Before our review of The Friendly Toast (Cambridge, MA), Dan and I thought it would be good to establish some basics for every review. We are quite different in our approach to dining out and what we enjoy, each review could be completely random not only compared to each other but from to the last restaurant. To establish some consistency, we decided that we would make sure to touch upon and give each place a grade level (A-F, a nod to my teacher status) in five different categories; Service, Ambiance, Menu Creativity (options), Taste, and Overall Experience. This way even though we are bound to have very different opinions and nitpick about different things, we can have a common thread from which to discuss our experiences…. now on to The Friendly Toast.
I made plans yesterday to visit The Friendly Toast with a good friend of mine. When we arrived we were told that the wait was one and a half hours. So we passed and went to Tommy Doyle’s, an Irish bar nearby. (The brunch there was great.) Dan and I both had the day off and assumed that on a Monday morning the wait would be much more acceptable.
We arrived and were seated immediately. I had been to The Friendly Toast once before but for a very busy Sunday Brunch. It was nice to be seated so quickly and I feel that without all the patrons, I really got to take the place in. The Friendly Toast is a fifties diner and has some really awesome décor. Usually, I think that kind of thing is cheesy and overdone, but it was so overdone that it was very cool. The menu illustrations were very fifties, blond haired kids smiling in pastel colors (apparently people of color did not exist in the fifties…snark, snark). The names of dishes on the menu also gave nod to fifties (or fifty ish) relics like Alfred Hitchcock, and classic books that were published or took place in that time, like a cocktail called Catcher in the Rye.
It took quite a long time for our server to bring us water and she had a stank attitude. I was not fond of that. I hate when servers have a nasty attitude. Why you have to ruin my experience because you are having a bad day?
My order:
1 pancake w/toffee crumbles
The Basic-Two eggs, home fries, and toast
1 side of bacon
Rasberry/Bannana Smoothie
The food came out and there was barely any room on our tiny table for the HUGE portions. My pancake took up an entire square shaped plate. My smoothie came in an old-fashioned milkshake shaker, kind of looked like a margarita shaker. There was no way I could even pretend that I thought that I could ever finish all that food; I did not finish all that food.
However, finishable or not finishable, the food was great. I loved everything. I am especially a sucker for home fries. If your home fries are good then most likely I will like the rest of the food. The bacon was also particularly good, it was a little spicy or something. My pancake with toffee crumbles was really fluffy and super sweet and my toast, which I got one bite of, was delicious. I was initially leery of oatmeal toast, (they do not have white toast) but it tasted great.
In the end, the food conquered me and I went into a food coma. Dan and I had plenty of errands to run after eating but opted to return home for a nap. You may say that food should not make you sleepy but I do love the bliss of the uncontrollable urge to and subsequent napping after a good brunch.
Service: C (too slow + nasty attitude)
Ambiance: B+ (I loved the chill vibe and the fifties décor and menu theme)
Menu Creativity (Options): A I thought that there were so many delicious sounding choices and that it was very cool to offer pancakes with toffee crumbles. They also had a great tea selection, which I passed on trying for another trip.
Taste: A- the eggs were the weakest part of the meal but this is coming from a girl who puts anything into the eggs she makes at home.
Overall Experience: A-
-Candice :)
Adventure #1: The Friendly Toast in Cambridge, MA. The Friendly Toast is exactly what it sounds like: friendly. This is a great little spot that I would classify as a Harvard-Hippie-ish-diner. It is well set back from the street with plenty of metered parking so gives it a warm, cozy, neighborhood feel. The restaurant has a very warm and kind of funky décor, plenty of book themed decorations and very vibrant colors decorate the walls. The table sizes left plenty to be desired as multiple plates of food (will hit on this later) quickly filled the entire table. The tables are basically cocktail size so when you add plates, water and juice for 2 to the regular ceramic display of condiments it fills up very quickly.
The server came across as uninterested and regretting being at work on a Monday morning; it definitely looked like this was the “B” team of servers after the Sunday Brunch rush yesterday. She was rolling her eyes at other patrons as we were glancing around. The servers either wore their own clothes or Old Navy was designing the uniforms. She slowly warmed up to us as we got closer to getting the check and overall left a decent impression.
Menu wise this was a really cool, unique and fun set up. The cocktails are all themed after books and they do their own take on different sandwiches and dishes. A 4 page brunch menu was a bit overwhelming but not quite on the level of the one from the Cheesecake Factory. Unfortunately finding the beginning of the menu took a minute because it had been folded so many times that the binding basically did not reveal its original set up. Breakfast, Brunch and Lunch items were plentiful and most options could conceivably be ordered for all 3. Plenty of juices, smoothies, cocktails and mocktails were listed.
The food portions were ginormous. I ordered the Basic Breakfast (2 scrambled eggs, wheat toast and breakfast potatoes with caramelized onions), and a side of Bacon and a slice of French Toast. The eggs were what I expected: most likely the powder stuff but tasty, the toast was pre-buttered and a solid ¾ inch thick. It was perfectly toasted on the outside and nice and warm and chewy in the middle. The Breakfast Potatoes had a great flavor but the onions were beyond caramelized and bordering well done. The Bacon on the other hand was perfectly crunchy and cooked (too many places under cook it). My French Toast was huge…Probably 6 inches by 6 inches and ¾ of an inch thick. This is definitely a place you need a slight food coma afterwards. My glass of Orange Juice was not freshly squeezed and tasted very much like Tropicana from Concentrate.
Overall I would def recommend it personally and professionally.
Service – C+
Ambiance- B+
Menu Creativity – A-
Taste – A-
Overall experience – B+
-Dan
Total bill for 2 = $43
