I so wanted to love the Tavern. Its a pub disguised as a restaurant. Though it does say Tavern in its name. First give away its not a restaurant -- they have no coffee or tea? None? Even a good pub has good tea. Next the noise level was about that of Park Square station at rush hour. You had to yell to be heard, and I am not deaf. Service was decent but certainly not great. Most of us had the baked cod with lentil and fennel. You received about 2 ounces of lentils and a bit of over cooked and tasteless fennel. The fish was decent though would have been better with a solid crumb topping. Pricing is aggressive even for Brookline. I would certainly come back for a beer with friends. I would not recommend sitting down for dinner. read more

Incredible beer and spirits selection, great apps, and tremendous burgers. Really happy with my first experience here. read more

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I went with three friends for dinner on a Sunday night. We were looking for a place near the Driscoll School, having just attended a concert there, and our local resident suggested this. The ambience was lovely -- mood light, tables not so close together that you are part of your neighbor's conversation. I had a super burger made exactly to my specifications and topped with cheese, carmelized onions, lettuce and tomato. The accompanying fries were perfection. I had to ask for more ketchup (not sure why a small container would serve anyone) but it was brought out promptly. One companion had rigatoni with bolognese sauce and regretted she didn't think to ask for no cheese as she is lactose intolerant and it was sprinkled on the top (suggestion: bring the cheese seperately as is done in finer restaurants and ask?). I think she liked it though. My other two companions had grilled salmon which looked delicious. Our waiter was pleasant and attentive. I would definitely go back. read more

GREAT FOOD! A mix of American/UK Pub and Mediterranean dishes. Everything I've tried is delcious. Some dishes have smaller serving sizes than I'd expect, and others have way more than I would have expected. It's pretty small, which lends to a warm and noisy ambiance which is nice to feel a little cozier and livelier in the winter months. If it's busy time and there's no outdoor seating I'd say go for a reservation if you want to go for dinner. I have tried their late night menu but to be honest I was imbibed and my enhoyment may have been stilted because I was quite hungry! My friend got their like short-term speciality cocktail of a garlic bread martini, and it was actually good?!? I was expecting it to be repulsive but they even did that well. Staff is really sweet, met the man who either owns it or manages it and chatted with him for a while and he was really kind. All are excellent even when they are busy. read more

Honestly, always the best service! The waiters and bartenders are always the most attentive and most informative. Food specials never disappoint and drinks are always worth it. Finally tried the late night menu and not only was the food delicious, it is refreshing to see something in Brookline stay open past 10PM *and* be delicious. read more

My friends and I were thoroughly enjoying our food and experience when we continued to see shadows scurry across the dark floors. The first time or two, we chose ignorance, gaslighting ourselves that it was only shadows as to not ruin a perfectly good meal and night. By the third time, we began asking each other if we were all seeing the same thing. Once we all confirmed and started truly looking, we saw them. Scurrying across the seating room floors, mice were darting from booth to booth. We alerted our server (who up until this point was kind and attentive) who began to search with a flashlight. Unfortunately, she could not find the mice we saw dash by (slippery things as they are) Now, I don't want to sound entitled, but given the price point of the food, it seemed a bit ridiculous that mice were scurrying about during our meal and no comp or discount was offered. Our server even went as far as to seat a family at the exact booth we had pointed out as a sighting minutes later. When I asked about a potential comp, given the disturbing nature of the experience, our server first said that the restaurant did not offer any, even going as far as to say "thats why they call it rat city". She persistently downplayed the situation, insinuating even that we lied about the sightings. Overall the most disappointing, disturbing, and disgusting experience I've had at a Boston restaurant in my 2 years of living here. read more

The Great Danny Meyer asks the question, is it the Service or the Food? Fortunately for us it's both at the Tavern. In all my years of Dining at this Gem they give you the feeling of Community and Consistency. The new Menu and Chef put out 5 entrees and appetizers of perfection. They have stepped it up even more to our liking. Go and see for yourselves, and become part of a special place. Thank you JB read more

The Washington Square Tavern - Amazing Brunch at the Bar with Bloodies, also Eggs Benedict best ever. - Bars Near Me - Brookline, Massachusetts

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Great spot for casual dinner or date night. Tastefully decorated with a picture window through a book case for the kitchen or a turn of the century bar top. The staff were friendly and attentive. Food was comfort items overall and also well done. There was some variability in the salt of each dish, but it was on the side of needing a little extra salt for our taste which was easily remedied. read more

The Washington Square Tavern - Spinach gnocchi with beef short rib in red wine sauce (special) - Bars Near Me - Brookline, Massachusetts

