Cafe On Main

Another great Lunch! Absolutely enjoyed the Stir Fry today! Just wanted to write, I’ve been coming here regularly for a while, once or twice a week, lately a bit less. But today’s Stir Fry blew me away! Hands down the best in a WHILE…
Small suggestion, the older portions of carved meats were better, before they started weighing it… Otherwise, the meats are great too!

The titular word «café» really means cafeteria. If you understand this going in, the food is less disappointing!
However, since there are so few lunch options in this area of Kendall Square, I come to this place about 1 – 2 times per week for cheap eats.
The pros: I’ve found the staff to be very friendly and nice. If you can’t find something or they run out, they are always willing to run into the back and check for more. The featured exhibition and hot entrees near the entrance can be surprisingly tasty. They often make Asian style stir fry meals that are prepared fresh while you wait. Also, the salad bar is usually well stocked with fresh veggies and inexpensive.
The cons: The quality is pretty low in general, especially the grilled chicken in the salad bar (tho the produce is fine). It has a funky texture and gives me gas after eating it. More importantly, I would have given them 3 stars but they consistently offer strictly seafood dishes every Friday (to which I am allergic) so that is one day of the week I can never eat there. Not having options sucks!

I work near here, so it was a great disappointment that this place BLOWS… sorry, food is below gradeschool cafeteria, wait at the grill and sandwich bar is infinite, and food selectrion and organization is weak…

They need a new chef at this place the hot food is horrible. Please hire a chef that has some knowledge of basic cooking. Otherwise the place is good

Better than refresher course!

Some of the staff are super nice but over the past year I’ve found bugs in the salad on THREE different occasions. No thank you ever again.

The food has grown on me. I don’t always like the specials. And some of it is slow by virtue of the one person on the station. The salad bar has a good variety given the space and the produce is good.
The staff are still pretty stand out. Debbie can swipe a card faster than anyone.

I can’t really explain why, but this place gives me an overwhelming sense of… meh! (Not really sure how apathy can be overwhelming, but there it is).
The staff is always friendly. They are extremely convenient for any one that works in the area. The food is decent. But as has been said in previous posts, it has that definitive cafeteria feel.
Location, location, location. That is what Café really has going for it. They have a nearly captive audience. It is located on a portion of the street that you can’t cross because the Red Line is in the way. If you walk out the doors of (one of the two 13+ floored) the office and go left you have to cross the Longfellow to get any where. If you go right, there are a couple options but everything become repetitive. So, you resign yourself (and all your coworker [across many, many offices] do too).
Even in writing this review, I’m feeling the sense ‘blah’ as this completely unnecessary. Anyone that has been there before will probably go again since the only reason they went in the first place is it is right next door.
With that said, I’m going to get a coffee now. See you all there.

DISCLAIMER — OK, so this review is based solely on the same thing that I got every time for breakfast. I have never had lunch here before nor tried anything else.
4 stars for the following reasons:
1) CHEAP HOT FOOD — so this place kind of feels like a cafeteria and isn’t all that aesthetically pleasing, but man is it cheap! I usually get a bacon, egg, cheese croissant or bagel for only $ 2.50, add a hash brown, brings it up to $ 3.25. Add a juice, maybe $ 5.25. THIS IS CHEAPER THAN MCDONALD’S BREAKFAST!
2) The hot food is made fresh — whenever I order, the cook makes it ready to order and is pretty quick. From what I can tell, they use real eggs, cheese, and bacon… not like fast food restaurants that use questionable ingredients. Since the food is made fresh, it tastes pretty good. Also the guy who makes my food in the morning is pretty friendly. He smiles :) Alhough other people’s service may vary depending on the person making your food.
3) They take credit card for even low amounts — I can charge my $ 2 bagel sandwich to my American Express credit card (which is not accepted everywhere) without having to pay another 50 cent surcharge or anything.
Now would I go here for anything else? Probably not, just because it doesn’t look like a great lunch place. I don’t know if I would get anything at the salad bar either, just reminds me too much of a cafeteria. But for what I get, I’m pretty satisfied and enjoy it for the cheap tasty goodness.

The food is average, and serves in a pinch when I’ve forgotten my lunch. However, after my experience today I will never eat there again.
I work upstairs and sometimes show up right before 2 pm when the sandwich line closes. They guy behind the counter typically complains that he has to make me a sandwich, even if I show up there at 1:55. Today he said that his shift ends at 2 pm and he wouldn’t make me a turkey sandwich… even though I was there a minute prior to 2 pm. He just continued to work, pulling the veggies and meats from his station, and ignored me.
I’ve eaten there about twice a week since it opened, but with that attitude from the staff, I’ll be sure to spend my money elsewhere.

To be fair, I have to say that Café on Main definitely increases your options for lunch in the lackluster Kendall Square zone. Unfortunately, my experience was less than okay and probably one of my worst lunch experiences in the Kendall area. Ouch. Needless to say, chances of me returning here are slim.
ATMOSPHERE
I’m intrigued by the sign on the window. Windows are good. Signs are good. The space looked nice from the outside.
Upon entering, I’m immediately overcome by the most awkward silence ever. There are a lot of people workin the café, and a few patrons have begun to spill in, but it was ultra quiet, heavy on the stare-​factor. Yikes.
FOOD
The food spread is so-​so. Pre made pizzas, omelette bar, hot food buffet, interesting salad bar, muffins, coffee, a couple soup options, grilled cheeeez, drinks (most notably, Root Beer brewed in Scarborough, ME). Very cafeteria-​like. Odd set-​up.
The prices are okay. Salad goes for $ 0.36/oz.
And really, it’s just not that good. Salad greens were wilty. And that awkward silence quite honestly made me feel uncomfortable. Kendall needs a major upgrade. Preferably not by chain sandwich shop!

I have to respectfully disagree with Marc D. on this place. I work down the street, equidistant from Cosi and Café Main. I eat there about twice a week, when I have the inclination to go and get something outside or forget my packed lunch. Everything I’ve had there has been really good. Not exquisite, but it’s a cafeteria, not a restaurant. The food is prepared in front of you, and their specials are inexpensive and plentiful. So far I’ve had a tenderloin sandwich (delicious), a steak-​and-​cheese from the grill (very edible, but it was a slab of beef, not the shaved steak I’m used to), a stir fry (also very good), and today, a turkey, stuffing, and mashed potato sandwich.
I have heard from some of my coworkers that the bread for sandwiches is a little dry and stale at the end of their serving day (around 2:00 I think), but since I’m generally there at 12 – 1, I haven’t experienced this.
The fact that a fresh-​made sandwich and a generous side is only $ 6.50 makes this place my pick for quick lunch. Their specials rotate daily, you can get the special as an entrée or a sandwich, and they also have a daily «exhibition» meal which is also $ 6.50 that is some kind of stir fry prepared in front of you.
Not sure what Marc ordered that was pre-​sliced with the wax paper indent, but everything I get is fresh sliced and made at the time of ordering. I’d say avoid the grill and go for the entrée or exhibition (the first counter you see on entering from Main St).