Tavern In The Square

Great food, great beer selection, great service. Why only 4 out of 5 stars? The fried pickles, while completely delicious, were scalding hot and burned the roof of my mouth badly! We let them cool for 5+ minutes but I think the fried crust was an insulator as they were still WAY too hot.
You should still order them, but have them for desert instead so they have time to cool off.

This place is incredibly loud, so abandon any hope of pleasant conversation in this darkish place. Apparently they’ve changed their menu but not updated the online menu. Some dishes like the salmon, beef tips, and quinoa bowl are tasty but arrive lukewarm. Chicken tikka has less flavor than stewed celery and with a stringy limp sprig of cilantro garnish. Service is minimal, with no wait staff circulating to fill water glasses or provide a missing steak knife, for example. Best aspect: good but not inexpensive wine, beer, and cocktails. Looking for a loud lukewarm dinner with good wine, beer or cocktails and poor service? Tavern in the Square in Northboro fits the bill.

I feel badly giving a negative review but I am doing it to give some constructive criticism that will hopefully be beneficial. I was excited to try out the breakfast buffet, I gave it a good look before committing and passed. The egg bennies looked like they had over cooked in the hotel pans and the sausage didn’t have any sear to them, they were a dull grey. I ordered the chicken and waffles from the lunch menu. The chicken skin tasted burnt, like old frying oil. My mashed potatoes were ice cold in spots. I picked around and ate what I could which wasn’t much. I was asked how my meal was right after it was put down in front of me, before I had a chance to dig in but not again after that. Maybe it was off day, the rest of the reviewers seem to really like it. Not sure it’ll get a second chance with me.

Got a great seat at the bar with the acoustic music for the night. Great atmosphere. Our bartender, Mo, was absolutely fantastic. Always there when we needed him and had great drink recommendations. Very patient and helpful. Their bar selection is prime time, especially beer. They have a great seasonal selection thats always rotating. They are starting their spring beers now. Would definitely go here again and recommend it to friends.

I’m giving this place 3 stars because the food is actually real good, same with the tap list. I ended up with the winter chop & give it so much praise for it being a salad.
But service-​wise, after we received our food we felt pretty forgotten about I would say. I was anticipating ordering another drink but no matter how much eye contact or speaking out I did, we were ignored. It was moderately busy but it was a bit frustrating when the couple next to us (who obviously used to work there) received much more attention by all behind the bar. I get it, you’re friends, but still… definitely lame. I finally got the attention of one of the staff just to get our bill so we could leave.
I probably won’t return to this particular location but won’t turn down the rest of the chain as the food and drinks are pretty excellent.

Aside from the rotating drafts and prefixed beer flights and well made Martinis, they do offer good vegetarian choices. Love their Quinoa Kale salad. Note, they are a franchise and I have had it at 3 of their other restaurants, they are not made the same. My favorite is their Quinoa burger. Soft fresh bread and their homemade Quinoa Patty is excellent. I always replace fries with a side salad. This place never fails. Gets busy and full with wait on weekends.

Tavern has been a great addition to the Northborough scene. We first visited their Burlington location for the brunch (and out of market football coverage). The brunch was good but is spendy enough that we don’t do it regularly (we’ve only been once since they opened in Northborough). We do go in regularly for dinner and they also have a pretty good tap list.
My regular go to item is the buffalo chicken pizza. I like anything buffalo and there’s is my favorite in pizza form. I’ve probably gotten it five of the last six times I’ve been there and it has been great every time but one (a little too much hot sauce with nothing to balance it). Caroline oscillates between their very good burgers and the steak and avocado salad, which I think all who have had it agree it is excellent.
The staff is very good as well. Waitstaff is available regularly and when they do team service they do it pretty well. The bartenders are generally helpful with beer selections and come back to you to check in timely. Also, they are pretty good about changing the channel to a game you want to see as long as other patrons are not put out.
All in all, a good and consistent experience. We don’t usually do chains, but we do view the regional chains separately. Who are we to judge a local business for being successful?