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Food, owner, and old Boston neighborhood bar charm! What more could you ask for? We entered in which the owner was chatting with regulars. He recognized people in my party and began to chat with them. They hadn't been back there for years. That speaks volumes about someone who remembers his customers what's later. Clearly, they value everyone that walks through their doors. On top of the quick service the food was unreal! My husband got a special pork chop dish that was so tender and flavorful and I got the bolognese which had a great spice and was very filling. I couldn't eat the whole portion so I took a to got box, was just as good the next day! A must visit again! read more

The Washington Square Tavern - Pork chop special - Bars Near Me - Brookline, Massachusetts

The Washington square tavern is phenomenal. The atmosphere and the service is amazing. I had started with the burrata with fig and crostini's. Then I had the beet salad with chicken. Sam the bartender makes a great pear martini. read more

I asked server about daily special Cacio Y Pepe pasta. I am very familiar with this dish as I have had it many times in Rome and on occasion in USA. It was inedible. Terrible. I could not eat it. When server took it away, I told him it was bad. He truly didn't care. Not returning. read more

Great bar service with excellent cocktails. Great value all across the wine list. Really gracious and attentive staff. The food is top notch. There is a lot of love and skill in the dishes, which just couldn't be tastier. read more

I didn't get to actually eat here so happy to remove this review when it's confirmed issue with Resy I experience is not widespread. Arrived for my reservation that I booked for last Sunday (5/12) on Resy at 5:00pm (booked on 5/3) and was told I booked a Patio table. I was fairly certain I did not book a patio reservation as I knew my elderly parents would not want to sit outside and would have booked somewhere else if that were the only option available. They were very insistent I had booked wrong and they could not accommodate us inside, so I didn't bother to actually check my confirmation email (the texts do not state where you booked). I did have to alter the reservation from 5pm to 6pm shortly after booking and was told I must have messed up or there weren't dining room seats available when I went to edit my reservation (though there definitely were), so just conceded I had messed up somewhere in the process. Luckily we were able to get in somewhere else nearby for dinner that my parents very much enjoyed. Upon receiving the reservation cancelled email, I noticed it said Dining Room so checked the original change email and it also said Dining Room (photo attached). Not sure what happened between my booking and their software but disappointed in the outcome as I was looking forward to dinner here. Just wanted to warn others to have their confirmation available on busy nights in case the issue is caused by Resy as staff will not be accommodating. read more

The Washington Square Tavern - Bars Near Me - Brookline, Massachusetts

Washington Sq is one of our go-to places. Jerry & Alma always make us feel like honored guests. Bartenders fantastic. Service is quick, friendly and efficient. Food is great- love the new additions: salmon with fiddleheads, lamb kofte outstanding.A winner! read more

High end Irish style pub. Spendy, but this is Brookline. That being said....the food and cocktails are on point. Beet salad, corn fritters, steak, and my dessert were amazing. Staff lovely and accommodating. Great bar, small dining room l, some outdoor seating as well. Would be a good date place. read more

I just walked in with one drink in me. I was quickly told by the bartender that I seemed drunk and he wasn't comfortable serving me. I felt embarrassed about walking out after that so I ordered some food. As I'm eating his customers are pounding whisky and wine, getting more drink than I was. This was a terribly degrading experience. read more

Wonderful tavern with friendly owner. My friends and I sat outside on a Spring evening and soaked up the atmosphere. We started with salad, then ordered halibut and eggplant parmesan. The food was great. We had an excellent bottle of Barolo. Gerry the owner stopped by and chatted with us. We had a lovely time. Thank you, Gerry ! read more

Friendly service, great food, and good tap selection of NE beers. Some of the best raw oysters I've had in a while!

A local favorite spot in Washington Square with great, elevated American bistro food. This spot is likely more like a 4.5/5 but the service is always phenomenal-- Jerry the owner is the best and always gets to know the customers! Food can be a bit expensive compared to the competition, but the quality always delivers. Highly recommend! read more

I went to a birthday party there last night. First time in the Tavern. Terrific ambience. Wait staff was friendly, and efficient. But the food (my veggie scampi) was over the top tasteful Will go back there for dinner some time soon. read more

