Not a bad place. Most of the menu is of a light, fresh fare. Decent service and drinks. Quite loud in there when it gets even moderately busy. Seems to be mostly Thai-influenced. Little bit disappointed in the peanut butter flavored sauces. If they're attempting to recreate Thai peanut sauce, they're off the mark. If peanut butter is the flavor they're going for, they've hit the bulls-eye, and I'll take a pass. read more

On warm summer Saturdays, Fresh Side is one of my favorite places to eat lunch. The sidewalk tables are shady and comfortable, well-situated for plenty of people watching but far enough from the really busy part of Pleasant Street that you won't be getting a side of exhaust with your meal. Across the street is the Common, bustling with Amherst's great farmers' market. Fresh Side's core menu is perfect for summer days, too, especially the summer rolls and noodle salads. The cocktail menu is also pretty great, though overlooked - this is the only place I've had a cilantro mojito, and it was delicious. read more

Fresh Side - Tofu basil tea roll - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Amherst, Massachusetts

If you'd asked me two years ago to write a review for Fresh Side I would have given it five stars and sung its praises to the high heavens, but recently they've undergone a lot of changes to their menu and the general arrangement of the restaurant that have reduced the quality of service, made the atmosphere feel crowded and uncomfortable and the food mediocre at best. My real hope is that eventually they'll work their way back to what they were food wise, rearrange the tables so it's not so cramped and hire one or two more waiter(s) to work the busier shifts so that it's not such a long wait to get food that used to be much better. read more

I've only been there once, but I can't say that I was a fan. I feel like everyone in Amherst raves about Fresh Side, although I fail to see what draws people in. When I went there, service seemed pretty mediocre (and I'm a college student with low standards) and it took quite a while to get our food. I ordered the pad thai which I felt pretty ambivalent about. It didn't taste bad, but it was pretty mediocre. The portion was an ample size, which I liked, but it was very dry (some of the noodles were almost crunchy) and there was hardly any sauce. I was underwhelmed at the massive heaping of dry, tasteless noodles with some veggies on my plate. I did however try some bites of my friend's food, which was much better. Maybe the pad thai is just hit or miss. However, I have not returned to Fresh Side since. I don't feel like it was worth the money and I left unsatisfied and wondering why everyone loves it so much. Theres a ton of other places to eat in Amherst that will give you more bang for your buck. read more

delicious, but somewhat catty and pretentious. the servers arent the friendliest people at all in the five or so times I have been here. My GF is a vegan and we are often looking for good dining experiences to share, so for me the best dish was the fried rice and chicken, but for her she was able to choose tons of items on their menu. We would go here every couple weeks and every time it was cooked well. It is just the service was somewhat unfriendly, so we started to only get take out. It is also really crowded and you cant sit anywhere without being right next to other people which makes it very awkward. read more

I would not normally post a review with fewer than three stars, but today, lunch didn't really have any redeemable qualities. I wanted to give this place one star but I just feel rude doing that. Today we came in for a quick lunch and were seated at a nice spot right next to one of the windows. We started out very strong. Reading the menu, everything looked good and it was so hard to decide what to eat. When it came time to order drinks, my friend and I both decided to get the Thai Iced Tea, which is one of our favorite drinks to get when we go out. One thing that confused me when we ordered was the lack of any sort of uniform or even type of clothing that the waiters and waitresses wore. That is in a way nice for being able to express yourself, but it makes it confusing for customers (in my opinion.) The Thai Iced Teas looked more like "carrot juice" as my friend said, which isn't that bad considering Thai Iced Tea is normally pretty orange in color, but this just looked watered down. To live up to such an appearance, the iced tea was almost flavorless and was barely sweetened. To me, Thai Iced Tea is a creamy, sweet drink and this was neither and was $3.25. Crazy Noodle has better. We ordered a Seaweed Tea Roll (2-piece) and were given rolls with about 85% white rice, 10% teriyaki sauce on peanuts and more rice, and 5% seaweed on top. After a few bites my roll was out of all but white rice, and with no sauce on the table I decided to stop eating the roll. The roll could've been very good had there been some care put into making it. I realize it's only $3, so maybe that's all I'm supposed to get for $3. Seems silly. My friend had the Coconut Chicken noodle soup which was salty but in my opinion inoffensive (she got sick of it after she ate about half.) I got the Teriyaki Chicken and Udon noodle soup. The teriyaki chicken was fine, but I don't think that's a hard thing to master anyway. The udon noodle soup was almost inedible. It was extremely hot and I had to wait awhile before I could eat any of it. When I finally got to taste it I couldn't believe how bad it was. Fish broth doesn't sound like it would be a terrible thing but I guess at Fresh Side it is. There was no salt in the whole dish and since the waitstaff doesn't check on you while you're eating and there's neither soy sauce or salt on the table, I had to just decide not to eat it. When the waiter finally saw that we were done, he didn't ask why my soup was still full (and still steaming, too), he just asked if we were ready for the check. Over $30 for a terrible meal. Don't come here unless you know what is good on the menu, apparently. read more

