My husband and I came here when they opened up patio dining a few weekends ago. The seating is great! It's setup in a shaded grass area and it's relaxing. It felt like we were sitting in a quiet garden :) The food was fresh and delicious! The service was good and I'd highly recommend the trout, clams, and ricotta. This place is perfect for a date night. read more

See all

Forage is, in a single word, mediocre. It's just another restaurant attempting to cash in on the surplus of money that yuppies have to spend on trendy, hip food. If you are a yuppie looking to waste money on mediocre food, this is the place for you. We did the tasting menu--the starting dish was a small platter of pickled carrots and green beans(lol), the lions mane mushrooms were just oyster mushrooms, the salad was just...a plain salad, the watercress was dry and just not flavored well, etc etc. This sounds pretentious but the food was truly amateurish. You could spend half as much at somewhere like oleana and leave much happier. To add insult to injury, the service was also bad. read more

We did the vegan tasting menu and the omnivore tasting menu, and neither were very good. The dishes were strange but also boring and not very tasty. The omnivore main was stewed chicken that was bland, boring, and wildly simply for a $60 tasting. Two of the four courses were just raw, mildly seasoned produce. Dessert was a weird ice cream/cheesecake and we opted to add a cheese course, which was melted Brie on tomatoes with a slice of sweet bread. The vegan cheese made in-house tasted like scrambled tofu. I can't recommend this place. The energy was also way too low, too quiet, and just off. I'm embarrassed that I took my friends here. read more

Forage never disappoints! Food is amazing and everything is made in the house. Best restaurant! Love the outdoor area, very peaceful. They did fabulous job! Forage makes me happy! read more

A neighborhood gem that does fresh, simple food right. We went for a Friday dinner by reservation and was seated promptly. Fun fact: Forage occupied the space where another Cambridge classic, Craigie on Main, first opened its door. Forage offers a fresh, no fuss take on local ingredients with a focus on unusual veggie-oriented dishes, with some twisted classics stowed under their belt. Our favorite appetizer has got to be their Thai Mushroom Laab - just the right amount of sourness, spiciness and freshness! We also really enjoyed the mains - a very interesting take on Pasta with yellow eyed beans, citrus & pea greens, and "Spring Roots" - a collection of grilled sweet potatoes, juniper roasted spring dug parsnips, oat groat risotto with day lily & dandelion roots, and purple carrot fritter - the best part of this dish! Service was great and attentive. When it comes to great local spots with warm hospitality, always count me in for a full support! read more

See all

PRECOVID I can understand the criticIsms but ultimately this ended up a solid four for me. Just to start out that the beets were done very tasty, accompanied by a pecan butter that was surprising and unique. Also the bread was excellent and more surprisingly paired with an excellent olive oil. The risotto very good. Would recommend more parmegiano though. The service was so-so, several times I felt as though I was forgotten and ignored. It was also fairly slow I think I said it's a great romantic spot in for date night, I'll be in a bit loud. The desert is one of my favorite, a chocolate cake that was very well done, and accompanied by a great survey. I will complain about the brisket in which was subpar and served with extremely salty lettuce lettuce I would return with someone else to have more beets and more chocolate cake and to try some additional items on the menu. read more

Although, as a vegan, I can't comment on anything else on Forage's menu, their vegan cuisine is uniformly substandard. It is largely without flavor--other than an excessive use of salt and vinegar. There's also little of it; after your meal, you may find yourself--as we did--ordering a meal from someplace else. And it's expensive: our order was take-out--two tasting menu vegan dinners with no drinks--and the bill with tip came to over $220. That's too much to pay for a small amount of bad food (any amount is too much to pay for bad food). The ambiance seems pleasant. It's a kind of basement grotto in an apartment building, with a small bar, semi-intimate lighting, and only a few tables. To Forage's credit, it doesn't try to make the place look fancier than it is. This works in its favor. The staff all seemed nice enough, based on my limited exchanges with them. But you can't bluff your way into making good food simply by supplying the dishes with esoteric names and odd descriptions. The stuff has to taste good, and Forage's vegan food, regrettably, does not taste good. read more

