Kennedy’s On The Square

Great location, not bad food, good vibe, but a bad winter had to close.

Don’t get the lobster.
Kennedy’s is OK. The number of high-​top tables, the maroon vinyl and white accents, and an extremely loud trivia night all baffle me. But the waitstaff is friendly and the cocktails are very nice. Also, the vault is nice and cozy.
However tonight, I had the extreme misfortune of ordering the lobster, which is the most confusing meal I’ve laid hands (or eyes) on in a long, long time. They cut a small-​ish lobster in half lengthwise, lather it all over in some ill-​advised, sweet lemoncello slime, and serve it to you in its searing-​hot, lubed-​up shell on a bed of also-​slime-​drenched once-​couscous. Not only would I never (again) pay $ 30 for this dish, but you couldn’t pay me $ 100 to attempt to eat it again. What is the proper way to eat it anyway? Lick the shell clean, and then crack it open?
I also think it’s unfortunate that the waitress seemed oblivious to my distress at attempting to eat this dish, and totally unaware of the inherent likelihood of causing distress by serving something like this. I asked her to describe it beforehand, and since she described it as «pieces of lobster, served atop a bed of couscous», I thought it would have been shelled in the kitchen. Alas, no.
The remnants of the beast sit before me now. I will wash and dry them before making my second attempt at liberating the nourishment within. Consider yourself warned, and spare yourself the ordeal.

It’s been 3 hours since I ate here, and my stomach is not agreeing with my decision. It’s slowly punishing me for trying to go to a new place instead of a known quantity.
Could it have been the truffle fries which, though cooked well, didn’t taste anything of truffle? Perhaps.
Could it have been the lobster roll which, although the bun was well toasted and the portion was quite large, wasn’t seasoned at all and ended up being extremely bland? Possibly.
Could it have been the fact that after asking for mustard, the brought out some strange, non-​standard yellow mustard with a bunch of seeds in it? Probably not.
Could it have been the reasonable service until we tried to get the check, at which point everyone developed tunnel vision? Almost certainly not.
In the end, stomach says and I listen, and this time stomach says that I done messed up.

Technically, if Unilocal allowed half stars, 3.5 would be a more appropriate rating for me!
We came on the premise of having gift cards from the Unilocal Elite event in January. Because my boyfriend and I had such a great time there, we definitely wanted to come back!
We came on a Sunday afternoon where Kennedy’s served up their brunch menu. Their menu isn’t exceptionally big, but rather offers specialty items that should appeal to general palettes. We noted that specifically during brunch, all sandwiches come with a choice of a side, including: Hand cut fries, Truffle Fries, Sweet Potato fries, Mixed greens, or seasonal vegetable. These sides are normally $ 6 on other days or if you want to purchase them a la carte.
We both ended up picking the Lobster Roll (Fresh Maine Lobster, Romaine Lettuce, Chipotle Orange Dressing, $ 20) and picked the obvious side of Truffle fries.
The price point of $ 20 is pretty decent, especially when you can find other places charging upwards between $ 25 – 30 for a lobster roll. The roll came out stuffed with knuckle and claw meat, had little bits of celery and small pieces of raw onion, and was dressed lightly. I didn’t particularly notice the chipotle or orange flavors peaking through, but it all tasted good regardless. I’m also a sucker for any type of truffle fries and these were pretty darn good. I almost think, however, I liked the fries more than the lobster roll itself!
That being said, we had no problems with service, our glasses were never empty, and food was decent. Parking in the area is already difficult on regular days, but add on layers upon layers of snow and it makes things even worse. A parking lot is available nearby — we noticed that on this Sunday, they charged $ 5 per half hour with a $ 15 maximum.
Kennedy’s is a bit out of the way for us, therefore, although the food was pretty decent, it doesn’t prompt me as a place that I’m dying to come back to, hence my true rating of 3.5 stars.

We had no reservation and as a group of 6 they managed to squeeze us in straight away. Staff were attentive, helpful and knowledgable. Happy to deviate from menu when requested.
Food was good, I had bison burger with smokey Bleu cheese and a pint of local beer Pretty Things, the serving size was normal and not the gigantic serves I have had previously in the States.
Everyone on our table enjoyed the meal, the rib eye looked fantastic and was cooked to perfection.

