Lineage

Small portions, overcooked steak, limited menu options. I definitely do not recommend

Great ambiance and wonderful food. Tasty and interesting. For example the croutons on the green salad were yummy enough to have had alone for an appetizer. The service was excellent too.

Where there’s smoke, there’s a bad dining experience.
Good food, I do want to make sure I say that. And I understand that the place is closing. But last night the staff seemed to have already checked out. They have a large wood fire oven behind the bar. When you walk in it is the first thing you notice and watching the food go in and out is part of the experience. Last night however, as much smoke was coming back into the restaurant as should have been going up the chimney. My date and I could barely keep our eyes open as the air around us was burning. We went out with friends after dinner and were asked if we’d been sitting at a campfire all night. Maybe behind the scenes someone was attempting to quell the smoke, but no one — not our waitress or the floor manager — acknowledged the guest’s discomfort. I am not saying they should have given a free appetizer or anything, but maybe someone could have said «hey, sorry about the smoke, we’re working on it».
Our waitress was nice, but I assume she had too many tables as we saw her very infrequently. I was very frustrated after we finished our dessert and the manager cleared the table next to ours and didn’t realize we had our credit card on the table and was trying to get our server’s attention so that we could pay the bill and start airing out our clothes (she was doing setup on one of the many empty tables as it was 1030 at night and the dinner rush was over).
I am glad I got to experience the place — as I said in the beginning the food was fantastic. And I don’t want to be too hard on our waitress; I’m sure she was following her manager’s lead. But this was probably a «one and done» visit.

$ 1 oysters 5 – 7 everyday at the bar is the sole reason I keep coming back along with the amazing pretzel bun they serve. The menu is on the pricier side but their burger and lobster tacos were amazing as well.

Came here for restaurant week in Boston and was really disappointed. 3 course meal was part of the menu and tried all 3 apps plus main dishes. The mushroom soup was tremendously disappointing — grainy, not creamy, lacking any flavor or spice. The main course gnocchi was okay, but far too salty. The pollack was also too salty and the crab cake was pretty uninspiring overall with a mushy texture. For the price, no where near worth it.

We had the seafood tasting menu and wine pairing. Great ambiance. I’ll go again next time I’m in Brookline.

I have been here a handful of times, and each visit is a delight. I have had their chicken dish, which is yummy, but usually prefer to order which ever fish is their catch of the day/​special.
I usually order the cava they have by the glass, I forget the name of the bottle. It pairs nicely with their seafood. I typically sit at the bar, and the bartenders have always been helpful & polite.
would highly suggest this place if you are looking to dine in the Brookline area.

Really disappointing. Had high hopes and was let down. The service was not good — waiter screwed up my father’s order and didn’t seem the least bit phased — didn’t offer to remedy the situation or take something of the bill.
We got there at 8 and they had already run out of 2 of there 10 entrée options and were almost out of a third. I had a glass of white wine that I thought was really warm. Some of the food was pretty good but not good enough to overcome the disappointing aspects of the experience. The lobster Tacos did not seem to have much lobster in them at all.
If I went back I would probably sit at the bar and try a pizza from the huge wood burning oven.

Nice atmosphere if you’re looking for someplace a little fancier. Good food but a bit pricey. Otherwise, a great experience. Only three stars due to a terrible brownie sundae (which is such an easy dessert to make I just can’t accept a bad one).

So I’ve been twice. The first time, the experience was amazing (4 stars), so I went back with my husband. Now the first time was during a very quiet time (weekday when they opened), the second was a Saturday night. Now the staff is great and accommodating. We did not have a reservations, but decided to roll the dice. We happened to get seated and things were off to a great start. Our drinks were delicious and we were not in a rush. Now I ordered my burger… WELL DONE, HOCKEY PUCK (don’t judge me). What I received was medium at best. I did not want to make a fuss, so I ate it, but it was barely edible by my standards. Totally bummed. Mind you, I ordered the same thing the first time I went too (again, don’t judge me)…so I was expecting it to be as fabulous as the first time. It was not. I may pop in for a drink again if in the area, but probably not for dinner.

This place is fantastic. A definite recommend.
I went for happy hour: dollar oysters. Great Island Creek oysters with tremendous flavor. I had a couple cocktails, very inventive and tasty. I’ll be coming back for dinner soon. Go if you’re in the area.

Went here to celebrate the recent engagement of my fiancé and I. The food was spectacular, and the manager was nice enough to bring over a bottle of champagne for us
I got the burger which was fantastic (so juicy!). For all you Brookline-​ites, if you are craving a burger, get over to lineage! Only $ 16 and really gourmet stuff. Delicious and a great value.