So we really wanted to like this place as there has been a wave of vegan/vegetarian restaurants closing and this place had a vegetarian tasting. I can tell you we spent about $325 on dinner. There were four courses, plus we added on wine parings, and shared one cheese dish. Here's what I will say: The dishes were fine, but really just neutral and tasted like no one had tasted them. Server was nice. Had a half shirt on and a flannel tied around their waist and we were just directly at their belly button level as they explained that they didn't know how the wine was pronounced or what it exactly some of the dishes were. Dishes were ok. One was a squash dish that would have been great, but Roasted chickpeas on it were so hard they almost cracked my husband's filling. Staff who brought over the dessert, also seemed confused about what it was as they presented the dish. Cake was very dry. There was one staff that seemed to know the wines really well and had excellent wine service. I'm pretty laid back, but for this amount of money, you would expect a little more. Pros: They thought to have a vegetarian menu. Server was sweet. Music wasn't super loud. And I was happy with the wine selections. This tasting wasn't in line with other tastings we have had and the dishes aren't there enough to make it all make sense. Despite that I think it's worth giving it a shot if you are in the area. read more

Awesome food and cocktails. The service and ambiance are first rate. The main courses are scrumptious

BIG WASTE OF MONEY AND TIME: Here's why I'll regret the $500 bill for a long time: 1) if one person in our party wanted the full tasting menu (as opposed to a la carte), we ALL had to have the full tasting menu. Why? No reason. 2) one of the first two courses was peaches in syrup and could have come from a can. The other contained duck-egg, but the vegetarian replacement delivered instead was just cucumbers. If I want peaches in syrup or cucumbers I can get them from the grocery store. 3) while some of our party got the fish entree, others got the vegetarian, which was simply lentils. Lentils that were neither seasoned nor tasty. There was no salt on the table and it took several minutes to arrive, as if it was an extraordinary request. 4) dessert was a tiny bit of ice cream and the vegetarian version was a piece of hard, stale cake that was inedible. I feel that the reviewers who recommend this restaurant were not at the same place that I was. If there were a way to give it 0 stars, I would. read more

Lovely staff. Unfortunately this restaurant should not have a tasting menu. The highlight is the wine.

I was really really excited about this place after hearing rave reviews. We did the tasting menu and there wasn't anything that really impressed us. I wish that the chef had asked us if there were particular foods we didn't like, since we were served several items of foods we don't prefer - such as clams. There were 2 clam dishes in our selections, and it was unfortunate since neither me nor my boyfriend eat clams. The bread though was great! read more

Forage is an intimate farm to table restaurant in a residential neighborhood outside Harvard Square. I'm so glad I live in the neighborhood, because it's one of my all-time favorite restaurants. Forage is fantastic in a lot of ways, but they really shine in terms of offering equally wonderful menu selections for both vegetarians and omnivores. I'm a vegetarian and my husband is not, and we're both always able to find plenty of great options on the menu. The $40 six-course Meatless Monday menu is an amazing deal! You also have the option of adding a cheese course for $9, which I typically do. Both their food and drink menus are fresh and inventive. One of my favorite dishes I've had here was, I, believe, asparagus topped with dark chocolate and sea salt. Neither dark chocolate nor asparagus are among my favorite foods, but the chefs somehow made the combo work incredibly well. The food and drink menu change pretty often, and the Meatless Monday menu changes every week, I believe, so there are always new dishes to try. I'm not much of a drinker, and hardly ever order mixed drinks, but I usually can't resist getting a mixed drink or two here. They're so yummy! The wait staff is always fantastic as well - courses are always timed well, and the staff are very professional and great about making good recommendations. read more