All I have to say is curry chicken salad tea roll... that is the one tea roll you HAVE to try. They are by far the best curry chicken I have ever had. An order of 4 tea rolls is very filling, although they're so good you'll want more. The prices are great too. read more

I don't get what the big fuss is over this place other than a, "hip" name and modern interior. I came here with some friends, they were taking me out for lunch. We ordered a few dishes such as their fried rice and a few other side dishes that they highly recommended. The food was, "OK" I guess. Nothing really stood out to me, and I felt all the dishes lacked body. read more

I don't know why people love this place. I feel its very overpriced. I don't even think the tearolls that everyone is raving about is that great. Its just a oversived spring/egg roll! It's not the best or most creative or even the greatest service but it does get the job done if you just want to go out somewhere and grab a bite to eat. read more

If you are looking for crispy fish and white rice this is NOT the place to get it. I thought I was ordering fresh fried fish but instead I got 2 pieces of what looked like store bought frozen fish from a box. The white rice was a little hard and the salad was wilted. Very disappointed. read more

I gave this a "Meh, I've experienced better." Sadly, the better I experienced was AT Fresh Side. They were yummy, and cheap and wonderful for a long time, but overnight the menu changed. Items that were on the old menu were no longer as good, and the service started taking ages. I don't know if they changed chef, or what, but it's just not as good anymore. read more

Delicious, fresh, and healthy. The service was a bit slow because they were busy, but it was worth the wait. We tried the tea rolls Vietnamese noodle salad and don't forget to try one of their teas! read more

I LOVE this place. A friend who used to live in Amherst introduced me to Fresh Side and got me hooked on the tea rolls. Their soups are great, too. Try the bi bim omelet! The service is slow because they are understaffed all the time. I hope the management realizes this soon! read more

I have traveled the world now, and I can't for the life of me figure out where these delicious tea rolls originate from!?! They are so amazingly good. I was just in China and I tried to order General Tso's Chicken, and it just didn't exist. I later found out, that's because it was invented in New York City. I kind of feel the same way about Fresh Side, I think that their food is only found at Fresh Side.... and that bums me out (cause I live too far away). read more

I loveeeeee their tea rolls. Some weeks i have to tell myself not to eat here every day.

This is a good place to get lunch on a budget. You can get a few tea rolls for a couple of bucks. But be sure to order water or something to drink with them because they're stuffed full of shredded cabbage and are dry dry dry. They still taste ok, and are entirely tolerable (good? but definitely not great). I just feel like I can't even swallow them without taking a sip of water right after. More sauce might help. But like I said, the prices can't be beat. read more

This is the best vegan food in the Amherst/Northampton area. They have an entirely vegan menu you can ask for, and almost everything is incredibly delicious. They also have cute alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. The portions are giant, especially for the fried rice and noodle dishes! Try the pad thai! read more

Fresh Side is simply adorable, with delicious and unique Asian fusion food and a lot of variety. The menu is huge and the prices aren't bad either, especially if you end up splitting dishes and tea rolls with friends. I really don't recommend ordering the sangria pitcher, because it's the only item on the menu that is a total rip off. Around $20 for a tiny pitcher that barely has 3 glasses in it. I do recommend ordering the mochi, because they have lots of cool flavors, like peanut, taro, and red bean, and it's super yummy! read more

