Symphony 8

closed.

Reserve the downstairs for a personal party; enter behind the bookshelf.

I very rarely give out one star reviews, so just a warning. I went here with some friends before seeing a show at the Symphony. It was a Sunday around 6pm, so I feel like the restaurant should have been reasonably well staffed. There was literally one waitress in the whole place, so the poor woman was running around like a chicken with her head cut off. I’m pretty sure that there was only one person in the kitchen as well.
Knowing that we only had an hour before we had to leave to catch our show, we put in our order as soon as we were seated. After about 35 minutes, where we didn’t even receive our waters, we asked about order and were told that the kitchen «should be getting to it soon.» At this point, we would have had five minutes to eat, so we just cancelled our order and left.
The table next to us was doing the same thing and I heard them complaining about the clam chowder.

We went here, basically for lack of better options close by. When In Boston before events I try like hell not to eat at chain restaurants. So we picked this place is it was basically next door to symphony Hall where we were going to see Distant Worlds.
We all really enjoyed this place, the waitress was a bit slow, and I felt like everything took a little while, considering the place wasn’t packed. But she seemed really friendly, and there wasn’t a problem getting everything we ordered properly.
The atmosphere was adequate, and the food delicious. All in all a good choice for a group of people with far too picky tastes.
The wait staff could use a sense of urgency, as could the kitchen… but other than the speed the place was fairly nice. :)

Decent but not life changing. Good bar and good tap. Ordered the «Belfast» sandwich. It has Irish sausage, cheddar and curry sauce on rye. The curry overpowers.

Pre-​Boston Pops I’d found the website which enticed me with their prohibition style speak easy in addition to the restaurant of which until this point any establishment that’s tried this I have absolutely loved. The truth is though, the website is better than the place in person. The Symphony 8 entrance was dark and empty so we entered through the bar in confusion and the space was insanely overly brightly lit, making for a church basement feel instead of the expected warm, dark, atmosphere. We had a reservation which was indicated by a table card saving us a space but the staff was overwhelmed with a few tables that came in at the same time. Newsflash Symphony 8: when a symphony night…
The cocktails in the restaurant aren’t anything resembling a cocktail bar. On the plus side my winter manhattan was plentiful though spilling out the of large martini glass. The menu is so blandly typical bar food to be shocking for what seems advertised as at least mildly unique. There are a handful of exceptions like short rib and clontarf chicken.
Convencience for theatre goers yes but it just isn’t special enough for a special night.

This place is horrible. Stopped by there with about 10 – 12 people after a trip to the UGHH store for an in store performance with Rashad and Confidence.
We were all pretty hungry. The service was horrible. The waitress could barely speak english. A friend orders two sets of nachos and it literally took over a half hour to just bring out the first one. Everyone’s food also took forever. Once another friend’s burger arrived it was undercooked. back to square one. The second set of nachos finally arrived after that. The waitress again could barely keep up and we were the only people in her section…
Now for the killer, when trying to leave the waitress literally disappeared and never showed up again, we each got our checks and were all overcharged and each of our checks included an 18% gratuity tip. I don’t know how that’s possible but I know people are still trying to dispute the charges. The food was pretty good but not worth all the other trouble. I will never be going back to this joint again!!! Spread the word that this place needs to step up!!!

Nice atmosphere, friendly bartender, and tons of space in the back.
Wide selection, and some interesting stories have come out of this place.

I’m a little surprised by the 2.5 star average for this place. I have had two solid experiences here. The first was post-​finals last semester, a professor came in and bought us 8 pitchers, so I had fun. But I could have had fun anywhere my professor buys 8 pitchers. Came back last night and we ordered a handful of pitchers, nachos, wings, and a spinach dip.
The food itself was actually pretty lame. The nachos were $ 14 (with chicken), and they were pretty dry. Just a little bit of cheese, some chicken, and they were kind of burnt. Definitely not worth $ 14. The boneless wings were good but there were only 5 of them for 6 of us. The cost was relatively low, only $ 70 for the whole shebang.
The main saving grace for this spot was the beruit tournament they got going around 10. Granted, you have to play with water, but it was still really fun. I’d definitely go back, especially to play drinking games in a bar.

I went here on a date. Date went well, but not any thanks to Symphony 8 unfortunately.
The food was mediocre at best. The service was pretty pretty weak. Nothing to get upset about, but just … not good. The waitress messed up my drink order– and I ordered water! Weird.
I had the salmon– pretty weak dish to be quite honest. My date had steak tips and he seemed less than impressed.
I have been to Symphony 8 before on a weekend for drinks– and for that I’d most likely come back. Just not at all interested in exploring any of their other culinary missteps.