Normally I go in for my regular quinoa bowl, but one day I decided to try something different. I had been going through a buffalo chicken phase and happened to notice they had a buffalo chicken sandwich. I figured, «hey, why not try the sand which?»
I am a very picky eater and when I go out I never eat fried chicken, which the burger originally came with. I asked the bartender if there was any way I would have been able to order it with grilled chicken. She smiled and said, «of course, that won’t be a problem.» I also asked for my buffalo sauce on the side, which she also said would not have been a problem.
25 minutes later and my sandwich came out with buffalo sauce all over it. When the bartender asked how it was, I told her, and with in 5 minutes they had a new sandwich come out to me.
The sandwich was okay, I won’t order it again, but how nice the bartender was really made my experience better.
The moral of this story is that I should stick to my regular quinoa bowl when I come here.

I’m used to the tavern in the square in Allston, but after recently moving I thought I would give this one a try. Service was okay… Food was okay… Nothing to write home about. A little frustrating how the tv near us couldn’t be changed to a pats game because someone else wanted to watch a different game… Am I not in pats nation !? would have given four stars but our waiter was a little rude.

Well, I’m usually a big fan of the buffet brunch at tavern in the square that I’ve had at other locations. But this one not so much. My friends and I went for brunch on New Years Day, which was probably a mistake because it seemed as though the entire kitchen staff was hungover and it reflected on the quality of the food and drinks being served. The buffet food was flavorless and dry. The only edible items being offered were the mashed potatoes and omelettes which were made to order. My Bloody Mary tasted like pure olive juice with a couple drops of tomato juice and it was difficult to drink. I must say despite the issues with the food and drinks, the service was great. Our waitress was very attentive and pleasant. All in all this was not a great experience and I suggest you go somewhere else in the area for brunch, or try another tavern location.

Me, my wife, and our bug (read:little baby daughter) came here over the October-​fest period and then again because we enjoyed it so. I have been to Taverns before and always thought them okay. I particularly enjoy this one, maybe it is the company of my family and not drunk best friend, who knows???
Either way the service is always friendly, and the tables are wide. I never cared about this before, but with a baby who reaches for everything it is important. Whoever isn’t holding the baby can horde 2 water glasses, 2 drinks, a app, and plates and utensils on their side of the table.
The food is very good for a simple chain like this, they make an effort to do local although they aren’t always clear on what items are actually local at that time, this I would recommend they do! But the food is very good and the drink list is superb. They make a good effort to have seasonal dishes which we both tried and were happy.
There is a great bar area, and if you want to watch 5,000 games of football like I do on occasion then it seems like a good place for that as well.

More of a 2.5 stars, because too often a 2 looks unduly harsh. But «meh» was a word that came to mind, so I didn’t round up. Basically, I thought – given the noise level and the televisions – that the Tavern appeals to the 35 and older crowd that loves Buffalo Wild Wings but might not necessarily feel like wings tonight, and doesn’t want to be surrounded by people in sports jerseys just this moment.
Hostess was friendly and sat us promptly. Waitress was nice enough. Service is a 3.5.
My wife and I were there for a quick getaway dinner before having to return home as parents. I ordered the Cuban sandwich, my wife the Crab, Avocado, and Mango Tostada. After I asked if she would recommend the fries or the onion rings as my side, our waitress said she could combine them, which was nice. Extra points.
The sandwich was, well, meh. Decent food, but nothing to praise as it was somewhat bland (Chez Henri, I miss you so much!!). Fries and onion rings honestly tasted like they were left over from lunch.
I didn’t taste my wife’s salad, but she only ate about half of it. Her reaction to her meal was much the same as my reaction to my sandwich: «Won’t be ordering this one again.»
It’s not awful, and there look to be pretty tantalizing selections, and if you aren’t entirely impressed, well, you didn’t exactly break the bank on your meal. Might go back, but probably not for a while.
(Full disclosure: neither my wife nor I is a beer person. Looks like they had a great selection, which may very well be where all the flavor can be found.)

Great place for drinks and good bar food. Had the calamari and buffalo chicken pizza. The tap selection is huge and they even have ballest point
sculpin which is the best IPA on tap.

Great business lunch, highly recommended by local friend. Nice menu, ESPN on at the bar!
Will have to go back for dinner and tap in to their great beer selection!