Update: while I love this place I will never ever come back while the owner is away. The TEMPORARY host working on Saturday, January 27th treated us so poorly and was so blatantly disrespectful that I cannot fathom putting myself and others through a similar experience. There were 2 available tables when we arrived and we were told to wait about 30 minutes. While we were confused about why the host was being so inefficient with the seating arrangements but were ok with waiting a bit regardless. What was far worse is that BEFORE he seated us he preferentially seated another same-sized party, who arrived 30 minutes AFTER us only because the out-of-towners begged him. They had no wait and got to sit down and have dinner immediately while we had to wait for an extended period. When we approached him about it and said that what he did would never be something the owner nor a normal host would do, he laughed at us and sarcastically said "Ha! Well he's not here so... sorry" . There was remorse, no acknowledgement that it was wrong, no apology, no attempt to make it right. He then proceeded to congregate with the wait staff to talk about us, pointed in our direction and laughed off the situation as if we weren't merely a few feet away and as if we were completely oblivious. When we then asked if we could be seated at a recently opened table he said no because he wanted to save it for a larger party. As this is a restaurant where sharing tables is a common occurrence and given he already gave away our table, this was infuriating and only wasted an extra 20 minutes of my life. We would have left if not for the fact that it was going on 7pm and we were starving and had already stood in line for a long period of time -thinking that presumably we would get seated sometime soon after this crazy ordeal. We did finally get seated almost an hour after we arrived. The wait staff was fine as was the food, but the evening was overshadowed by the obnoxiously rude host's (possibly racist or ageist) antics. read more

Just had an excellent meal. The halibut was creamy and crusty and the asparagus was smoky and tender. The tavern was relatively quiet, though the 70s pop music was a distraction. I like the mellowness of this place and I usually enjoy a good meal. The endive salad and beet salad have always been fresh and local. Worth coming to this corner of town. read more

They are open for take out! We can even order wine to go ! The process is pretty easy to order. Just email the restaurant (see online menu) with your order and time you are picking up. You will get a confirmation within minutes. You pay in the restaurant. They moved all their tables so people waiting can easily distance themselves. Everyone working is very polite. Food was waiting for me when I arrived ! We both ordered the Cajun chicken sandwich. I don't like sweet potato fries (comes with these fries) and they nicely put in regular fries upon my request. Food was delicious. I'll be happy to come again ! read more

Excellent menu that changes seasonally with locally sourced ingredients. Phenomenal wine list! The owner, Gerry Finnegan, is a wine savant and on any given day may have a secret stash so if you don't see what you want, just ask him. It's a warm, cozy spot not to be missed! read more

On a rainy night I stumbled across this romantic restaurant. Washington Square is full of great low key restaurants, and the Washington Square Tavern was a lovely experience to add to the list. I highly recommend any pasta on the menu. Rich, flavorful, and decent sized portions. It's a nice place to go on a date, and I very much loved my experience. Staff was so friendly and kind! Thank you WST! read more

I just have to extoll how delicious their "Pan-seared Scallops with Spring Vegetable Risotto" was. Perfectly seared and perfectly al dente, with great flavors. See pic... read more

Always love going to this wonderful neighborhood place! It's noisy, so ask to sit in the back if that matters to you.

We love this place and are there every few weeks. The service is always great, the food is awesome. They make good drinks. The whole ensemble of basic skills is there. The scallop dish with risotto is particularly good, I have it every time. read more

*Rating based solely on FOOD* Presentation: 4 Texture: 3 Flavor: 2.5 Would return? No Must-try: - This place is very nice in terms of service and ambiance but the food could improve. I was confused about the theme of the food - Italian? American? I ended up ordering seafood dishes but I think the bar food (burgers, etc) would probably be a better choice here. The octopus appetizer was good - a little salty and lacked cooking. It came with a cucumber-onion salad that I felt was not a good combination with the octopus. The seasoning of the salad was ok. The shrimp scampi on the other hand lacked salt... and hence it was almost flavorless. The pasta was bucatini, which did not favor the dish, it felt thick and the sauce did not stick. At least the pasta was al dente and the shrimp was cooked nicely. The scallops were probably the best thing I tasted - cooked and season nicely - but the risotto ALSO lacked salt (very frustrating) so I could taste nothing. The corn in the rice made an odd flavor combo (not successful in my opinion). Non-Food Stuff: It's a nice place for a date - very quiet so you can talk. It's decorated like an old fashion bar and they did a good job with the outside sitting (even during a snow storm). They have screens between tables so it feels safe from a covid standpoint. The service was good; friendly and attentive staff although the food took a little long. Hope this helps! Z. read more

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My husband and I have come here for Sunday brunch every few months for years; it is one of our neighborhood go-to's and consistently a great experience. Despite the welcoming ambiance, reasonable prices and high-quality food Washington Square Tavern is rarely crowded, so you don't have to worry about making reservations in advance. There's a lovely bar and a shared communal table if you want company, but if you've got your own big group they can usually accommodate you with no problem. I often order the steak tips and Andrew generally gets the omelette, but we've never had a bad dish at WST. If you're looking for a deal, they offer a burger, beer and bourbon shot on Mondays for $20. Walk, don't run. read more