Thoroughly mediocre bordering on bad. I should have gone with my first instinct and gotten a drink somewhere else beforehand, but we had tickets to a show at Symphony Hall, so we figured we’d just pop in as it was close.
So much for the convenience factor. We ordered two beers and an order of the spinach dip. Beers were fine, bartender was obviously of the «I’d rather be anywhere but here mentality,» my menu at least was covered with what looked like a week’s worth of spilled beer and grease, and the spinach artichoke dip was awful. When you have to fight over the tomatoes used on top as a garnish to get some flavor, you know there’s a problem. It was served with pita chips, and I couldn’t tell if they were stale or deep fried, or both. I’d have to put this somewhere below Applebee’s spinach dip.
Don’t waste your time, or twenty-​three dollars (what it cost for two beers, crappy spinach artichoke dip, and tip). You’re in Boston, you can do better.

Allow me to join the masses that pan this place as mediocre to awful.
The below describes my most recent visit.
Two things that almost made my night: Chicken and Waffles.
Sadly, it was not to be. The waitress, after having a bad experience with another customer, informed me that Symphony 8’s dish consisted of chicken fingers and eggo waffles. Thankfully she did this and saved me the displeasure of ordering it but this example gives you a sense of how they construct their menu. Cheaply.
We started with the Spinach dip made with ‘3’ cheeses. We assertained the 3 cheeses were 1) Cream Cheese 2) Velveeta 3) Cream Cheese
My actual dish was boring (chicken alfredo). The chicken tasted like it was prepared for a Caesar Salad and tossed into the pasta. I feel they construct their food items in a very lazy way. The pizza we ordered had a frozen grocery store taste and texture to it.
Another odd item: Guinness tasting flight. I love Guinness and like exploring new flavors and this sounded interesting until I got it. It tasted like a little beer with a shot of syrup in each one. One tasted ghastly. This could have been really cool. The one sample with Schnapps in it tasted pretty good so they could have explored that more.
Their Irish Breakfast sounds great but I am pretty sure it all comes from a can. I ordered it on my first visit there.
Their location is excellent. I fear having to go there again with friends the next time we hit the symphony or Jordan Hall.
Fail

Not too much to complain about here.
I’ve been to Symphony 8 a bunch of times and have always enjoyed myself. When they first opened back in ’09 they even rented out the basement to me and a few of my friends for a going away party for free! Symphony 8’s not my favorite place, but it happens to boast a beer menu of over 50 selections. Access to some draft Harpoon Winter Warmer/​Shock Top/​Long Trail with just a 5 minute walk from my apartment is good enough for me.
The only problems I have with Symphony 8 is that it’s become the pre-​Our House party spot on the weekends. I know I’m being a hypocrite since I was an avid user of my fake ID, but I’m simply sick of 18-​year-​olds spilling drinks on me :(

I would say the best bet for a good time here is a Thursday night. I have never had anything other than drinks, but they do have some good specials. They have beer buckets for pretty good prices which is a huge plus. I really like the fact that they have Goose Island on tap and it isn’t pricey at all. I also discovered the «baby guiness» here (Cofee Patron topped with Baileys Irish cream). Delicious.
I tried their chicken tenders once and then made the decision to never order food from here again. I just had the distinct feeling that they were microwaved and loaded with sauce as a disguise.
But the drinks are good and service isn’t horrible. The place doesn’t get too crowded. The sliding bookcase to the basement is neat for first timers. I also get bonus airline miles when I go here which is awesome.

I have been here a few times and every time and its been less then desirable. The only reason why I keep coming is the location. Its a new place, and at first they started out strong, but for unknown reasons could not keep it up, and the place has gone downhill.
The do have tater tots and burgers, and a secret (lame) hangout/​bar/​club whatever you want to call it. Its not so secret and quite lame.
Food is ok/​mediocre, nothing to rave about and its clear that they do microwave quite a few dishes. The drinks are meh, I’ve had better.
The service is bad. One time we had to wait at least 25 minutes before anyone acknowledged our presence.
I say, go somewhere else.

While in Boston, a group of us went here for afternoon drinks, so this review is solely for the bar.
As someone else said, the sliding bookcase was already open, so we went right down into the bar. Had I known about the password to get through, I would have been sorely disappointed to not have that experience!
We sat at a table across from the bar and were served relatively quick. Our bartender, Amanda, was extremely personable and always popped up when our glasses were about a ¹⁄₃ full to grab us a refill.
The price was also pretty reasonable for a bar: my orange juice and schnapps was $ 5 a glass and my friends’ Jameson and coke were $ 7 a piece.
The bar itself seemed to cater to an older clientele (at least by the crowd that was there while we were!) They also had two flat screen tvs available to watch games if you’re into that sort of thing.
Overall it was a good experience and if I’m in the area, I will definitely hit it up again. But there had better be someone to hear the password and let me in to Prohibited!