Omg the cutest restaurant EVAH. Came here for dinner with a couple of good friends one evening. It's in Cambridge, about a 10 minute walk from Harvard square. We were a little bemused as our directions were taking us into a very residential area but a large sign outside assured us we were in the right place. It's in the basement of a residential building, and is just the most adorable quirky space I've seen in a long time. We settled in first at the small bar, one friend had a glass of orange wine (yes, it's a thing) and the other had a cocktail off their very creative menu. I opted for the foraged and found; basically you describe what you want and they create it for you. I saw a lot of interesting artisanal bottles behind the bar, so I went for it. It was quite a concoction, gin-based and herbaceous, almost like a savoury version of a Pimms cup. I liked it, but it was so stiff I was tipsy before dinner started! For a starter, I had the pickled veg, which were a little hit and miss, pickled ramps were awesome, what I think were pickled cranberries, not so much. My friend had the radishes with creme fraiche, an interesting dish with really fresh quality ingredients but maybe lacking a little punch. My main was the poppy seed encrusted cod, a really unique flavour that took a little getting used to but was really unique and delicious. My friend had the steak and frites, apparently it was amazing, but I wouldn't know, it was so good he refused to share! We split a really nice cheese plate for dessert and we were pleasantly but not uncomfortably stuffed by the end of the meal. The service was top notch, friendly, personable and attentive. This place is clearly a labour of love for the people who work here. Overall I'd give the food 4 stars, it was very adventuresome and a few things were a little odd, but props to them for creativity and taking risks. The service and the ambience really made this a 5 star experience for me. Great place for an evening with friends or a fun date night. read more

See all

We did a date night tasting menu here. Food was tasty, but simple. I was also surprised that it was just four courses. My partner surprised me with this meal so not exactly sure what the menu was, but my best description is that we had soft multigrain cracker with herbed beet purée, salad with mussels, steak with organ meat and greens with beet purée, and a chocolate mousse type dessert. Overall was interesting to try though the appetizers were overly salted, and the steak was a bit gamey. Our favorite part of the meal was the dark chocolate dessert which was very rich and balanced with the citrus. I think we expected a little more complexity or course for the $60 price point, but did appreciate the farm to table model. Something else we weren't expecting were the new set of utensils with every course, or the staff checking in every single course (sometimes awkwardly in the middle of a conversation). Parking can be tough since there's a lot of resident only parking directly around the restaurant. They gave us a little map of street parking nearby when we asked after giving up searching. It was a helpful detail! Overall, interesting experience to try. I still think of that chocolate dessert and ways to replicate it at home. read more

See all

Everything is overpriced and no one at my table liked what they ordered. I got the "ham" on their main course menu (does not appear on Yelp's menu; see below), and it did not resemble any ham I've ever eaten. It wasn't sliced, it was just these big blocks of flavorless pork with some kind of blended vegetables on the side. The rest of my table got chicken which they all agreed was far too salty. We took leftovers but ended up tossing them because no one wanted to eat them. The menu available on Yelp and on their website is out of date: there are some different main courses, and prices are higher now. read more

Nestled under what looks like an apartment building in a quite street in Cambridge you'll find Forage. I came here using the Gilt coupon for a 3 course meal with wine pairings. I was able to call the day before to set a reservation for the next day. It seems like how busy they are can vary as they were slammed when i had called, but they were not very busy on a Wednesday. The Gilt tasting menu comes with two options: omnivore and vegetarian. The choice was omnivious. My bad puns aside, Forage was an excellent experience. The service was great and the food was delicious, paired with great wines that accentuated the flavors. Started out with the Parsley Root and Leek Soup. It had a toasted cheesy crouton on it and candied butternut squash. The soup was thick and creamy and great with the crouton and the sherry pairing. Next up was the herb brined and roasted chicken with sunflower seed and dill dumplings. It came out succulent with perfectly crispy skin and a delicious citrus aroma. The dumplings were a bit heavy and bland, but served to balance the strong flavors of the chicken, braised kale and jus. The highlight of the night was the dessert though. As the waitress said, they saved the best for last. A chocolate buckwheat cake served with an impossibly creamy goat milk caramel ice cream and blackberry jam, paired with a spanish malbec port-like wine. The chocolate buckwheat cake had an interesting texture. The chocolate cake wasn't overly sweet and didn't have an overpowering chocolate flavor and went very well with the creamy and sweat caramel ice cream. The port wine was also fantastic and went wonderfully with dessert. As i was finishing dessert, the waitress asked if I wanted tea or coffee. Coffee it was. The service and food are great at Forage, and is a definite recommendation. read more

