The Reef

Very nice staff! Great bartender, super nice manager! And it’s a hot and uncomfortable sat mid summer– not easy to work under these conditions! Kudos!

A-​OK. It’s a nice shaded place, crucial when the hot New England sun is beating on your back. I enjoyed a summer sam adams with a lobster blt. The bacon was not crispy enough for my taste. The portion was good, but the lobster did not taste super fresh. A good alternative to the café at the aqarium, or the food stands when you’re waiting to hop on the Duck Tour which leaves from the aquarium.

I came here before the Midsummer’s odyssey thinking that the boat was around the corner. It’s kind of a touristy place, ok, well not kind of… it’s a VERY touristy place. It has an obviously beautiful location right on the water, and the wait staff was very nice. Problems were that the drafts were domestic but microbrews. Also, I had to check out fairly quickly, and the bartender was no where to be found. I waited at least five minutes, and considered leaving in general, but the guy next to me put the beer on his tab so I wouldn’t be late. I could have ripped you off guy. I really could have. The décor is tourist chic, with plastic lobsters and the like scattered around the bar. Not my thing. I didn’t eat anything, so I can’t comment on that. All in all, a decent place on the water but not awesome.

I was really confused by The Reef. The revamped menu looks good, in theory, but… it’s not executed well at all. My chickpea slider was supposed to come with «asian slaw» and vegan sriracha. There was a dab of the sriracha and then a dry chickpea patty on a cold bun with three thin shreds of carrot. I mean, I didn’t expect a lot for $ 3, but three shreds of carrot hardly constitutes «slaw.» The chips were super stale, almost chewy, and the server explained that the side of pickles was part of this mysterious slaw. I was so so glad that I didn’t order the full portion.
We also got the caramelized onion dip, which was pretty tasty, but came with the same stale potato chips. The pretzel with cheese was super dry. The cheese was good, though, and I used it to jazz up my boring slider.
The worst thing about The Reef, though, is that they literally do not have a bathroom. I asked about a restroom before 7pm, so I was able to use the one at the imax. But after 7, the waitress looked confused that we would even inquire about such a thing (imagine wanting to use a restroom after eating and drinking!) and then sent us to the Marriott. Which… is not close. Like, it’s not far, but you definitely have to leave the bar, walk a little bit, go into a building and to the second level. And then all the way back. I’d prefer a trip to the restroom not to take a quarter of an hour.
The only good thing was going to watch the seals. That’s the reason for the second star.

This was a convenient place to stop in and meet friends from the aquarium for a drink after work. We had beers and a snack… only complaint is that the service was slow and the trivia music was WAY TOO LOUD!!!

Had a very disappointing time there. Went to meet some friends after work and drove there, parked at the garage next door. My friends had already been there for a while, enough to have finished their drinks and food, and I thought the server would for sure be stopping by the table soon to check on things. Nope. Twenty minutes later, because I desperately needed a glass of water, we finally had to flag her down as she was passing.
I got a shrimp Caesar salad, which arrived completely drenched in mayo. The croutons looked like they were leftover bread deep fried, which in theory could work but it was so drenched in oil that it made me gag. If this is the best they can do for $ 13, I don’t see how they can stay open. I also had a $ 10 cocktail that looked pretty but was extremely weak.
The final kicker of the night? I asked the server if they happened to validate parking at the garage. First, she kept telling me they don’t provide valet parking. Finally when I said, «No, I mean, do you VALIDATE– is there va-​li-​da-​ted parking», her response was, «Oh, I don’t know. I just usually take the T.» I had to ask her if she would ask the manager or someone to find that out. Um, your restaurant is located in an area with tons of tourists, no street parking, and about 50 feet away from a garage. Don’t you think that might be information that you should train your staff to know?
The final answer was, by the way, «Oh, we can’t do that. Try the IMAX.» Unvalidated parking for around 2 hours runs about $ 35. You can bet I’ll be going elsewhere in the future!

Buying a groupon for this place was my first mistake. Deciding to use my groupon instead of letting it expire was my second. I could see eating here if you are in an absolute pinch, but if you have a choice I would spend the extra dollar or two and get a good meal.
We had the cheese pizza and the sandwich. The pizza tasted and looked like something I defrosted and cooked in my microwave. The sandwich was barely better than one you would find in a gas station. All in all, I was highly unimpressed, and that wasn’t even taking into account the item cost or the service, which only piled on the negatives of this meal.

Nice. Barbara Lynch has designed a new menu for this place. While I doubt we’ll see much of her there, this is a great improvement and badly needed. They also have live music on Thursdays from 5 – 8 and Saturdays from 3 – 6. Trivia every Friday night if you are into that.
Don’t forget, this is an outdoor restaurant/​bar with no walls– great for a warm summer evening but not much fun in the rain.
This place offers a lively atmosphere and is a lot of fun. Now that the food has a better supervisor, the forecast for summer on the waterfront looks a lot better.

I went there in the past summer and totally forgot how great it was until I organized all of my summer pictures and it reminded me of good time there. I have to recommend this place to all people on Unilocal.
Listen:
It only opens for couple of weeks outside of aquarium during summer time. Nothing fancy about its dining section but it was not only a retreat for all parents but also for some professional crowds during trivia games.
The food was AWESOME. We ordered lobster rolls and mushroom pizza. They are so YUMMY!!! I will give their food 4.5 stars with reasonable price they offered. It becomes one of my summer hot spots.