I miss Tigerlily’s…I can’t lie. I have fond memories of college, fake IDs, and scorpion bowls shared on the wicker loveseats in the window. However, fair is fair and Symphony 8 deserved a chance.
Major props for the «Ode to the Tigerlily» scorpion bowl. However, it wasn’t the best I’ve tasted. It was so strong that I actually got goosebumps. I love cocktails, I just don’t want them so strong I get hair on my chest. For $ 20 though… you better believe I helped to finish that bowl.
We also ordered the Baked Brie… but it wasn’t what I expected. It came out with some water crackers… and it was a wheel of brie… warmed up. The apples on top were dry and unappetizing when they should have been warm and juicy. Where is the flaky filo dough? I wouldn’t order it again.
Why 3 stars? I enjoyed the atmosphere and when it comes to drinkin’ — a great atmosphere goes a long way. We arrived at 8pm and had some apps and cocktails at the upstairs bar. We went down to Prohibited a couple hours later… but didn’t supply a password or anything cool like that. We just walked up and the bouncer slid back the bookcase. The bar in Prohibited isn’t as all-​inclusive as upstairs and their beer list is limited. However, the bartender was super accomodating and willing to run upstairs to grab bottles we asked for when she could.
I’d come back for drinks… not for food.

We checked out Prohibited for the first time this weekend, and it was a pretty cool place. It was at capacity when we arrived (11:15 I think) so we had to wait at the bar right next to the bookcase, but no sooner did we pay for our beers there that the bouncer came and got us because some people had just left. I really appreciated their definition of «at capacity»; Prohibited was decently populated, but there was definitely lots of breathing room and we were always served promptly at the bar, it was busy without being totally crowded and overwhelming.
Aside from not being too crowded, I liked the feel of the bar… aside from the eclectic décor (pics of prohibition area-​beauties combined with booze barrels and creepy animal heads), it had some tables and chairs as you first walked in with an area that seemed good for dancing (there definitely were some people boogying out there), then the skinny bar area, then a darker back room with couches. The specialty cocktails were expensive ($ 12) but pretty delicious (I liked the Flapper and the Rum-​Runner), and they had a decent selection of beers on tap (Magic Hat #9). They have a jukebox which was playing some excellent tunes throughout the night (the clientele that night had great music taste), and they have a few game consoles to keep you occupied if chilling/​dancing/​talking isn’t your thing (I think I saw Big Buck Hunter).
All in all, not a bad place to go with friends, especially for the area. I’m a fan.

Check out the picture I took of my open-​faced turkey sandwich. I wish I had a digital camera with me to better show you how horrendous this looked. I also wish you were next to me, because I would have made you try it, so you could know how gross it tasted.
I say, without hesitation, that my open-​faced turkey sandwich here was the single worst thing I have EVER ordered at a restaurant.
I’ve been to restaurants before where the food was bad. And it’s always because the meat was overcooked or undercooked, the flavors didn’t match, or they used too much of one spice or not enough of another, or for a 1,000 other reasons. There is usually just some problem in the execution of the dish, so maybe if you go some other night, what you ordered might taste ok. Not here. This sandwich would be awful no matter what night you came.
I have never been to a place before where I received something that I found personally insulting. Here’s how they build the plate… they start with a piece of cheap white bread. On top of that, they place a few pieces of Oscar Meyer turkey. No way, this was anything but processed, slimy turkey. I cannot believe that a restaurant would serve it. And then drizzled over that is gravy from a can. Next to it, a big scoop of mashed potatoes that were in the shape of an ice cream scooper, which leads me to believe this came from some big tub of mashed potatoes that they bought somewhere else.
The worst part is that I asked the waitress what she recommended, and this was on her list! The food also came out lukewarm/​cold, so I asked for it to be heated. The plate came back scalding hot, but the food was still lukewarm.
Someone at the table said, «that looks like airplane food.» I WISH. More like prison food.

This is a fabulous new restaurant near Symphony Hall! I met some friends here for dinner the other night. One friend happened to know the chef, so we got special treatment! First, we got a private tour of the restaurant, which is much larger inside than I had imagined. It has 2 bars upstairs — one of which is a traditional Irish pub. There is also a secret speakeasy located in the basement. Slide open the bookcase to gain access! This lounge is very cool — great for parties or dancing!
For appetizers, we were presented with specially made Polish dishes — cute Deviled Eggs & Tatar –a raw beef, onion, egg yolk, & spices mixture which was out of this world! These dishes are not on the menu, but could possibly be made if requested in advance.
For dinner, I ordered the Rare Seared Tuna — which was perfectly prepared. The Duck Breast, Halibut, and Irish Breakfast were also served — the duck & halibut were both delicious! To drink, we had Bison Grass Vodka, and I tried a bottle of Hitachino Nest White Ale. (This place has so many beers it was hard to decide!) We also had 3 different desserts — a chocolate dish, cheesecake, and pistachio cream pie. I am usually not much of a chocolate person, but I highly recommend this one!
Overall, I was very impressed with this restaurant. They offer something for everyone — traditional pub food, sandwiches, salad, & modern entrees. Prices are very reasonable, portions are just right, and the service is friendly & attentive. The next time I go, I’m going to try the Filet Mignon! :)