I’ve been wanting to try this place every time I come to Boston but it just hasn’t worked out until my most recent trip.
I walked in and there was only 1 seat open in the whole place, which is a good sign. I sat at the bar next to an older fellow, the bartender immediately came up and handed me a water and a menu. I ordered a Tom Collins (replaced gin with kettle, so vodka collins) and it was one of the best I’ve had. He then asked if I would like to put in an order and I asked for two minutes to review the (short) menu. He came back promptly after I placed the menu down and I ordered a steak. It was ready in about 10 minutes, ordered it medium rare. It came out closer to medium but I was very happy. The steak was cooked amazingly, the potatoes and crispy onions were fantastic.
Anyone in the Boston/​Brookline area I highly recommend to try this place out, from what I’ve heard sometimes the wait time could be off putting but I promise you it is worth it

I absolutely love Lineage. Lineage is a quintessential New England style American restaurant. It’s also perceived as being a more high-​end restaurant with reservations hard to come by at peak hours. But despite all that, it’s extremely child friendly. I guess if you’re a Coolidge Corner restaurant, you have to be! It wasn’t until our real estate agent gave us a gift certificate here that we tried it and I really wish we had come earlier.
The service here is amazing. From the moment you walk in the door, you’re treated like royalty. I was especially impressed because the first time we went, there was a wood fire oven that had a burnt smell (maybe an overcooked pizza?). Recognizing that this may not be the most pleasant experience for guests, the restaurant staff was extremely accommodating and made sure that everyone was comfortable. The Lineage staff was also very good at handling a table with kids. Everything from bringing over a smaller cup of water to making sure that there was a high chair or booster available. Overall, very impressed.
But it’s the food that really makes Lineage stand out. We’ve ordered quite a number of things on the menu now and I can say that nothing has disappointed. The menu constantly changes which makes it fun to go back and try something new each time. We ordered a pizza appetizer, gnocchi, sea bass, hake, burger, and banana bread pudding. The fish was cooked very well, where it just flakes off with a light touch of the fork. The beef in the burger was tender and juicy. And the bread pudding was not too heavy and the perfect finish to the meal. I started looking forward to my next meal here as soon as I was done.

Got here at 5:30, bar was already packed. The manager allowed us to order $ 1 oysters at a table. It was a great deal and would come here again for them.
Was disappointed by the lobster tacos that were $ 16. They really didn’t have much lobster meat in them and were tiny. They were also very bland. The avocado and mango in them were not ripe. Did not see anything special about this dish and wish I had gotten something more worth it.

DO NOT PICK UP THE OYSTER SHELLS ON THE TABLE… I did and they are filled with salt and pepper and it was then dumped all over the table. We had a good laugh at that because it was within the first 30 seconds when we sat down. Whoops :)
Otherwise the food was pretty average. Nothing out of this world for me. We ordered:
Oysters= Great!
Gnocci= Ok, I wouldn’t order them again. They were a little dense for my taste.
Burger= Pretty good. The pickled vegetables really made it.
We were too full to try dessert but I think that I would return to try something else for dinner. And lastly it was weird to see carpet in a restaurant…

Lineage was nice, we had a reservation though we were seated right next to the kitchen doors.
The service was attentive, bread delicious and my LOBSTER TACOS with avocado mousse were divine!
I also ordered the chocolate dessert which didn’t disappoint and enjoyed my meal with a decent pinot noir.
Good experience and I would definitely be back.

I came here for the $ 1 oyster special on a Tuesday night (NOTE you can only get the special at the bar, which fills up fast, so arrive early!) The oysters were super fresh, much better than a lot of the other oyster specials in the city and the atmosphere was really relaxed.
Other food– I tired the lobster tacos and a pizza. The tacos were great! Super fresh and the mango salsa was the perfect addition, the shells were crispy and it was great for sharing. Skip the pizza, there was nothing special about it, I would have preferred to just have more oysters!
My only negative of this place is their drink prices. We got a bottle of wine to share, and the cheapest was over more than $ 35 dollars, for a very basic bottle of wine. I think the markup was way to high for the wine quality, but I was less annoyed since I was getting a deal on the oysters. A great little spot in Brookeline!

Two words: LOBSTER TACOS.
…and three more: Just do it.
My friends and I randomly decided to nosh away on some lobster tacos before shopping at Trader Joe’s down the street. Afterall, we’d save some money by shopping for groceries on a full stomach, right?
We came here on a random weekday, and surprisingly, there was a pretty long wait. Luckily, as we were leaving, the hostess informed us that the someone just canceled their reservation and we could snag their spot!
We had a pretty light meal, as we all ordered appetizers, but it was definitely satisfying. Also, the bread they serve here is soooo good… I couldn’t stop eating it.

I can only speak for the $ 1 oysters because that’s all I went here for, but for reals– BEST DEAL EVER! Daily 5−7pm, which is unheard of typically, I mean really… ever. single. day.
Came here on a snowy night so there was plenty of seating by the bar. Got a Downeast Cider and shared 24 fresh oysters while staying warm in front of their stone fire oven — seriously nothing better! All those who come get a soft warm roll + butter before their order and I wished I could’ve ordered more of those bread rolls because my mouth is watering just thinking about them! They’re made fresh daily and popped into the oven in front of you when you take your seat and then brought to you all nice and warm so the butter melts right on top! It’s also pretty fun to watch them prepare other meals in the oven while you enjoy the oysters.
You don’t get to choose what kind of oysters they serve, and they aren’t going to be the «giant» ones you pay $ 3 for, but hey… it’s a $ 1, still a steal! The oysters were fresh and delicious, I just drizzled some lemon and nothing else! WILL BE BACK!