On a Tuesday night, fellow Unilocaler Lily S, and l hung out. It was supposed to have been a night out with a few people, peeps couldn’t make it, so we turned it into a girls night :)
We sat at the bar and ordered drinks. I ordered the Moscow Mule and Lily got the 109 (I think). For food, we ordered the fish tacos, buffalo chicken wontons, sweet potato fries, and regular fries. The fish tacos were so delicious, we ordered two orders! Avocado cream sauce and pico de gallo made those tacos ahhhmazing. Sweet potato fries were great too. The buffalo chicken tacos were a little different. Crispy wonton was okay but the filling was odd — the chicken had a weird whipped texture and was dry and didn’t have much of a buffalo taste. I mean we ate them anyway. I dipped mine in ketchup because I don’t like blue cheese.
Service was awesome. The bartender was super entertaining and accommodating. She never failed to make sure that we were okay with drinks and food every so often. I had come to Kennedy’s before for a great Unilocal Elite event and I was impressed then. I knew I’d be impressed again and I was.
A few days later, I noticed that my credit card was overcharged. I called and spoke to Zack, the manager, and he was really nice about making sure I was refunded as soon as possible. Like I said above, I was impressed by the service and will gladly return again :)

What will it take to get really good food in this location? First First Printer and now this place — it’s a decent looking place but food is lackluster. Sat down on Valentines’ Day, and we were greeted with a friendly «Please leave within an hour and a half.» from the host. LOL. Way to kick off an evening.
Ordered the turkey burger which was dry and tasteless. Could have ordered a burger of rubber and it would have tasted just as good. The fries were yummy, and the waitress was friendly. Now please «up» the food!

I stopped by Kennedy’s for my first time earlier this week. I’d been a few times back when it was First Printer and our group was looking forward to checking out the new space.
Our party of 6 was seated in the back, in a spiffy vault-​type of room. The table was tucked way back into a tunnel. Bonus points for aesthetics. A little awkward to climb in and out of. As we took our seats, I thought immediately of the waitstaff. It’s an awkward table to serve — one that requires a lot of passing down of plates and glassware. My empathy dissipated rather quickly after we were all but forgotten about after drink orders were placed. A few of us ordered a second drink when our food arrived. Everyone had finished their meal by the time the waitress came back — empty-​handed. Instead of apologizing, she said «no one brought that beer?» and left the table. To her credit, she came back a moment later — drinks in hand — but didn’t apologize or even acknowledge the mix-​up. After this, we waited quite a while for the check. Soon after it arrived at our table, a second waitress brought over an additional copy. Clearly there are some training and communication issues going on with the front of the house.
Despite all this, the food was good. Not good enough to make up for lousy service, especially in an area like Harvard Square. I spoke with the manager when leaving to share my concerns and he was kind and responsive. Hopefully responsive enough to get their act together. I’m in no rush to return to find out.

After attending an absolutely fantastic Unilocal Elite event here, I was very eager to come back for the authentic Kennedy’s on the Square experience. I had high hopes that it would live up to the greatness I encountered in terms of food, drinks, and service.
Well, Kennedy’s gets two out of three — the food and drinks were phenomenal, but the service was just lousy. My sister and I came by on a Saturday evening around 8. We were seated immediately, but that was the only part of the night that was quick. It took a good ten minutes simply to be brought some water, and it continued on like that. Our apps came well before our drinks did. When the server asked if we needed anything else, we mentioned we were still waiting on our drinks. He responded «yeah, we’re just really busy right now, we will get them to you as soon as we can.»
Now, I think that that is an inadequate response on many levels. First, he didn’t even apologize! Second, I’m pretty sure every bar and restaurant in all of Cambridge and Boston is «really busy» at 8 pm on a Saturday night! Not okay, folks! A simple apology would’ve sufficed!
Let’s discuss the food and drinks themselves. When they finally got to our table, they were much more satisfactory than the service. We shared an order of the deviled eggs, beef sliders, and sweet potato fries. All were delicious, but the standout was definitely the sliders — cooked perfectly to medium, and served with kimchi ketchup (so good), American cheese, and housemade pickles. The drinks impressed as well. I was all about the Hot Lips — fireball whiskey and hard cider!!! I could drink those all night! The presentation of the drink was slightly underwhelming though — it looked like a glass of ginger ale. No point taking a picture of that for Instagram!
While I was quite disappointed in the service, I do intend to come back. It’s a great location, and I would love to try some of their entrees. And guzzle a few more of those Hot Lips drinks, please!

