Harvest Cafe

Cute, small and accommodating to kids. Had a groupon which was great and good was yummy. Was there before the band started which was good by me.

Great food, outstanding harvest bread pudding!!!
Sorry they just sold the restaurant.
I miss the bread pudding already.

Rapidly becoming a local favorite! Food is reliable, service is friendly, and owner treats us like members of the family! Live music on weekends is an added bonus!

Sooooooo…
Harvest is closing. April 25 is the last dinner. April 26 the last brunch. If you missed it and you want a chance, it’s your last chance this week.
I’ll update the business listing when it is actually closed.

Went h ere on a Sunday for brunch. They had live music which was very enjoyable. The food was above average but the Bloody Mary was exceptional highly recommend getting one.

Please bring back the yogurt & granola! So disappointing to see it listed on the menu and then be told that it is no longer available when I tried to order it.

I was so glad to stumble upon this café. I had been driving south alone on a Friday night and the only restaurants I kept seeing on route were chains. Unilocal offered a few original choices in downtown Hudson but when I pulled into the town most were either closed or popular bars where it was clear it would be hard to find a single seat at a bar where I could just enjoy a nice meal. I was grateful when I walked into Harvest. It was everything I was looking for — a delicious, affordable healthy meal and an inviting atmosphere. It’s true what the other reviews say, Karen makes you immediately feel at home and not strange for dining solo (which I was admittedly worried the other pubs may also make me feel if I could find a seat). I will definitely be back, and encourage others to visit.

I found myself in central MA a few weekends ago and stumbled across the Harvest Café via Groupon. It sounds like they host live music on multiple evenings a week, which unfortunately we didn’t get to experience. Instead, we found ourselves here for brunch on a very snowy Saturday. As such, there weren’t too many customers, but it didn’t feel creepy or cold, as there were some regulars hanging out talking to the owner in the bar area, along with a family and a few women who were having lunch.
I had the three egg veggie omelette with cheese, which for less than $ 7 is a bargain, including crunchy breakfast potatoes and bread.
My companion had the smoked salmon benedict served on an english muffin. The Hollandaise was delicious without being too buttery or strange. Also, the amount of smoked salmon in the benedict was substantial.
We of course needed a sweet to top the meal off, so we split a single pancake. I love when restaurants allow you to get just one pancake, rather than making you get a stack of at least three.
The service was friendly and patient. I did find it a little strange that coffee was self-​serve, but it wasn’t a big deal. It was also weird that they took the coffee carafe away towards the end of our meal there, but maybe they simply ran out and decided not to make more.
The setting is comfortable, certainly a community place. With the Groupon, the visit was extremely affordable and certainly a nice stop for us on our trip.

My husband and I love the Harvest Café. It’s such a relaxed setting and the food is wonderful! They are very accommodating to my gluten free diet as well.
Also we enjoy the great entertainment! Our favorite is Sean Fullerton.

Love it here! Came here last weekend with my 3 year old, I’ve actually been many times with the whole family. The service is always great, friendly staff. I love that the owner Karen is so personable and friendly.
Great breakfast for a great price and nothing beats eggs with a side if acoustic entertainment. Love listening to the sounds of a guitar while sipping my coffee, it relaxes the kids too.

This is the worst place I have ever eaten. I was absolutely STARVING when I arrived. I order a Thai chickpea curry plate off the specials menu with a side of steamed broccoli. What came out was the most tasteless plate of food imaginable. Half a cup of cold rice, steamed veggies in a flavorless sweet and sour sauce, and 4 pieces of plain microwaved broccoli. Not only was this not what I ordered, it was absolutely terrible tasting. Do yourself a favor and don’t come here.

I come here fairly regularly and have to say the breakfast is really really good. The only down I see is that service can be a little slow, but the staff is always so nice and accommodating! With the Unilocal deal it is seriously the best deal in town!

Went for breakfast… coffee was cold. Waited twenty minutes for food when there were only a few other tables. Food came to us cold, potatoes were not cooked all the way. Lousy breakfast experience.

