out the bitterness of the lettuce in a very pleasing way.
For our appetizer, the wife got an amazing butternut squash soup that tasted soo good, with a creamy rich smoothness often not seen with squash soups, even at fancy-​dancy places. The toasted macadamia nuts floating in it were a nice and tasty touch. the only issue was that it was a big bowl and she was kindof stuffed at the end… not the worst imaginable complaint in my mind. I got the tuna tartare, which was good quality fish, with lovely accompaniments (crunchy sticks, seaweed salad and some sort of horseradish foam).
Dinner was fish for both of us – she got the Swiss Chard and I got the cod loin — both were very good, although the central item (the fish) in both cases was marginally undersalted.
All of that said, we did have two minor issues:
1. the meal too 2 hours and we didn’t have time for dessert since we had a sitter and didn’t expect that duration — it was all well-​spaced out, so we didn’t feel neglected, but it would be a good thing to know that dinner at Sprigs should be planned as a multi-​hour experience.
2. the wife is gluten-​free, and although they were able to accommodate her, the menu was not marked, and, although many dishes could be made gluten-​free, she had to sacrifice something for almost every one (the exception was the soup) — no croutons for the salad, and the chard was supposed to have a soy glaze on it. She still had a lovely dinner, and if you have a gluten-​sensitive guest, it is an option, but it may not be their favorite experience.

One of my best restaurant experiences ever happened here, at Sprigs.
We found Sprigs on accident. After a long country drive, stopping to walk through a few farms and fields, we had worked up a hunger. And hiking through farms, we built up a craving for farm-​to-​table food.
Sprigs showed up tops on Unilocal for that query, and while it was 7pm and we worried we were underdressed, we called anyway. They shrugged off our hiking clothes and found us a quiet table.
We ordered a few delicious appetizers, but when a server passed with a steaming bowl of clam chowder, I had to have it. And that’s where the unforgettable experience starts.
To start, it was the best clam chowder I’ve tasted. Not lumpy or cloying like most NE clam chowders. It was almost a bisque. It wasn’t too buttery, or too chunky, and the clams were chopped big enough to find them, without ruining the consistency. I love cooking soups more than any other food, so I did something daring. I sent my compliments the chef and then asked for the recipe.
The waitress shook her head but said she’d try. 15 minutes later, starting on our also delicious main courses, the woman running front-​of-​house that night checked in with us. And I asked for the recipe again.
She returned 5 minutes later with the recipe hand written on the back of a menu — obviously jotted by the chef as there were no measurements and no cooking instructions. Just a rough list of ingredients and how to prep them. Perfect. I gave it a shot a few weeks later and it turned out — not as good as that night, but good enough.
But the story doesn’t end there. After a few minutes, while we were midway into our mains, the chef himself paid us a visit. He chatted food with us for at least 10 minutes, about clam chowder, about farm-​to-​table, about history. And that’s when we learned about farina arsa.
It’s a certain kind of Italian flour. The story goes that after the peasants of Italy harvested the wheat, the lords would burn the fields. In their «generosity», the lords allowed the peasants to glean the leftover, now-​burnt, grains. Once ground, the peasants called it «farina arsa» — burnt flour. It’s a lost art, now that big-​agra doesn’t burn fields or allow gleaning. Except there are a handful of Italian companies still exporting their own versions. And our chef happened to have some, and had been experimenting. He said we should try some.
Around the time we were reading the dessert menu, our chef rejoined us. He brought with him a rectangular white plate, 12 inches by 4. In one corner stacked duck confit, topped with a thin wafer of crispy duck skin. In the center, stretching to the other end and balancing the plate, a row of four ravioli, made with farina arsa, stuffed with butternut squash and rich sauce I can’t quite remember. I want to say chocolatey and vinegary at the same time, but I’m not sure that sounds all that good. Probably not that, because it was delicious (a repeated refrain at this point).
The farina arsa was potent, the butternut squash smooth and mollifying, the sauce balancing and injecting complexity. It wasn’t his menu-​ready finished product, but it was already promising. And it was something we’d never seen, heard of, or conceptualized, much less tasted. Thanks to our chef, we not only tried a new food, but we traveled back in time, discovered a new realm of flavor, and enjoyed the hospitality only the best restaurants strive for.
Sprigs, by those merits, falls soundly into the category Unilocal calls «As good as it gets!», marketers call «remarkable», and we call «best of our lives».
Not bad for a last minute dinner after a day of hiking. :)

Fabulous restaurant. Great food, even better service.
Great for both the occasional treat and for family outings.

Love this little restaurant. Chef is pretty amazing and they have a fun drink menu. (I think he was the first to serve Abysnth west of 128).
Camembert and black truffle fondue = BOOYAH!

We arrived at Sprigs at 5:30pm the day after Christmas and to my surprise there were only a handful of people at the bar and no one in the dining room. I had made reservations thinking it would be busy but I guess they don’t get crowded until closer to 7.
While the restaurant is considered casual I would still at least wear a nice shirt or sweater. As for the food, we ordered the crab cake for an app and it was excellent! We both had the ginger salmon for an entrée and while it was very good I thought a few of my bites had too much salt. Then came the crème brule, which was also very good although not the best I’ve ever had.
So here’s the thing with this place: come to RELAX. The kitchen takes care when making your food so expect to have some time between your app, entrée and dessert. The ambiance is calming, cute, and a little formal so just sit there, chill out, and enjoy the company.

A truly delightful restaurant owned by a married couple: husband is the head chef and wife runs the front and makes mean drinks behind the bar. They are incredibly caring, creative and treat their patrons like family.
We hosted my bridal shower here in 2011 and the amount of attention that went into creating various passed apps and a medley of deserts was outstanding. We’ve returned for dinner as well and all though they are pricey, it’s 100% worth it. A great place to celebrate something special or to dip in on a Friday night for a mixed drink, app or desert at the bar.
As long as we live in the area, we will continue to return for high-​quality food and service in the suburbs.

Prosciutto wrapped rabbit loin as an app and Atlantic char as an entrée.
Both were delicious. The rabbit was a bit dry but that’s par for the course with such a lean meat– it was accompanied by rich sauce which was savory but tended to overpower the prosciutto and rabbit so I just added a touch to each bite.
The char was cooked nicely but was a bit more fishy tasting than trout which is what the char is usually used as a taste benchmark for.
We were a group of eight so we expected the service to be a bit slower but it was, at times, painfully slow. That, the food and the size of the bill are the reason for three stars.
Don’t get me wrong– the atmosphere and courteous nature of the waiters and hostesses are excellent. We will certainly return for another meal.

Nice find for the Concord/​Acton area after driving by it for years.
We really enjoyed it, especially out on the patio on a recent warm summer evening. Place was active, but not packed on a Saturday. We showed up at 7pm and were able to snag one of 4 or 5 outdoor tables.
Most of the entrees were in the $ 16 to $ 23 range, so not sure what people are talking about regarding «expensive». I routinely see $ 40 entrees in Boston.
The owner took the time to stroll around all the tables (where does THAT happen nowadays).
They even grow some of their own herbs, berries and vegetables in the adjacent «Farm». We’ll be back.