For a chain restaurant, Tavern has an incredible beer selection. Even judging it against local bars it comes away looking pretty good. There is some filler (do you really need bud light AND coors light on draft??) but most of the 40 – 50 beers on tap are craft beers and many of those are from New England. Considering this is in Northborough, not exactly the area’s, nightlife hotspot, this is pretty amazing. Some of the beers are a little over priced, but there are some good deals to be had here if you peruse the menu carefully.
The atmosphere is waaay too modern sports bar-​y for my tastes and its in a strip mall on Rt 20 so I can’t give them any points on that front.
The food is… pretty good. The free chips they give out at the bar might have been my favorite food item. Crunchy, salty, excellence. I ordered a chorizo burger, which was beef mixed with chorizo, a smoked paprika aioli, green chile relish, and tres queso. Sounds pretty good right? Maybe it was because I burned my tongue a bit on the first bite, but the amazing sounding topping combo was a little bland. The burger was thoroughly cooked, probably because chain restaurants are afraid of serving undercooked pork, so it wasn’t particularly juicy. I’m not sure the chorizo added much to the experience, it tasted pretty much like beef. It was a solid burger, but the menu description had built up my expectations. Like any chain restaurant, the fries are forgettable. The other issue with the food is the price-​point. I have no problem paying $ 12 for a burger, but it better be a great burger. This was just a pretty good burger.
So I like Tavern in the Square about as much as possible for a 3 star rating. The beer options are great and this is an excellent after work drinks place. The food is promising, but not executed well enough to justify the prices. With a little work they could earn a 4^th star from me.
(hint: Unilocal,you need to add half stars since I’m really feeling more 3.5 about this one)

The hosts were great. They were friendly and seated us right away.
The food was sub par. We got the bbq chicken pizza, buffalo chicken salad, artichoke dip, and fried pickle spears. The food was okay. The pizza was super spicy!
The waitress neglected us 3 different times. Only great things was the booth was really comfortable and there are TV’s everywhere.

The food and service was top quality. I recommend the Cape Cod style fish and chips. This place was very busy but a great atmosphere!

Wow, wow, great and completely unexpected. I’ve been to a few restaurants out here in the suburbs of Boston but none were as awesome as this one.
First off, they have a pretty good beer list. The usual staples in cans and bottles but also a dozen or three drafts. Including many locals and many I had never heard of before. How cool is that?
Deciding on what to have for dinner was a formidable challenge. We got a plate of the teriyaki bacon to start and it was oh emm gee delish. Six thick slices on skewers that were sweet and tangy and bacony. Is bacony a word? It should be. While we were chowing down on this, a plate of the cheese fries arrived at another table. Trust me, that is not something you’re going to eat on your own. It’s a three person starter. Maybe four. Wow.
For main, I was tempted by the crape and truffle pizza and skipped past the burgers (you can have a burger anywhere, right) and my eye was drawn to the buffalo chicken mac & cheese. Yes. When it arrived, I had a gigantic bowl of mac & cheese (yes, enough for lunch and I’m a big boy) with big hunks of fried chicken breasts that were «buffaloed» and topped with chunks of blue cheese. Tasty, creamy, spicy and meaty. Absolutely delicious. Five stars right there.
Great beer, bacon, and a huge meal. Yep, this was excellent!
Round number review! That’s number 5100!

Great with gluten-​free fare and always a predictable go-​to outing. Everything from cocktails to food is middle of the road, with a surprise here and there. And the tap list never disappoints for the BF.
Tonight I was in the mood for tequila. Not an extensive list, but covered all the bases. The BF had a lovely craft beer selection of something or other.
I wasn’t super hungry so I opted for the mozzarella risotto balls. While perfectly cooked with that great risotto fritter crispness on the outside, they were surprisingly flavorless. Thank goodness for the accompaniment of grape tomatoes and balsamic reduction.
If you eat gluten free, this is a great place to eat. One of the few we frequent regularly. The menu is super clear. There are TONS of options. And the kitchen knows what it’s doing. Highly recommend for all glutards.

this place knows flavor! Everything we tried was amazing! We started with cocktails; the blackberry mule and the balsamic berry. Both were unique, refreshing and aesthetically pleasing. For appetizers we tried the fried pickles and the chicken quesadilla. The quesadilla had a woody smokey flavor which wasn’t overpowering and a yummy crema sauce drizzled over the top. The pickles were the best I’ve had. For entrees we tried the buffalo Mac&cheese and the grape & goat cheese pizza; both great.
Service was a bit slow but that was expected since the place was so busy. Avoid sitting outside at night; the bugs were CRAZY! We would highly recommend the tavern to anyone in the area!