I had never been here before. My boyfriend and I went here because a couple of my friends were singing.
When we arrived, my first impression was that it was cute. Not the best location and a tiny parking lot. A few tables had people at them so it wasn’t too busy.
We couldn’t tell if we were supposed to seat ourselves or wait because there was no one at the host station and no sign.
After being seated we were greeted promptly to order drinks. We weren’t ready to order food yet so our waitress was polite and came back.
The tables were filling up.
Before we ordered the owner/​manager was standing near our table and (not sure if she was talking to us) said something about how she wasn’t sure who was serving which table.
After we ordered, the owner/​manager came by and informed me they had sold out of salmon the night before (what I ordered). So she brought over another menu.
We noticed throughout the night that our waitress was not very attentive (not sure if they’re not used to it being that busy). And the kitchen was loud, we could hear them yelling at our waitress to remind her her plates were ready to go out.
The food wasn’t terrible, my water tasted funny, and my food wasn’t very well seasoned. The place seemed pretty unorganized.
We probably won’t be coming back here!

Love the artichoke dip– always add spinach!
The live music makes for a great dining experience!
Servers could be a bit more attentive to checking back after meals are served and asking about drink refills.

I can understand why some Unilocalers are concerned with the «service» — servers are seasonal and not a heck of a lot of training — students getting a break to pay for their tuitions, or pocket money. But they do try. As for the food…
We went on a groupon for brunch. Really STUPID cheap and hefty eats. Mostly scratch made — portions are huge, food is fresh and there is music to boot. Karen, the owner is soooo proud of her «new-​agish, friendly neighborhood» spot. Im SHOCKED that in my 20 years here, I HAD NEVER GONE IN. Now, I can’t wait to get back. My son loved the bacon grilled cheese, the hubs feasted on a bfast sandwich as big as his head (and he has a BIG head! LOL), and I went with the one on one, so I could sample their fluffy, delightful pancake (which was attacked by both son and husband!). Karen is also the bartender, and mixes a great bloody mary — for a measly $ 5!!! CRAZY. The woman has a community heart of gold, and as she prepped up for 4^th of July week closing, she made sure the food pantry and staff were well stocked on food…
Make sure you introduce yourself — she’s a hoot!
We will definitely go back when we are on a «cheap date morning or night» — its stupid affordable, and food is like visiting with a family member (that can actually cook!!!)

Went back recently and what difference, excellent service, great atmosphere, live music, definitely worth a second look

Well as a regular here of 3 years I can honestly say to Luke and the others that complain about not so prompt service, if you are out for a quick meal Harvest Café is not the place for you. My husband and I picked up on this rather quickly, but we love the relaxed nature of the place. If we want brunch and need it quickly there are other places we can go.
The owner is super friendly, and she does not say on any signs that the café uses all organic products. She does however support local framers, but again does not profess to use only local and/​or organic products.
I brought my family in for brunch once and did not have a pleasant experience with a waitress. I did the mature thing and spoke to the owner. Who quickly addressed the issue.
So before you get in any social media outlet to degrade a place. Talk to the management or owner first to address your concerns.