See all

We had the tasting menu and none of the plates were particularly tasty. Even if peaches are in season, using the same ingredient in 2 dishes does not make a creative menu. Also, I do not appreciate waiters interrupting my conversation every few minutes asking if we enjoy the dish. If you have to ask this often, you're either not sure how good it is or you know there's something wrong with it. No matter what the reason, I hate being repeatedly interrupted with gratuitous questions. Bottom line: pretentious dishes lacking finesse. Nice and friendly staff but overly eager. I will not return. read more

I feel bad leaving a neg review and maybe we just ordered the wrong thing. So we only got four courses for a tasting menu. It seems other people get five or seven. Random and at $60 pp overpriced. Especially since two out of the four courses featured peaches. One being just a plain uncooked unpeeled peach sliced and with two little mozzarella balls next it w a sprig of some i inedible herb. Although the staff was super friendly and service was attentive it was maybe over attentive, interrupting us too much to ask about the food. I really didn't care for almost anything I ate except for the the fish which came on a bed of lackluster lentils and some bitter tasting green. I tasted other people's food and the vegan stew was nice. For dessert they served a soft ice cream mixed with big chunks of salt and sunflower seeds, honestly not that great. And my husband's meat was tough! My beet was also so hard I actually should have sent it back. But I was at a birthday dinner and I didn't want to make a fuss. All of us left feeling underwhelmed by the food and feeling it was overpriced for what we got. read more

Excellent food; very comfortable outdoor seating area, waiter was knowledgeable and helpful in decisions

We came here with high hopes, but left quite disappointed. Mediocre food and incredibly slow service in a pleasant enough setting. Our group of 4 ordered the following: 1) Roasted squash salad - horribly disappointing; lacking in flavor 2) Tagliatelle - the mushrooms in this dish had an incredibly strong flavor, and I was unfortunately not a fan 3) Pickled veggies - good, but intense (not appropriate for an individual's appetizer; should be designated as a shared plate) 4) Bluefish & scallops - the scallops were good, but the bluefish and accompanying grain were disappointing 5) Maine crab salad - tasty 6) Hangar steak - very flavorful; best dish of the night 7) Pickled radishes - disappointing 8) Vegetarian thali - very disappointing; strongly lacking flavor The mocktails we got ("the Mint Condition"), on the other hand, were quite good. Of the 4 of us, only one really enjoyed their meal. It was truly a shame. The service, while friendly, was incredibly slow. We had an exceptionally long wait between our two courses. They also forgot to bring my friend's coffee, and had to be reminded. The setting was cozy, intimate, and pleasant. I did appreciate the fact that it wasn't too loud, and therefore conducive to conversation. Overall, I am sad to be writing this - I wish I had more positive things to say. read more

We used to come to this location way back when - when it was Craigie St. Bistro before they moved to Main St. Forage is great! Everyone there could not be more friendly or helpful. The food was fantastic. Very creative menu. I would not hesitate to go back. read more

A new rendition of the former craigie street bistro and most recently ten tables. A very similar vibe as in the past with a nearly indistinguishable menu. Starters and mains. Dessert and drinks. Upscale earthy describes the menu. Spätzle with stinging nettles and scallop. A scallop is finely sliced and seared into a luscious moist bite of flesh. The spätzle itself is crispy and does not stick to itself in clumps. The dish is bright, green. Earthy. Reminiscent of grass and other spring like things for which one might forage. An order of ramp soup is also electric green. Topped with a drizzle of olive oil, the soup is thick and crisp. A slight zing from the fresh onion. Excellent service although descriptions of the plates are adrift and inaccurate, almost as if the food has not been sampled prior to service. Pan seared mahi mahi is technically perfect. The crisped skin is seared to a deep golden brown. Moist flesh. Flavor? Missing salt. Missing Pepper. Missing other spices. Almost went into the pan naked. The wAtercress salad is lightly dressed and not enough to make up for the absence of "flavor." Lemon malatagliata is soft and boiled perfectly. Large irregular shapes of pasta are coated in crisped bread crumbs, asparagus and egg. Wonderful. Lamb tagine is described inaccurately but is amazing. Chunks of lamb are coated in ras-el-hanout and ginger. Shredded in pieces that combines fatty flesh and meaty fibers. The couscous is mixed in and served in a heavy clay pot. Well curated wine list. Pleasant and efficient service. An well trained if unoriginal kitchen. read more