Full disclaimer: if I did not have celiac disease, I am sure they would get a higher rating. With that said, I had the spaghetti and meatballs last night, along with a sangria.
The meal was great; the meatballs were amazing and the sauce was great. However, the pasta was reminiscent of a pasta you might have thought was innovative for a gluten-​free pasta in 2006, definitely not in 2015. It was very thin and it… well. it tasted gluten-​free. The portions are huge, so do not be shocked by the sticker price. The reason it seems so expensive is because you are actually eating that much of their stuff. I had a ton of leftover food, which I forgot at the restaurant (oops).
The sangria was decent, but it wasn’t memorable. It paired decently with my meal, but it was, by no means, an excellent sangria (or worth the sticker price).
We were seated promptly, a party of 4, without reservation, at 7:30 PM on a Saturday night. We were in the little back room past the restrooms; if I had to do it again, I would probably not sit there, since it took a while for servers to reach the table.
It took about 15 minutes after requesting the check before we actually got it, and then we were told it would be ‘another minute’ before things settled, but we had to leave, so a whole 30 minutes later, we left… we had paid, but two members of my party used gift cards, and I’m wondering whether their request for no change led the dining establishment to give the gift card to the server. Only speculating, but I’m guessing they would know the cash excess was meant as a tip for our wonderful server.
If you want comfort food in a non-​collegiate atmosphere, this is the place to go. It’s hard to find places without inebriated undergrads in the Harvard Square area; this place did that for us.
My friends enjoyed their sandwiches, and the mac and cheese, which comes in a small plate, is apparently amazing and more-​than-​enough to eat at Kennedy’s and have some to take home.
What I would like: Quicker service, a change in the GF pasta, more GF options.
What I already liked: This is the first time I’ve had spaghetti and meatballs in over a decade, and it really was like ‘going home’ again… whatever people mean when they say that. It also isn’t very noisy, and you have your choice of attire. You walk by some other places along Brattle St, and you might feel underdressed if you’re in jeans and a t-​shirt. Not the case here.

I’ve been to Kennedy’s several times, and even more when it was First Printer. I prefer the layout of the place as Kennedy’s, but First Printer had a bit of a cooler vibe. I’m writing to comment on the food I had there last night specifically. I went with a friend and we had the fritto misto, buffalo chicken wontons, burger with truffle fries, and lemoncello lobster.
The fritto misto was phenomenal. The burger was great. The lobster was meh and I hated the creamy glob of pearl couscous at the bottom of the bowl, but the three charred asparagus that were on top of it battled with the fritto misto for most delicious thing we ate. The problems were the truffle fries, which were ice cold (we ate almost none of them and sent back the entire bowl), and the buffalo chicken wantons, which were terribly overcooked and dry.
The buffalo chicken wantons came with ranch dressing (I wish it were a bit thicker), housemade pickles that were absolutely delicious, and on a bed of arugula. I wound up eating the pickles with the arugula. The wantons were a little too dark around the edges, but more importantly the chicken inside them was crumbled up super-​dry meat that made our mouths feel like we’d just eaten sawdust :-/​This dish would be tastier if (a) the meat weren’t overcooked in the first place; (b) the chicken were cut into chunks instead of chopped up so that it retained more of a succulent feel; or at least © if something were added too it, such as cream cheese, that would make the wanton filling creamy and delicious even if the chicken weren’t great. It was the worst thing I’ve eaten in a restaurant in quite some time.
That said, the service was great, the vibe is awesome, and I’ll be continuing to go there. I mostly just wanted the restaurant to know that the buffalo chicken wantons desperately need to be reworked, and for the public to know not to order them without checking to see if they’ve changed the filling!

