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Cafe Podima

3.3 (191 reviews)
Open 11:00 am - 11:00 pm
Updated over 3 months ago

Cafe Podima Photos

CAFE PODIMA ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Moderate noise
Casual
Good for kids

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Recommended Reviews - Cafe Podima

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1/2 my eggplant, mozz, roasted red pepper roll up 1/2012
Vivian C.

I stopped off here to pick up something for dinner because their list of specialty roll ups reminded me of the ones I've had back in college days at Angora Cafe by BU. It is a tiny take-out spot, with a counter where you may place your order and a couple of refrigerators where you can grab a soda or a slice of cake/cheesecake for dessert. Not to say that you can't stay and eat - they do have 7 square tables set for 2 people apiece. Service was pleasant. The gentleman taking my order even made suggestions, but I ended up going with my original intention - the 1st listed specialty roll up, consisting of eggplant (breaded), roasted red peppers, mozzarella and the like for $7.50. It didn't take long to make, and when I requested it cut in two and separately wrapped, I wasn't made to feel a bother. Half the wrap made for a nice light meal. The other half is making for a nice light lunch to which I'm adding my leftover tiramisu from another meal. The red pepper was a little overwhelming - some additional eggplant and/or mozzarella might have helped. And the way the roll up was wrapped made for a rather high ratio of bread in my last bites by the end. But all in all, it was pretty good. Perhaps not a destination spot (unless you are hankering for some fro yo mentioned by other reviewees?), but a good place to stop by if you are in the area.

Chicken parmesan (without cheese) sub. Dry and too much salt in sauce. Disappointed!
Jean Jenny S.

Last week I ordered some food after they reopened after a renovation. Place looks nice. The food is hit and miss. Hopefully, this place will stop treating their fried chicken so poorly.

Broccoli chicken Alfredo calzone
Nisreen G.

Why oh why did I not know that chicken broccoli Alfredo CALZONES were a thing?? Did I miss the memo? Was I not at that reception? Did my invite get lost in the mail??!! Cafe Podima's calzones are cheesy pockets of delicious sauces and tastes covered in another layer of freshly melted cheese with slightly golden brown bubbles of awesomeness. I want nothing else but every single type of calzone they have. The Eggplant Parmesan has thick cut slices of breaded eggplant, extra Parmesan inside, and served with sweet marinara sauce and an extra chewy crust that makes me want to take this thing to bed. The cheese Calzone is stuffed with tons of cheeses one of which is ricotta. Wonderfully creamy ricotta. I'm getting a cheesegasm just thinking about it. Seriously, Cafe Podima is one of those pizza cafe's on the back of beacon hill you have to try. Its reasonably cheap and they're open pretty late and on grub hub and all those other sites so if your looking for a late night bite tis the place to enjoy. They also have pretty good sandwiches and roll ups ( way different then a wrap, they use lavish bread which is a bit heavy and flour-y compared to a tortilla wrap) but its the same level of well seasoned ingredients. My only qualm is with their delivery. While on a less busy night your food will be there in thirty minutes or less, when they're busy the food can take over an hour and there's no courtesy call or notification of the extra wait. A little unprofessional but I mean, stuff my face with that cheese calzone and I'll forget it ever happened, I promise.

One of the chicken sandwiches. Had avocado and a bunch of other goodies!
Taj K.

It is so easy to walk by this place and not even give it a second look, but this little sandwich shop is one of the best kept secret's of Beacon Hill. If you take a look at their menu you will see that they have almost 50 sandwiches. You can mix-and-match all kinds of ingredients. My absolute favorite sandwich to order is one of their hot sandwiches. I always choose focaccia bread. The sandwiches are large and incredibly filling. I usually have half a sandwich for lunch and save the other half for dinner. You can easily reheat them a little bit in the microwave if you'd like. Aside from the sandwiches, I love ordering their custom made ice cream. Yes you read that correctly. They use a base of vanilla soft serve and mix in whatever you'd like. Their ingredient list is a mile long. I usually choose peanut butter and milk chocolate chips. It is to die. They will do large orders but I'm not sure about delivery.

