Forum

NOTE: Forum is closed as of today, as I sadly discovered just now. So, in honor of their memory, I shall now belatedly post my review of brunch.
We came for brunch one Sunday in December shortly after 1pm and, to our pleasure, had no trouble whatsoever getting a table.
The courtesy bread basket arrived filled with warm mini croissants. We totally preferred the chocolate ones, though the plain were great as well. When we got a refill, I found the cranberry ones terrific as well.
Our party of 4 opted to share our dishes and dined on the following:
. Steak & Eggs $ 18 (sirloin steak, two over easy eggs, fingerling potato hash, pancetta, hollandaise)
. Duck Confit Sweet Potato Hash $ 14 (poached eggs, caramelized onions, baby spinach, green chili hollandaise)
. French Toast $ 12 (brioche French toast, candied pecans, local apples, Vermont maple syrup, honey butter)
. Pumpkin Waffles $ 12 (cinnamon crème fresh butter, Vermont maple syrup, Chantilly whipped cream)
Portions were great as none of us left hungry, and a few of us couldn’t finish our share, and ended up taking our piece of french toast home. Props were given to the steak and eggs, which had arrived pre-​sliced and prepared medium as requested. Two slices of meat were my share. The two sweet dishes were each conveniently pre-​portioned for four with the twin slices of french toast arriving diagonally sliced, and the waffle round quartered. The duck came in large chunks of meat, and both hashes not quite what I expected in shape. When I think hash, I see chunks of diced meat and potatoes, whether in a pile or pattied up… the so called hash that came with the steak and eggs were simply the fingerling potatoes halved, while the one with the duck dish were in the form of mashed sweet potato patties beneath the duck and eggs. Tasty, just not quite as advertised.
I enjoyed each dish (particularly savoring the melting juicy sweetness from the cooked diced apples that came with the french toast), and found the service satisfactory.
It wasn’t till I sat down to draft this review that I realized that each and every dish had been missing one item or another. Steak & Eggs — what pancetta? Duck Confit Sweet Potato Hash — served up with straight up hollandaise like that with the Steak & Eggs, not a green chili version as mentioned on the menu. French Toast — no candied pecans were to be had. Pumpkin waffles — chantilly whipped cream was MIA. Wow, 4 for 4.

The night before the Superbowl Rolling Rally it was a quiet night at the bar. Jose was great, attentive but giving us room to talk and enjoy each other and our drinks. The burger for medium rare was undercooked being raw in the middle, fries that came with it were over the top salty so much so my wife couldn’t eat them and the tater tots were the hit of the trio. Drink prices were moderate, I didn’t find them expensive at all.
The next morning, Rally morning, we came and sat early (9:30am). We had coffee and each ordered a bloody mary. Once again, the bartender was perfect, really impressed with the staff… Things were going great … UNTIL. Boston Police showed up and started checking the license to operate with alcohol. I didn’t like being put into a place where the cops were surveying the bar crowd right before we joined the party just steps outside the door. While they were the best Bloody Mary’s I’ve had in ages, the incompetence of the management to check the license guidelines put me off.

I host a bridal shower here for 15 people. Casey was our waiter. He is attentive and friendly. I couldn’t ask for a better service.

Awesome place for drinks in the Back Bay. They have reasonable prices for an establishment in this area. The bar tends to attract the 30-​something crowd. The only reason I gave them 4 stars instead of 5 stars is that they do not shut off people sooner. Things were getting out of control with some of the patrons that they did not shut off.
Other then that the establishment is well maintained and clean. Highly recommend this establishment to anyone visiting the Boston area looking for a cool place to grab a drink.

Had a nice tasty tiny salad. Very pricey and very small portions. Service was unremarkable. Prime Boylston Street location and they must have figured they didn’t have to do anything else.
The food was good just not worth the price for an average place.

Food is great. The bacon wrapped shrimp are to die for. Please be aware it takes a long time to get food so be prepared to wait

I came here for dinner on a Saturday night a few weeks ago and have been back every Saturday since. LOVE the bartenders, they remembered my order and preferences to a tee. (Lemon in water etc)
Im so happy this place came back full strength after the tragedies at the Boston Marathon.
Ps. Try the bacon wrapped shrimp and the brick chicken as well

I went in to this restaurant thinking I’d be going to a nice dining establishment. Once I arrived, it was a very nice bar like place with some seating for dinner. the arrangement was more like a place to hang out more than a place to have a nice dinner. The food was just okay, I was not totally impressed with what I had. I ordered a New York steak and it was still a bit tough, it was not as tender as the other steak places I’ve be to.
My overall experience was that this place was just okay.

place was empty after the Red Sox — Yankees game but we went in anyway. the bartender, Tiago, was great! awesome personality, mixed good drinks, was very sociable.
i really have no idea why it was so empty, but we went once in the afternoon around 4:30 and then again late night, around midnight. Tiago was there to greet us both times.
stop by, have a drink, the place is huge and so worth going to