Nothing has changed since the first printer. Just the name horrible service and wait time. Not to mention the rudeness of outer waiter and now the tables are longer as well. Not accommodating to the handicap or even children. Still don’t recommend coming here. There are plenty of better places to eat in Harvard square.

It could be that something really strange was happening the day I came here, but Kennedy’s did not have it together.
I stopped in for brunch in a group of 3 on a Sunday morning – there were other people there, but it wasn’t very crowded. Still, we ended up waiting almost an hour for our food to come out, and when it did, the kitchen had substituted the pork belly in her pork belly benedict for bacon without checking with her or even informing her (or the server). It didn’t come up until my bacon-​averse friend asked, «Is this bacon?»
That being said, I enjoyed my truffle fries (addictive!), I heard the French toast was good, and I thought the server we had in particular was so nice and accommodating. Still, you can’t just make substitutions without telling anyone, and an hour wait for food after being seated is excessive.

Was back in town, lived in Boston for seven years, for a short weekend with friends and we needed a place with availability on open table for six folks. Voila! KotS was one of the only ones in Cambridge area that met the requirement, maybe a bad sign?, so we booked it and met up. Here’s the highs and lows.
Highs
Service, both bar and table, was cordial and responsive. Drinks were filled with the quickness, as were cocktail orders. Our bartender and waitress were both great and understanding as we took a bit of time coming up with food orders (although were heavy on the alcohol, so she was racking up a good bill). If you’re in the ‘hood and just need a drink or some bar apps, I’d recommend this place as a warn weigh statin for weary H-​Square travelers that would like to get away from tourists, or just anyone at all, since this place was mostly empty on a Saturday night.
Lows
The food. The volume of the food was really inconsistent, and as that relates to price, it simply made no sense. «Small plates» that were ordered (at marginally lower price points than entrees) were actually quite large, while entress (priced higher) were smaller than «small plates». Of course volume does not a price make, and I’m not correlating the two, just calling out that «small plates» are actually quite large, relative to the entrees– so it’s a misnomer.
Aside from quantity/​volume, the normalizing factor was really taste, and everything tasted like air, across the board. Therefore, knowing that everything will taste like you’re dining at a flavorless oxygen bar, I would recommend ordering yourself a small plate and saving a few bucks.
I remember a few different establishments in this location since I left Boston, hoping this place can get some taste injected into food, near term, and survive the location’s curse.

We held the PJA Advertising holiday party at Kennedy’s last night and they outdid themselves on the food, the hospitality, and the overall experience. As background, for the past ten years we have held our party at Upstairs on the Square, a place we loved, and found it hard to believe we could find an alternative that would rise to that standard.
I stumbled into Kennedy’s for lunch one day and was completely taken by two things: the friendliness of the place, and the lobster roll. I drilled the server on the lobster and learned that they had their own tanks and cooked the lobster fresh every morning. It’s also a great space, anchored by a large bar. With a little trepidation, we decided to give it a go for our party.
Mike Lanno, the general manager, was fantastic and went all out to accommodate us in terms of room set up, wine tastings, you name it. We also worked directly with Yankel, the executive chef who designed a beautiful menu. For passed appetizers he made vegetable maki, fried oysters, crab cakes, little lamb chops, and a handful of other delicious things. There were also mini-​lobster rolls and latkes served as small plates. The main course was tenderloin, roasted vegetables, butternut squash ravioli, mashed potatoes, and a beautiful salad. Desert was chocolate covered strawberries, and homemade donuts. Yankel personally oversaw all the cooking and was in the dining room carving and serving people, which we really enjoyed.
There are so many intangibles that define a restaurant. All the servers and bartenders were genuine and accommodating without being patronizing or phony. It just has a good vibe. This is a fantastic addition to Harvard Square and I suspect will become a go-​to destination for a lot of us. My advice is to enjoy Kennedy’s before the secret is out.