The "Boston College" - chicken salad, lettuce, tomato and bacon on grilled focaccia.  Awesome sandwich!
Scott R.

I order delivery quite often and have to say that as far as sub shops/small restaurants go, I'd put Cafe Podima up around the top. The sandwiches are great and they offer a ton of different bread options. My favorite is the "Boston College" - chicken salad, lettuce, tomato and bacon on focaccia. It's a slam dunk. This is some of the best chicken salad I've had....and I'm picky about my chicken salad! Lean and not overly mayonnaised. Also have ordered the chef and chicken caesar salads. Everything (including the lettuce) was fresh and delicious....they have some great dressings as well (try the balsamic vinegar). The last of my favorites thus far is the chicken, ziti and broccoli entree. Perfectly cooked pasta/broccoli and not boatloads of alfredo sauce. They use the perfect amount, it's not a heavy alfredo but an extremely tasteful one. I've never experienced any problems with delayed delivery or inept delivery guys (as I have at plenty of other places). Simply put, the quality of food is well above average in this price category. You should order confidently from Cafe Podima -- I see many more in my future!

When you get your next frozen yogurt make sure there isn't lots of metal inside. theye don't remove the metal wrappers on the candy.

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3 years ago

This pizza is really bad. And such a prime location. I wonder how this place stays open.

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4 years ago

Nothing really too positive to say about this place the staff was nonchalant and very rude choice is pretty generic won't be going back

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Hobgoblin Bar

Hobgoblin Bar

4.0
(127 reviews)
0.4 mi

Delicious food and delicious drinks. What a place to treat yourself and loved ones!…read more Absolutely love going here, I mean from the live piano performance downstairs, to the gorgeous interior...it really does not miss when it comes to ambience and vibes! Now, let's get onto the food because that is truly the highlight of this place! I mean, I think I have found my favorite onion rings I have EVER had in my entire life. If you get anything from this review, you gotta order these onion rings!!! Trust me, they will blow your mind AWAY!!!!! The green curry pasta is also SOO GOOD! And their drinks aka, potions, really really good. Come here for great food (that comes VERY FAST yet is VERY FRESH), great vibes, and of course a great time!

Friday night, made a reservation and sat right away. The place was packed and loud both upstairs…read moreand downstairs. Restrooms are downstairs. Tables are close to each other so you can hear conversations on both side whether you want to or not. Service was great, attentive and not intrusive. Food was good. Started with some appetizers. Waygu Dumplings, $22, were tasty but a bit crispy/dry. Shrimp Potstickers Tom Yum, $19, way to spicy for our taste. Grilled Pork Cheeks, $18, the meat was tough and chewy (supposed to be?). Outstanding, however, was PJ's Grilled Beef + Fried Rice, $35, well worth the price. Beverages were the Great North Vanilla Porter, $10, on draft. Nice selection of brews. The $13, zero alcohol Goddess Melissa was tasty but small for the price. $150 for the 2 of us out the door. Piano bar downstairs.

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Chandelier
Chandelier
Spicy dumplings
Spicy dumplings
Raspberry Lobster Rangoon

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Raspberry Lobster Rangoon
Rose Tapas

Rose Tapas

3.3
(49 reviews)
2.3 mi

I came here to celebrate my friend's birthday, and let me start by saying... a time was definitely…read morehad. Our waiter was amazing--attentive, friendly, and full of great recommendations. Always a good sign when the service sets the tone early. For starters, we ordered the ceviche, and whew--so fresh and delicious. Absolutely did what it needed to do. We also tried the plantain bowls. While they could've benefited from a sauce or a little extra something to really bring it home, the portion size was impressive, so no complaints there. Now let's talk about the mocktail, because it quite literally blew my wig back. Delicious, refreshing, and the presentation? A full 10/10. Cameras were definitely out. The aesthetics of this place are beautiful--clean, stylish, and very much a foodie influencer's playground. If you enjoy a good ambiance with your meal, this spot delivers visually. For my main, I ordered the steak frites. The fries were crunchy, well-fried, and nicely seasoned--no notes there. The steak, however, was a bit underwhelming. Not bad by any means, just missing something I couldn't quite put my finger on. My taste buds were searching, but the spark never fully showed up. We ended the night with tres leches for my friend's birthday, and honestly, it was one of my favorite tres leches I've had. Moist, flavorful, and the perfect sweet ending. Don't come for me--I'm just speaking my truth. Overall, I'd rate the food a solid 3.5/5, but I'd definitely return to try another dish because the service, drinks, and ambiance were all strong. Parking can be a bit of a challenge, but you'll manage. Worth the visit.