NEW FAVORITE BAR! Two of my friends showed up to lunch and said, «OMG OMG OMG we found a bar on the waterfront where you can drink and watch seals!» My response? «OK, I know where we’re going next!»
So, my little group left the North End and headed towards the aquarium, where we found The Reef. On a perfectly sunny saturday, what can top drinking outdoors while listening to live acoustic, accompanied by a view of the water AND the seal tank outside the aquarium??? Oh, and trivia on Fridays?
We only ordered drinks, so I can’t comment on the food. Limited selection, but who drinks anything besides Sam Summer on a sunny summer day in Boston?
My reasons for knocking it down a star are as follows: 1) slow service — but the place just opened, so hopefully the kinks will be worked out soon enough. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt for that. The biggest reason it loses a star is that you have to leave the bar and walk across the pavement to the IMAX to use the bathrooms. The bar itself doesn’t have its own bathrooms. That’s kind of a pain, but it won’t keep me from going back to The Reef.

Recently came here and although the kitchen was closed, we were interested in drinks only (we had dinner at Joe’s down the street later). This place is such a great, underrated hangout.
And we’re talking summer nights on the water with expertly made dark n’ stormies designed to stormy up your blood stream. The perfect place for conspiratorial, drunken gossip and revelry after the sun goes down.
True story: My dog-​loving companion was so blitzed after our visit here, that when we came upon a tiny dachshund-​like creature and its owners, she exclaimed, «Ohmygodyourdog’ssocute – where are its legs??»
Oh man. I don’t think I breathed at all during my laugh fit. You rook, Reef! And thanks for the gummy sharks — even though they didn’t officially come with my drink, you gave them to me when I asked and didn’t make me feel the slightest bit silly.

Finding outdoor seating in Boston can be a pain to me, so when I found this place I was psyched! It’s an awesome place to relax during the afternoon and have a few drinks by the harbor.
Their menu is limited, but I only come here for the mixed drinks with the cute gummy sharks in them and a couple of beers. It’s not a place where there is a big selection, but it’s a great place if you’re just wanting to sit around for a bit.
The live music they have can be nice but if you sit close it can be quite loud. The bar sits far enough back that even though it’s in a pretty touristy and crowded area, it’s actually roomy compared to Faniuel Hall outdoor seating or other areas very nearby.
I know some people complain about it closing early, but really it’s not a kind of place where you would want to stay late at night I wouldn’t think. It’s just basically a tiny outdoor bar with some patio tables.
What can I say? I love simplicity!

I went here a few times last summer and I really liked it! Its greta for after work drinks and a snack. The outdoor bar is so nice and its over looking the water. My server was very attentive and I didn’t wait for anything.
After the meal I ordered some drinks at the bar. The brink was a little too sweet for my taste, but a creative drink to say the least. It had a candy shark in it, very cute.
The bar does close early, but no big deal. There are some many other places in walking distance that it didn’t really bother me.
Overall, I really like it here and can’t wait for the summer to get here so I can go back!

Locking the chairs to the tables.
Removing the umbrellas from the tables.
Sweeping from right under the customers’ feet.
Taking out the trash right next to paying customers.
These are all ways in which an establishment tries to force the clientel out early so they can close up shop almost 2 hours before they are scheduled to close.
Thus was the experience at the Reef… owned by the New England Aquarium. It was a shame, though, because the bar is prime real estate… right on the water… tremendous view… almost an island feel…
Perhaps it’s better on the weekends, when the staff doesn’t expect to get out at 8pm on a night they close at 10.

On the hunt for a nice place to have a beer on a perfect summer sunday night and the first place that came to mind was The Landing at Long Wharf. I had been there once before and it gave me a very vacationy feeling. Perhaps it was the salsa music and the nice summer ocean breeze.
Then as we tried to make our way towards the bar to get a beer, I remembered what I didn’t like about that place. It was loud, crowded and full of the wrong kind of people. That was manageable for a quick drink on a friday night, but last night, they seemed to be at their capacity, and i just wasn’t in the mood…
So i looked to the right and saw this lonely bar next to the aquarium, it was also on the water, they also had music playing and I knew if i sat down with a nice cold beer I’d get that same vacationy feeling that I got at the Landing. It worked, and the fact that they closed early was really a good thing for me on a sunday night.
I found exactly what I was looking for at the Reef. And now it’s monday and i’m back at work, but my mind isn’t here… I’m still at the Reef with my best friend, sipping a cherry wheat draught beer, gazing at the full moon over the waterfront.

This place had some potential. I mean, their website claims that it’s «the city’s hottest outdoor nightspot.» Oooh yay! But wait, they close at 10 p.m. Oh well, we went after work on a Friday and were kind of excited that it was trivia night. The trivia sucked. It was extremely unorganized and we couldn’t even hear the guy asking the questions.
The drinks were OK. They have fun tropical drinks. But they’re all served in plastic cups and were extremely sugary. The food wasn’t too bad, but my turkey and brie wrap had no brie on it.
The worst part was the waitresses. They all seemed so out of it. We had a table of six, different parts of our party arriving at different times. They brought us one bill and then told us we couldn’t pay with more than one credit card (how archaic are your credit card machines??). So she had to split it into 2 bills and then added too many drinks onto them. When she finally got it right, we went to hand her a credit card and we see her walking out of the restaurant with her purse.
We had to go up to pay at the bar, where we waited more. A guy finally ran the card for us and then said, «Oh, you can’t tip on a credit card. Our system won’t allow it.» Umm wouldn’t you tell us that before you run the card? (again, maybe time to get new credit card machines??) We had no choice so we just left without tipping her. She clearly didn’t care, seeing as she had walked out anyway. This was beyond frustrating and took us over 30 minutes to pay our bill.
It’s too bad because The Reef is in such a cute area and it could be such an awesome bar. Basically, they need to get new waitstaff (or train them), purchase new credit card machines, and change up their trivia night. And then maybe, maybe I’d go back.