I had read some good reviews about this place but had never been. Today, i went for breakfast. I had the stuffed french toast with blueberry compote and a side of bacon. I «had the convenience» of helping myself to coffee.
For a place that plasters its doors with «buy local» and «organic» and «no farms no food» (to which i agree), they seem to be at considerable odds with what they put on their plates. In an effort to be both informative and constructive, i will inform the readers here what i was served, and then suggest to Harvest Café what i should have been served.
French Toast: My French toast was made from store bought, thin sliced, white bread. Wrong. French toast should be made from thick cut bread. And if I am at a place that brands itself the way Harvest Café does, guess what… I expect home-​made, thick cut bread. from a culinary perspective, I also expect my French toast (and here’s a real shocker…) toasted. not warmed. Lest you worry, the servers managed to wait for it to cool before bringing it to me. Phew.
and what is it we all love about French toast, the maple syrup. lest you fret my friends, no maple syrup to be found. we did have some wonderfully room temperature caramelized corn syrup with maple-​ish flavored additives though. i guess the buy local campaign does have its limits… in new england real maple syrup is mighty hard to come by. oh wait… we’re one of the only places in the world that can make maple syrup… good thing we aren’t support in those folks who do it.
Blueberry compote: compote is a pretty simple thing, but that doesn’t mean it should taste like it came from a can in a vending machine. Again, at a place that markets itself the way harvest café does, i expect my blueberry compote to be more than defrosted frozen blueberries w/​some sugar thrown in to make the sauce sicken… excuse me, i mean thicken. what i expect is blueberries that have not been frozen. i expect some lemon zest to cut the sweetness of the blues. i expect the sauce to have a different consistency than that of melted lollipops.
Bacon: this one really makes me mad, because of all the reasons to «buy local», the humane treatment of animals we eat is and should always be número uno. at a place where i was literally sitting next to the window that had a «buy local» sign, i was delivered factory raised pork (microwaved no less). Fail. Epic fail. Just so much fail. Let me tell you what you should have done (careful, it gets pretty tricky here). Get in touch with a local farmer or coop, and work out a deal to have them supply your pork. or if you prefer, continue supporting the torturous factory farms that put local farmers out of business (b/​c people like you, Harvest Café) demand pork at prices that are unrealistic and then cover your eyes to the atrocities of the industry you are supporting.
coffee: at least the service for my coffee was good (b/​c, and i can’t say this enough, i «had the convenience of helping myself». but guess what. coffee was cold. well. i should say «luke warm». which for coffee means cold.
And then the service. I was the only person in the place. it took 20 mins to get a glass of water. as i said above, i was given a mug so that «i could fill my coffee at my convenience» which i took to mean, «we think you’re stupid enough to believe this garbage excuse for terrible service.».
in summary: my garbage toast was cold. i know that b/​c my plastic cup of airplane butter didn’t melt on it. the blueberries tasted like sticky kids fingers after an ice cream birthday party. i don’t eat fake syrup, so i can’t confirm how that fine chemical tasted. i don’t eat factory raised pork b/​c i don’t like the idea of how those animals are treated. and my self-​serve coffee was cold. that said, the ice water they finally brought me did get the taste of that compote out of my mouth.
some suggestions for harvest café:
i chose to go there. that means i am happy to spend my money there. in fact, i am happy to spend more money there than somewhere else b/​c i expected you to be true to your «buy local» branding. not one thing i was served there was local (excepting again the ice water). the fact that i chose you b/​c i wanted to spend my money on local products but you served me non-​local products upsets me more than had you never claimed them to be local. either change your signage and branding and be yet another mediocre at best breakfast place, or figure out your pricing and charge me more for what you are claiming to be. i am a millii times happier to pay for an experience i enjoy than i am when i have to pay for the experience i had today.

Saturday is so often overlooked as a brunch day. Determined to break from the bagel and bring back the brunch bag, our band besieged the Harvest Café.
We arrived at the Harvest Café at noon and found ourselves with little competition for a table (our party of four was the only other at a table until a rush at 1pm). «All the more service for us!», we thought. We placed an order for a round of their well-​advertised Mimosas; caught up on conversation, it took us a while to notice that it had been… well, a WHILE since we placed our order. Eventually our waitress hurriedly (splashily so) delivered the toastable beverages and took our meal orders.
Faced with an egg-​heavy brunch menu, our team ordered… eggs! A «build-​your-​own» omelet (served with two large pieces of toast and healthy serving of homefries), a «one-​by-​one» (one egg, one breakfast meat, one piece of French toast — with homefries), and two Eggs Benedict (my friend ordered the salmon, I ordered the Florentine). My «Benne» was alright, but the sauce didn’t sit well with me…
One thing I couldn’t get over was the service; the duration, and the spirit. It took almost 20min to get our beverages… and a bit longer to get our main dishes (even though it wasn’t a full house, while being a self-​proclaimed «famous for brunch» spot). Additionally, the ordering of these items was a bit of a process. Four attempts and corrections and my Benedict *still* came with ham. The plates were delivered to our table in two batches (with plenty of time between). Then, there’s the flappy apologizing for being so scattered and delayed (from the front, and the kitchen). Perhaps a general warning, «It’ll just be a moment, folks», and then *maybe* a re-​visited apology, «Thank you for being patient, have a great day!», when dropping off the bill… But the repetitive «sorry — sorry — sorry — sorry» with pronounced worried-​blinking, eye-​rolling, and dramatic breathing from the staff is certainly not a required part of service (take a breath, ONE breath, and move with a purpose, you’ll find life is much more manageable).
So thanks for the safe haven in the snow storm, Harvest, but I doubt we will return. We don’t live nearby, and the experience left a bad taste in our mouths (…and our bellies *guurrp growl blubbbb*).