Fresh Side is always a delight to order from, takes about 15 minutes, and it's delicious! The rolls are fantastic and pretty cheap (2.60 something for 2 regular, 3.88 for two specials). I am a particular fan of the lunch menu which is wonderfully inexpensive ($6.31 for a miso soup and four rolls--definitely filling, or same price for an order of vegan pad thai.). The reason, however, I give it a four, is the customer service. They are definitely not the most polite and it can take hours if you sit in the restaurant to get service, or even, god forbid, a water refill. If you have time to sit and wait with your companion (or on your own), ordering in is certainly not the end of the world, but even during off hours, you can expect it to take, at minimum, thirty minutes to get your food. Which is why I am a regular pick up orderer, which has been awesome. I highly recommend the thai tea roll and the pad thai tea roll--they're delicious! read more

I have been going to Fresh Side for at least a decade. The food is usually very good though they took a couple of my favorite things off the menu, and I wish they served brown rice as an option. However, the service varies terribly. It's one thing if they are slammed busy, then I'd expect slow service. There were hardly any other customers tonight. I know that I met a friend at 6:05. We had a 7:00 movie around the corner. Should have been plenty of time. We ordered after a few minutes and then waited 40 minutes to be served! We even spoke to our wait staff a couple of times. We were served at 6:50. My friend's dish was cold. It wasn't supposed to be cold. She went out front and saw our wait person with her back to the counter while her dish sat on the counter getting cold and this was after we told her we needed to get going. We had 5 minutes to eat our meal. By that time I was so hungry I was shaking. Shoveled half our dinners into us and had the rest wrapped. That is the last time I am going to Fresh Side. read more

The tea rolls combined with the pad Thai and very reasonable prices made for a nice experience.

We are California foodies traveling with 2 teen boys. Really enjoyed the three things we ordered: seaweed rice roll and pad Thai roll with chicken were interesting, flavorful and creative. The pad Thai one is served hot and ours came super hot. Rolls are very tightly wrapped, fat, and nicely presented. We also got Apple Curry Beef rice dish. I thought this sounded weird but it was good and interesting. I would order any of these again and, if I lived here, I'd return soon to try their wide variety of dishes. The soup looks wonderful, they had lots of mochi flavors plus traditional American style cakes. Brunch menu looked good too. We talked to some UMass students about local restaurants and they all seemed to think this was a vegetarian or vegan restaurant, because the students they know who like it. are veg or vegan. They admit they never make it further down the street than pizza or donuts. If YOU like a broader palette, try this place Ambiance--alone, family, date, friends. We saw all these combos on our visit. read more

i like the idea of this place a lot and know folks who rave about it, so be patient with me as i explain myself. it's asian fusion, which typically takes away from the "need to be authentic," but that said, the only "fusion" i'm seeing is on the tea rolls -- which are fun, and tasty, and small for the price, but interesting nonetheless -- the entrees are billed as largely the same names as their authentic counterparts, with reasonable portions, but unfortunately, they can sometimes fail to shine. the bibimbap was smothered with sauce with little lift off. ditto with (what was it called? the 8 treasure rice?), which was smothered with a somewhat sweet sauce, which left my fork poking around for the bits of unadulterated rice for a necessary palate cleanser. i'm asian, and i love my sauce, but need it not be overwhelmingly sweet and drowning -- also noting that the east asian (ex. chinese, ex. korean and japanese to the extent i know) cuisines don't smother their entrees in sweet. in that sense, i suppose it can be fusion, but the ingredients here aren't so different and the intended approach isn't so different, so maybe we should call this "american-asian" instead. but the rolls, which are prepared devoid of optional to-your-liking sauce, yes, try them. they're fun. drinks are expensive but also fun and tasty. read more

An interesting fusion of Asian cuisine. The food is delicious especially the omelet fried rice. The udon coconut noodles are also amazing! Get the yummy tea rolls! read more

Wow - Asian fusion at [nearly] it's best. I had the curry coconut soup with seafood - AMAZING - I really couldn't get enough. The side of ginger tea rolls was perfect, the heat of ginger complimented the curried spice in sort of a 'more is more' sort of way. Really looking forward to a return trip, should we find ourselves in Amherst again. read more

LISTEN: if you order the spicy chicken tearolls withOUT onions, the balance of the universe will be restored, and you'll come in for your precious tearolls every time you have business to attend to in amherst. read more

Fresh Side is a great place to go to get tasty food that is actually good for you. Everyone raves about the tea rolls on review sites - and they are good, I like the spicy chicken. They have a variety of asian salads, soups, rice and noodle dishes - all available in large and small sizes. I'd recommend the Vietnamese salad. Order a pot of tea, bring a book (or a friend), and you're all set. read more