I loved my takeout experience from this restaurant! The food was SUPER hot when I received it which is always a plus when ordering to-go! I ordered the Shrimp Scampi and I thought it was super flavorful and comforting. The pasta tasted homemade and fresh. Pulled pork sandwich was also great and the substituted sweet potato fries for regular. I do wish the portions were larger for the price, but overall an excellent experience. read more

The Washington Square Tavern - Shrimp scampi - Bars Near Me - Brookline, Massachusetts

The best gastropub in Boston. Great food, fantastic wine/beer list and great service. read more

Located in the heart of Washington Sq, this aptly named restaurant serves excellent pub food in a homey environment. Came here on a weeknight with my family looking for a casual dinner. We were immediately seated. The ambiance is warm and inviting, with wood panels and nice lighting. Our waiter was a nice, though a bit awkward, and we started with cold beers on draft. We shared a calamari which was crisp, fresh, and served with a nice spicy green aioli. Lacking creativity all 3 of us ordered the house burger, medium rare. The burgers were all delicious; large, juicy, tender, and cooked perfectly. The side of fries were crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, just as one would hope. Pricing was reasonable ($15 for the burger) given this is Brookline. read more

The Washington Square Tavern - Dry Aged Burger , Cheddar Cheese , Bibb Lettuce , Pickled Red Onion , Crispy Fries - Bars Near Me - Brookline, Massachusetts

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The ambiance is nice and the service is fine, but I do have one criticism of this place: they've gotten lazy about their menu. Others have mentioned the menu changing seasonally, but that has not been my experience. It always seems to be the same handful of dishes, month after month and year after year. I would come here more often if I could find more interesting changes on the menu! read more

Great food, nicely curated beers list, and the owner is one of the nicest people you'll meet. And you will meet him!

I wish I could give a higher rating considering the restaurant is beautiful and the menu looks delicious but that's wherein lies the problem-my boyfriend and I came here because we heard nothing but great things, and all we were able to have was one drink. We sat at the bar and were greeted with menus, ordered our drinks and hesitated with ordering food as we were just enjoying the atmosphere. We were never asked again if we wanted another drink, we sat there for close to 20 minutes without being acknowledged until we took out a card to pay-the manager gladly came over to run our card but not once asked if he could get us anything else. I work in the industry and that was some of the worst service I have ever received. Needless to say we will not be returning. read more

Alma and Gerry have perfected Covid Dining. The food is great and their attention to detail to keep us safe is the best in town. Also. They have perfected take out!!! Bravo!! read more

We went to have dinner to WST yesterday. The food was just A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. I didn't expect such gourmet food for a locally owned tavern. The drinks and the food was A++! read more

Outstanding. My man and I stupidly chose to go out to dinner on Friday night which naturally meant any good place in the area had at least a half hour wait. We decided to try our luck at Washington Square Tavern and were able to snag some bar space after only waiting 5 minutes. When it comes to service, considering the time we showed up, it was BUSY. Drinkers surrounded us while we sat at the bar, the bartenders were flying a mile a minute, and it took an extra minute before we were greeted, but overall, the service was attentive and the food came out pretty quickly and hot. There really weren't any issues with service, but my impatient ass was much happier once I got my drink. Food was awesome! We started with the pork belly al pastor tacos, which were incredible and huge! Just those would have easily been a great meal in its own (and recommended!) Like typical al pastor style tacos, the sweet pineapple created a great balance of flavor with the mountain of crisp, salty pork belly shoved into the grilled tortilla. Yeah, these were a total win. We also shared the octopus. I started to panic because after we ordered, I noticed that there weren't too many reviews about octopus and I was worried that I made a bad choice. Nope! The grilled octopus was well grilled and not chewy. It was tender and had an incredible chimichurri sauce on it, which gave it a delicious, garlicy bite. For dinner, we both went with duck. I had the roasted duck breast and the man had duck confit orecchiette. His pasta had peas tossed in with tons of large chunks of duck confit; it was super good and being at the bar made it so much easier to sneak bites of it in between chomps of my own duck breast. My dish was served with sautéed spinach and potatoes, which were awesomeeeeee. The potatoes were half cooked, then smashed, then fried to create this amazing crunchy exterior that just had tons of texture and was crispy in every nook and cranny - YES! At that point, we couldn't really breathe, so we didn't ask for much else, but this would be an awesome place for drinks after dinner. The environment was fun, they played some good tunes, the service was good, and the food was fantastic. What else could you ask for? read more

Took a chance as I am a visiting from out of town. Great service and atmosphere. Enjoyed the grilled octopus for starters and Steak frites for main. Both were prepared to perfection. I asked for the steak to be medium rare and it was. Yes it was on the pricey side, but well worth it. I will be back read more