See all

Love that this place has parking, although the lot is small and maybe we got lucky that there was a spot open. Vegetarians, vegans, and those who eat meat would find something here that they would enjoy. We ordered the vegetarian pre fixe menu with wine pairings, and really enjoyed our night. To summarize: Fresh ingredients Not overly heavy dishes Creative Good wine selection Good service Intimate setting We would definitely return! read more

Love this place! Cute ambience and decor and creative food. Love that it feels residential and in a cozy basement. The cocktails are consistently amazing. As someone who finds 99% of cocktails too sweet (even cocktails at nicer restaurants), I'm consistently pleased with the options at Forage. Every now and then there will be one dish that is a bit on the overly interesting maybe overly local side, but I really do love the adventurous and creative ingredients. I'd rather have one kind of weird dish and three amazing creative ones that are actually exciting than four boring ones like you get at other places. Basically the food is creative and the service is friendly and warm. I also disagree with some of the reviews saying that the flavors are underwhelming - I actually love how subtle the flavors are. You don't get overwhelming spice/garlic etc - things are generally balanced. read more

We dined here for our anniversary dinner, and were extremely impressed! My fiancé is vegan and I am not, and there was an excellent selection for us both. The food was flavorful, the wine was delicious, and the staff were very friendly. We were also given dessert wine and sorbet as an anniversary gift- nice touch! We will be back! read more

We had a wonderful experience at Forage. We came for dinner on a Thursday night, with few expectations going in. The staff were extremely knowledgeable about every aspect of the menu - from the flavor profiles to the sourcing of ingredients. They managed to explain things in an in-depth but approachable/casual way. We really appreciated their obvious passion for the cuisine and it elevated our experience. The food itself was spectacular. We started with a gin and vermouth cocktail that was light and summery (but also surprisingly strong) and the loaf of sourdough with blackberry jam and herb butter. Next we tried the assortment of pickled vegetables. It included a fermented watermelon that was delicious, and definitely something that we would never have thought to try. The real star of our meal was the seared bluefish. It was expertly cooked and paired with roasted carrots and feta cheese - a really perfect combination. We could not have been happier with our meal. I should also mention that the restaurant was very thoughtful about COVID-19 precautions: there were only four tables, with ample spacing, and the windows were open and ventilated with fans. It was a little bit chilly but still extremely pleasant. The staff gave a lot of thought to the entry and exit flow of customers so that there was no unnecessary contact or proximity. read more

I am rarely compelled to write a review for a restaurant. But this was awful. Really awful. We wanted to try the vegetarian tasting menu but figured we would try a wide selection off the menu for our first time. Each dish was worse than the one before. Bland. Peculiar. I felt like a deer trying to eat parts of the vegetable that humans usually cut off - battling my food down. The chef really tried hard to be artistic and thoughtful but it flat out bad food and a total miss - every last dish. It literally felt like someone went into the forest, picked up random things and then briefly roasted them with limited knowledge of how to prepare any of it. We left hungry and after hundereds of dollars spent, we went home and ate leftovers from last night. read more

My husband and I visited forage last night and and had a great meal and a great time. Their food is delicious, their wines are great and their staff are really amazing - knowledgeable and professional but also friendly and easy to ask questions of. We ordered a dessert and the manager came and offered us two glasses of dessert wine to go with the dessert - free of charge. A really great touch. Highly recommend! read more

Best vegan food in Boston. Delicious wine, great service and such an inventive menu!! They use seasonal ingredients very artfully and the music and vibe were great!! read more

A review after one visit, but all of our party was impressed, so I feel confident. We started out with some of their interesting drinks. I had the non-alcoholic Vinn's Cup, which was so good the ten-year-old in the party got one for herself after a sip. The Lamb Tajine was great. The real outstanding part of the meal was one of their special appetizers. All of the appetizers were good, but one of them came with oyster ice cream. Using just the juice, not the whole oysters. It was so good I ordered it for dessert, which came with a blueberry preserve sauce. Dee-lisce. See photo (not that a photo of ice cream will tell you much.) The parking lot was small, but so is the restaurant. Fortunately, we walked. The service was excellent all the way through. they were even kind enough to watch out for our cat, which had followed us from my cousin's home. read more