Best pad thai I've ever had. I went to college out in Amherst (go UMASS!) and unfortunately didn't discover Fresh Side until my senior year. I now live in Waltham and visit Amherst once in awhile. Not gonna lie -- it's for the food! Fresh Side's pad thai is spicy, topped with fresh veggies, and -- most importantly -- not covered in goopy sauce like it is at every other thai restaurant I've been to. It's almost a shame that I tried pad thai for the first time here because I've been disappointed everywhere else! The tea rolls are tasty too and have a really nice texture. The service is great and the atmosphere is funky -- it's especially cozy on a winter night and they always have cool music playing. I especially like that all the food here feels healthy, like you're doing your body a favor by eating it. Yum! read more

The Tea Rolls are delicious. The other stuff tastes healthy...aka bland. I like the tea, decor, and casual atmosphere though.

Delicious miso soup, amazing spicy chicken tea rolls and real mochi...this is the place for a quiet dinner date. Service is impeccable too!

Main dishes are OK at best. I'd only recommend ordering the tea rolls, which are very tasty as a light meal or lunch. Pad Thai rolls are the best, warm and freshly made. The omelette bibimbap tasted and resembled a combo of leftover and stale ingredients. read more

The only genuinely tasty things I've had here are the Thai iced tea and edo tea rolls (warm rice rolled up with ground peanuts, cilantro and peanut sauce). They save this rating from being a 2 star. So if you want a snack and to sit down and chat with friends, that's maybe it's a fine option. The rest of the food is pretty unimpressive and just seems like a very confused interpretation of Thai, Chinese, and Japanese dishes. I think the tea rolls turn out well because they're their own thing and aren't trying to be something they're not. read more

LOVE the tea rolls! A very interesting Asian Fusion place. The tea here is delicious loose tea, typically served legitimately from tetsubin tea pots. read more

All there food is good but keep in mind they do take a VERY long time to bring out food. Which I don't understand because there is no way a tea roll takes forty five minutes to prepare. The tea is really delicious though. Especially the Thai tea latte. I've been here several times and definitely recommend if you're planning on sitting down and relaxing for a nice lunch or dinner. If you're in a rush, pass on going here. Also everything is really reasonably priced. read more

I went to Hampshire for college and I loved Fresh Side in undergrad and even now I still love it. I recently was visiting Amherst and had to pay a visit to Fresh Side. Still great, although I think it is slightly overpriced. Finally, I could be wrong, but I believe that their rice paper contains gluten. So, if you are gluten free be sure to check before eating. read more

This place has a cult following in the five college area. It really caters to vegans/vegetarians with their options, so I can see why they are popular. However, it just doesn't do it for me. Their vegetables are very fresh, and I give them tons of credit on that. But they try to touch on so many different kinds of Asian cuisine that it makes it just OK overall. Like I said, if you have dietary restrictions this is definitely a high recommendation, but as far as Asian cuisine, there are better places to visit. read more

Fresh, inexpensive and far more filling than expected. Got a couple two-piece rolls and was surprised at their size and heft. Ginger Honey iced drink was refreshing and the perfect complement to the spices. Yum! read more

I really like Fresh Side. Even before moving to Amherst six years ago, I was already getting their food to go. I especially recommend their pad thai and the cellophane curry noodles. I love that they have so many vegetarian/vegan options, even if they tend to sprinkle every dish with peanuts (I don't like them). Reasonably priced, large portions. You can just share one main dish between two people and order a few tea rolls and you'll be fine. read more

Outstanding. Ideal for lunch, but also great for dinner or a snack. As the name implies the freshness abounds thanks to masterful use of cilantro, basil, mint, tangy vinegar dressings and ginger. Order the tea rolls! Spicy bean is my favorite but they are all excellent. For entrees go with the vietnamese salad and/or any of the noodle dishes. The soups and other hot entrees are not quite as good, but if you know how to order you are in for a treat. read more

The food here is so delicious it's addicting. The prices are great for starving college students. You can buy 4 tea rolls for under $5. The tea is excellent too, and I don't even like tea. Sometimes it can get really busy and there might be a bit of a wait for your food, but it's worth it. The waiters are all really nice and very accommodating. The atmosphere is unique and masquerades as a fancy restaurant even though the prices are very low. read more