Came here to celebrate a few friends birthday so we had a pretty big group. We made a reservation…read morebeforehand with a $20 deposit each person so we were able to get a long table in the middle. Despite it not being busy when we arrived, the service remained slow throughout the night. I know we had a big table but half the time our waiter was nowhere to be found and we constantly had to ask the hostess. The water cups were a little small than other restaurants but refills were slow as well. There is one stall so later in the night the line for the bathroom started to get long so keep that in mind. We got a few apps, I definitely would recommend the asian style chicken wings and the calamari those were the best in my opinion especially the wings the sauce on that was delicious. Other than those two, the other tapas had smaller portions and weren't worth getting in my opinion. The main dishes weren't worth getting. They had ran out of bolognese which most people had planned on getting. The other pastas weren't good, the bread was also stale, almost tasted like they reheated it from frozen. I was also expecting a crispy chicken but I think it was grilled and was just really hard. The drinks were good, on the pricier side but worth it compared to everything else.

Photos
Dining area
Dining area
Empandas argentinas
Empandas argentinas
Hibiscus and passion fruit mocktail

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Hibiscus and passion fruit mocktail
Tres Gatos

Tres Gatos

4.2
(643 reviews)
3.8 mi
$$$

We always have a nice experience at Tres Gatos. The food is great, the service is kind, friendly,…read moreand attentive (but not at all rushed), and the store in the back is always fun to browse after a nice dinner. Our recent favorites: - The Sao Miguel cheese (came with a quince jam + grilled bread) - Patatas Bravas - Piri Piri Chicken Everything was good though, and we also enjoyed: - Blistered Shishitos - Seared Halibut - Hanger Steak Between four of us, this was plenty of food and we sadly didn't have room for dessert this time around, but can't wait to be back!

We really enjoyed our visit to Tres Gatos. It's a small, intimate space, but it's cute inside. We…read moremade a last minute reservation so we were sat at the high top by the kitchen. The table was a bit tight, but we made it work. Our server was kind. We started with chorizo and cheese. The chorizo was similar to meat from A charcuterie board, so for the price, we would definitely skip ordering the cheese and chorizo. Other than those 2 dishes, we would order everything again! The potatoes, carrots and mushrooms were bomb! They were each so good. I'd order all 3 again. The chicken was also really good. The potatoes tapas is the same as the potatoes that come with the chicken, so no need to order both, unless you love potatoes. that being said, the potatoes were so good that we couldn't stop eating them. We'll definitely come back since this is in the neighborhood. I recommend giving it a try.

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Tres Gatos
Lamb Bocadillo
Lamb Bocadillo
Brussels Sprouts

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Brussels Sprouts
Olespana Whiskey & Tapas

Olespana Whiskey & Tapas

4.2
(54 reviews)
4.8 mi

I feel like a lot of my reviews these days are post-mortems…read more.. Sad to see this place close recently, but I saw the warning signs. I've mainly visited here mid-week. While I know mid-week is a slow period, but it can't be dead. Every occasion I've visited, you might see a couple of people at the bar but the tables are all empty. Which is sad because... The food was pretty solid and affordable. The tapas fare is pretty conventional, which can be good. The croquettes were crispy enough and flavorful. The lamb chops were also flavorful, while being tender and not over-seared. The patatas bravas were hot and crispy. The paella for two, at a decent $35 price, had a good amount of rice and seafood. The seafood might've been a little overcooked but it's hard to time it. The churros made for a nice ending, with a lovely chocolate dipping sauce. They had vegan tapas options, which was good for some in my party. However, the menu was a bit too extensive. They had menu options from seemingly all places and that does not make life easy for BOH. Service was generally okay, but seemingly stretched. Even though there weren't many customers in mid-week, staff appeared to have a variety of tasks. So sometimes we weren't checked on for long stretches. The spot was a former bar, so it had that bar atmosphere. It's located in a decent area, so I hope something good rises out of the ashes.