Forage - Oyster ice cream with blueberry preserve sauce. A special, not on the regular menu. Forage, Cambridge, MA 7/16/16 - Wine Bars Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Forage was especially odd, in that the food was so perfectly, consistently lacking in depth of flavor. This, to a degree that it was clearly purposeful; there's something zen that the chef is going for. While there were some strong flavors (vinegary pickled carrots and mushrooms, sea salt ice cream, turkey prosciutto), ultimately, nothing added up to anything delicious. There was little play with richness, umami, or savory, and many bites lacked proper seasoning or interplay between flavors. Even the cocktails, though perfectly balanced, tasted... empty, almost as if they were watered down. Though I think- again, this was purposeful, because it was so utterly consistent (we tried 3 different cocktails which all thad this same character). Forage is definitely a unique experience with a creative, risk-taking chef, putting together quirky dishes with unusual ingredients- things I usually love. Unfortunately, if you are expecting something... tasty... this is not the place. read more

Had a bad experience, but owner reached out to make it right. They clearly care about customer experience, and wanted to update my previous review read more

The menu looked interesting and unusual. Sadly the food was terrible. There was no reason for why things were on the plate. The dishes didn't come together. There was no seasoning. Rather than being interesting the food was bizarre. I wouldn't try again. read more

It was our first time at this restaurant even though we live just around the corner. We dined on the outdoor patio in the evening under the string lights and it was exceptional. I ordered the grilled vegetables to start and roasted porcini for the main course, both dishes excellent. The mushrooms melt in your mouth. Highly recommend! read more

This place has only been open for a few days, but I have to say they're off to a great start! The ambiance: It's brighter than 10 Tables was, with white walls and crisp finishings. It's small an intimate, great for a date or small group of friends. The food: Yummy! We ordered the pan-fried reading and the pork dish. I thought the fish was cooked perfectly, crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. The pork was also juicy and tender, and a had a bright flavor to it. The only suggestion would be to work on the balance of seasonings: I would have preferred a bit more salt and pepper on the fish while the vegetables with the pork were too salty. I'm sure they would have been receptive if we'd shared this with management. The service: The staff we interacted with were all very friendly. They were attentive but not intrusive. I also really appreciated that they cleared our plates at the same time. Some of them seemed a little nervous or less experienced (e.g., part of our drink was spilled when it was brought) but I guess it made them seem more human and approachable. Overall, we enjoyed our dining experience. It was a nice, chill neighborhood spot that if you can budget ~$40/person, makes for a nice dinner out. read more

Absolutely great. Friendly and fun server. Creative menu. Quiet but not fussy venue. Small touches like samples of wine and pickled veggies made it an "A". read more

Appetizers were interesting - at least the write up. Main courses were not very imaginative or interesting and more importantly the food was way over salted. Way over! We mentioned it to the owner/server and he said :Oh sorry! The only thing going for it is it's proximity to Pickman Hall at the Longy school of music. read more

I love farm to table restaurants but this one didn't quite cut it. We liked the various pickles with the cranapple sauce, but weren't very impressed with the squash salad nor the turnips which were pretty flavorless. The hangar steak, seafood eclairs, crab salad were the best items on the menu but also weren't very memorable. It's a cute place for a date night or an intimate dinner, so I liked the ambiance. But in terms of food, it still has some ways to go. read more

We just had a truly wonderful meal at Forage. It was the first snowfall of the season, so many people canceled due to the weather, but they missed out. They have heaters set up, and we were very comfortable despite it being near freezing out (didn't even need the HotHands they offered). The food was awesome - everything was done perfectly, but highlights were the roasted beets with ajwain and my warm cocktail. With the pandemic, they have pivoted their farm-to-table business into offering CSAs, so all the ingredients were top of the line. The service also couldn't have been more friendly, relaxed and helpful. Recommend on any day, if you bring a scarf. read more