I will certainly give credit when it’s due and update a review when an establishment goes above and beyond my last visit. I’ll admit that the first visit to the Forum was stellar, and the second was abysmal, so when my mom and I were in town and didn’t feel like waiting at the nearby restaurants, we decided to try the Forum. I’ll admit that I was a little reluctant and definitely prepared for the worst.
Well, I am happy to say, it was a fantastic experience. Our server, Eric, was fantastic and really personable. We scored one of the high-​top tables along the (open) windows and were quickly seated. We ordered our first round of cocktails. I ordered a peach martini that was certainly more lemon than peach and definitely a little small for the $ 13 price tag. But it was delicious and then again, Boylston Street is expensive!
My mom had the crabcakes that were awesome and I had the cajun grilled swordfish that was served as two filets rather than one solid hunk of fish. The fish was cooked perfectly and although I skipped the rice and had an extra side of vegetables, it was still delicious. We also split a wedge salad that was supposed to come up with a side of ranch dressing, but instead was served with homemade blue cheese dressing. I personally like blue cheese, but my mom had to track down someone to get ranch dressing.
The food was superb and the drinks were awesome. My only complaint is that the physical plates were massive. I get that restaurants want to add a garnish to the entrée on the plate, but these plates were just ridiculously oversized. We had a table for two and between cocktails and waters, we could barely put both our plates on the table, let alone the salad plate as well. Oh well. At least we’ll know better next time. We will keep this on our short list of places to return.
Like others have mentioned, the people watching here is fantastic! We were there before a Yankees-​Red Sox game and it was quite the cast of characters. The restaurant has great ambiance and it is a fun place to go. Sit outside if you can, or at least along the windows when they are open. I’ll just hope you don’t have a table of obnoxious fifty-​year old oversized men proudly announcing their six-​figure salary singing «De-​rek Je-​ter!» to every person in a Yankees hat walking by or the annoying 20-​year old DJ wannabe blasting rave music from his phone at an adjacent table. Color me unimpressed with some of the clientele.

Came here after the Jimmy Fund walk 2014. Staff is great especially bartender Rob! Drinks were great and atmosphere was enjoyable.

My friend Jenny & I visited this establishment partly due to the kind hearts of the employees during the Boston Marathon tragedy. See article here:

The Forum has a fabulous location right on Boylston street. There are plenty of tables and bar space.
I, of course, asked for a gluten-​free menu, of which my pal rolled her eyes at me and then proceeded to eat all of the bread. There is no special menu, but Eric (our waiter) was well-​versed in all things gluten, wheat and whatever else is a relative to gluten.
The caprese salad was delish! and my friend had the wild boar tacos. The tacos tasted like pulled pork which was fine. I had a burger but passed on the hot buns while my friend ordered the lobster chowder. In her words «it was not good, it was grey and gluey and just terrible.» Our wonderful waiter took this off of the bill as he noticed it was hardly touched.
The Forum has a decent wine and drink list and a lot of menu options. Skip the lobster chowder and you’ll get a nice meal and a helpful staff :-)

Great location right on Boylston street, with plenty of tables and bar space. Tammie and I had a dinner rez for 7pm last Thursday. Would have liked to have a pre-​dinner drink at the bar, but there was a private douchecanoe event taking up most of the bar.
Tammie asked for a gluten-​free menu, which made me roll my eyes at her, but the staff were very accomodating. No seperate menu, but Eric (our server) was cool about checking on ingredients for my wheat-​belly friend. She started with the caprese salad and I had the wild boar tacos. I ate most of the bread — ha.
My tacos tasted like pulled pork which I like, so that was good. Tam liked her salad. She had a burger sans bun for dinner and I ordered the lobster chowder. The chowder was not good. It was grey and gluey and just terrible. I gave Eric the honest answer to his question of ‘are we enjoying our meals?’ and he took it off the bill. Nice guy.
Forum has a decent wine and drink list and a lot of menu options. Go, but do not order the lobster chowder. Ick.

Haven’t been here since it was Vox. My friends decided to take me here for my birthday. Best night due to the amazing service and the bacon wrapped shrimp and steak and cheese spring rolls didn’t hurt either.
Thanks Forum!

After the horrible service we received at the bar last Sunday afternoon, I won’t bother going back.
After a day of shopping in Back Bay and hitting up an over crowded Stephanie’s on Newbury and The Met, my bf and I strolled in here and were able to snag 2 seats at the bar. My bf had been craving a Bloody Mary, so he ordered one, I just had a diet coke. He said the drink was OK, my soda was flat. He would’ve like a 2^nd one but the bartender didn’t bother to ask. There were only a few other people seated at the bar, but he was clearly behind on service bar orders. We sat there with empty drinks for at least 10 minutes and were never acknowledged. Even after I put on my jacket (clearly ready to go), nothing. My bf had to flag him down to pay our tab, I honestly just wanted to walk out!
Now I know why this was the only place with an open bar seat during Sunday brunch in Back Bay.