Solid tapas spot in Watertown if you don't feel like trekking further into Boston. From a quick…read morecompare of the menu here versus the menu for Barcelona Wine Bar, the prices are about the same or cheaper, especially for the seafood paella for two ($35 at Olespana, which was a sizable portion, versus BWB's $56). Plus, Olespana has a parking lot in the back, as well as abundant metered options along Wells Avenue, which is always a plus in my book. Here were the dishes we ordered, ranked from favorite to least: 1. Patatas with garlic aioli - you cannot go wrong with the combo of basically french fries and mayo but definitely eat this as soon as it hits your table. Otherwise the fries turn mushy, doubly so from the sauce. If you're with a large group, definitely order two of these. 2. Seafood paella - I'm by no means a paella expert but I was impressed by the crunchy bits of rice on the bottom and how flavorful it was. A good amount of different seafood, including shrimp, mussels, clams, and squid, but I would've liked to see the shrimp a little less pink. 3. Garlic mushrooms - I'm a fiend for mushrooms and will order it any time I spot it on the menu, though I'm partial to when they either fry or sauté so the mushrooms get these nice crispy edges. These were a touch too heavy on the sauce, which was very acidic, but I finished pretty much the whole plate of it on my own. 4. Croquettas - Wasn't a fan of the mushy insides though my cousin loved them. 5. Beet salad - Eh. At this point, I should give up on ordering salads in restaurants when I can make them easily at home. The balsamic vinegar dressing was way too tart and I've decided I'm not a fan of oranges in salads. Overall, a fun eclectic spot to eat some tapas and drink whiskey. I got a kick out of how their menu has a section of tapas from other countries, including the USA - our featured options were wings and steak tips. That said, the menu is way too sprawling for its own good - tapas, burgers, pizza, and nachos? That might explain the inconsistency in the dishes we ordered.

Photos
Menu page 1 of 3
Menu page 1 of 3
Menu page 3 of 3
Menu page 3 of 3
Shot over the bar.

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Shot over the bar.
Bocado Tapas Wine Bar

Bocado Tapas Wine Bar

4.3
(699 reviews)
37.9 mi
$$$

We came on a Friday during Restaurant Week as a party of four, three adults and one toddler. The…read morefood was delicious and our server was friendly. The ambiance was cozy and inviting, though our table was in the middle of the aisle which felt a bit cramped. Unfortunately, the service itself was inconsistent. We had to ask for bread three times. When we ordered two brownies and one coffee, we were brought one brownie and two coffees. At the end of the meal, we asked for both my meal and my son's meal to be wrapped to go. My son's plate was accidentally thrown away because other plates were stacked on top of it. When I asked about it, the server explained what happened but did not offer to remake it, remove it from the bill, or apologize, which was disappointing. That said, it was a busy Friday during Restaurant Week, so I would consider coming back and hope the service is smoother next time. While writing this review, I actually received a text from the restaurant letting me know we left our son's plate behind, which was thoughtful and appreciated. If Yelp allowed half stars, I would give 3.5.

Fabulous dinner at Bocado tonight. We did the Bocado experience for two and there was just way too…read moremuch amazing food! 2 cheese board items and 6 tapas plus dessert! Oh my. Thank goodness for takeout boxes. My favorite plate was the QUESO DE CABRA CON MIEL (goat cheese with honey) served with crusty bread. We paired it with the CHORIZO LEÓN HERRADURA. It was just perfect together. Dessert was worth mentioning. The warm double chocolate brownie with ice cream is a definite yes please. So rich, so gooey, so worth the calories. Bocado is a tapas restaurant, but I found these small plates quite generous. Roll me home I'm done!

Photos
One of the new dining/bar areas in the expanded space.
One of the new dining/bar areas in the expanded space.
Grilled Octopus
Grilled Octopus
Drinks

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Drinks

Cafe Podima - sandwiches - Updated July 2026

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