I really wanted to like First Printer, because I liked the space and the drink menu, but it always seemed to come up short. From a lackluster valentine’s day prix fixe experience, to being randomly thrown in the vault sitting adjacent to your friend joining you for dinner, First Printer seemed to always let me down somewhere. But now, Kennedy’s on the Square is in town, and it is a HUGE improvement. Everything has been changed from the spartan tables and menu of First Printer to warm, comfy red diner-​like booths and an expanded (and honestly much better value) menu at Kennedy’s. Everything about our visit was excellent, including the friendly waitstaff and the food. I ordered the arugula and goat cheese salad, and the mac n’ cheese with ritz cracker crust. Both were fantastic, and a great duo for a meal. I was also impressed by the well-​priced sandwiches available for dinner, as well as the extensive cocktail and beer menu. I will definitely be coming back, but I just hope the secret doesn’t get out, as I imagine it will soon be difficult to get reservations at Kennedy’s on a Friday night.

Came here for a lunch time. Immaculately clean. Quite red all over, really emotes the diner vibe in the seating area. JFK pictures are all over the restaurant, well it is the namesake of the restaurant. We were wicked hungry this lunch. Started with buffalo wontons, and the wings asian style. The wontons were good, and minorly spicy. The wings were good and came with 4 different sauces for dipping. We couldn’t wait and I lost some finger prints and tastebuds because the apps were so freshly made.
Then, the main courses. I got the Mac and Cheese with lamb sausage. It was packed with sausage that added a nice meat to the dish. I personally, am not usually a fan of a «real» mac and cheese, but this one won me over immensely. Served in a cast iron pan, still piping hot from the kitchen. I couldn’t finish it all, and it was still just as delicious the next day when I finally finished it. My date got the duck confit sandwich. She was not as enthused as I was with my dish. She thought it was a little dry. She got sweet potato fries that were great and we finished all of them.
I’m really happy we tried this new place out. I can’t wait to come back again and try more of the menu.

If I were to just rate the food, I would give Kennedy’s a 4, or even a 4.5. Kennedy’s has a great feel to it – it’s very classy and certainly an ideal Friday or Saturday night destination. The tables are all elevated and so you will either be seated on a booth-​style wall bench or a raised stool chair. However, service matters a lot, no matter how good the food and the ambiance.
I visited Kennedy’s on a Saturday evening in a group of 10. We had made a reservation but there were no spots when we arrived, perhaps attributable to this being the Head of the Charles weekend. When we were finally seated after a 45 minute wait, we ordered quickly with a waitress who seemed a bit impatient. When I asked about certain items on the menu, her explanations were curt and a bit matter-​of-​fact.
The food did arrive quite quickly, and the staff did check in with us to see if there was anything we needed, though I did sense that they were also trying to serve us as quickly as possible to vacate our table. The food itself was great. I tried the mac and cheese, which was rich with a sharp cheese flavor, but not too heavy. (The crumb topping really helped balance out the texture and flavor.) I also had the beet salad, which was served with arugula and candied walnuts, and a piece of crispy goat cheese. The cheese was perhaps the most special — it was battered and lightly fried, leaving it with the perfect balance of crispy and creamy. I tried a bit of the duck confit, which was moister than I expected. It wasn’t quite as flavorful as I would have liked. The truffle fries were distinctly truffle-​y in taste though the fries themselves were not particularly outstanding.
All in all, I would come back again to give the service a second try. I might not come back in a big group though.

Great new restaurant in Harvard Square. I enjoyed First Printer as well. I knew it was going to be a good experience when we got a parking space right out front!
They had a nice selection of beers on draft. We ordered the veggie burger and the mac and cheese. The veggie burger was a delicious homemade patty with chickpeas on a big yummy brioche bun. The mac and cheese was super rich and tasty, one of the best I have had in awhile with a ritz cracker crust. The prices are very reasonable for the neighborhood. Our server was great as well. I will be back!

This is a great addition to Harvard Square. Cheaper than Russell House, with much more fun theme!
I had a Moscow Mule to drink, which was great. But the real excitement were the deviled eggs and the Duck Panini. Both were absolutely delicious!
Service was fast and very friendly. Great date spot with the pictures!