My friend and I went here for lunch yesterday and ordered the following:
Appetizers:
Fish Tacos (3)
Entrees:
Arugula and Strawberry Salad with Grilled Chicken
Forum Burger
The food was just okay. The flavor of the fish tacos was good but there was only one small piece of fish in each taco and the cole slaw was more mayonnaise than not. As for my salad, it was smaller than I expected but pretty tasty. I really appreciated that the grilled chicken came out warm and moist. I really hate dry chicken. My favorite part of the salad was the candied hazelnuts. As for my friend’s entrée, I only tried the fries from his forum burger platter, and those were pretty crunchy and yummy. The burger looked relatively large and my friend had to take half of it to go.
The service was interesting in that once the servers noticed I was taking pictures of the food and received a yes to whether I would be posting them to Unilocal,they became extra attentive. They were eager to help scrape off the cheese from my friend’s burger – my friend forgot to ask for no cheese – and to make sure our water glasses were full. Our waiter even gave a mini speech with our check, wishing us a wonderful rest of the day and holiday season.

A little tired of going to Back Bay Social Club. Boston needs more places to go out to.
Anyways, went here. which I know is the place where one of the bombings went off. but anyways. it seemed busy and swinging when I dropped by.
I didn’t eat here. just drinks. They have a lot of different ones. I saw that they had this pumpkin pie one that my friend loved. They also have really girly ones. which isn’t my thing.
I did have some Manhattans. we were able to find seats. and we weren’t bumped and pushed insanely. It’s an okay spot. they need to work on their drink offerings.

Our dinner reservation (party of 10) was @ 6pm on a Saturday night… so I was surprise to see the restaurant pretty empty. A restaurant in Back Bay (situated near two powerhouses — Atlantic Fish and Abe & Louies)…slow…strange?
The décor and ambiance was very relax and romantic — easy to carry a conversation without the normal noise and bustle of a very busy restaurant.
Our waiter was friendly and prompt. Wished the food was as good as the atmosphere… not bad but nothing to rave about.

I dined at Forum courtesy of an amazing Gilt City deal. $ 22 granted me my choice of appetizer, entrée, and dessert, not to mention a 15% off coupon for my next visit. With entrees priced as high as $ 32, how did I interpret this incredible deal? Forum is desperate.
When Andrea B. and I showed up for our 7 pm Sunday reservation, there was not a soul to be seen in the entire restaurant (and this place is huge!). Needless to say, we were a little nervous. Did everyone who wasn’t there know something we didn’t? What the empty house really meant for us was that we were carefully attended to all night (although our servers neglected to take the extra place settings from the four-​top we were seated at) and were basically treated like royalty.
Now about the food, it’s pretty good, but it’s not going to compel people to come back time and time again. Our meal was certainly worth the $ 22 we paid, but probably not worth full price.
Things started well with a nice bread basket and an appetizer of tuna tartare. It was a beautiful end-​of-​summer dish (see picture) accented by bright notes of cucumber, cilantro, and mango.
I was pretty stoked for my entrée, a 16 oz pork chop with chorizo cornbread stuffing, apple butter, and sweet potato purée, but it never quite came together. I think it needed a sauce to really tie things together, as the dish overall was quite dry (the purée wasn’t cutting it). It was A LOT of food, and I had to drink A LOT of water to get it all down (no matter my opinion of a dish, it’s rare that I leave anything behind – where there’s a will, there’s a way).
Dessert was fun, but again, a little bit of a let down. Forum’s PB&J consists of sweet potato peanut butter, cinnamon french toast, and strawberry preserves. You basically got to build it yourself (again, see picture), but the only thing on the plate worth having was the preserves. The french toast was a tad greasy, and the sweet potato peanut butter was a flavor combination that simply didn’t work.
I fear for Forum’s future. No place that big can sustain that little business. For their sakes, I hope they fix some of the kinks in their menu, lower the prices a bit, and start drawing in the crowds. It really is a beautiful place, one that I’d like to return to and use my 15% off coupon.

Brunch review:
Very «meh» when it came to the food.
My eggs benedict came with corn bread instead of the usual biscuit, and I think if the corn bread was freshly baked, I would have enjoyed this substitution a lot, as I am not a huge fan of biscuits. The hollandaise was a bit bland and watery.
Eggs in omelet was too watery, bacon overcooked. French toast was ok, but nothing amazing.
The saving grace was the complimentary bread. It was this little napkin-​lined square tin filled with various miniature sized morning pastries: chocolate swirled croissants, scones, etc. All the breakfast entrees came with potatoes, and those were good!
My friend said the coffee was good though. coming from someone who owns an expresso machine and brews his own every day, I’m inclined to believe him though I didn’t try it myself.
Our server said that he’d started working just that week so I don’t think it’d be fair to use his awkward-​ness to judge the restaurant, so I’ll decline from commenting further about that.
Location is great though, and the bar is awesome if you’re looking for a spot to watch your sports. there are a bunch of large TVs. I’ve been here once for drinks after work and they were solid and normal-​priced (as in you pay the location premium, but it’s no different from anywhere else on this stretch of Back Bay).