Forge has decent coffee and food, but unfortunately high prices. It has a hipster warehouse aesthetic that a lot of people seem to like, but in my opinion, the atmosphere is cold and uninviting. I have gone here to work a few times, but I have never felt very comfortable while doing so. The sandwiches are good, but they are a little expensive for what you get. Overall, there is nothing I strongly like or dislike about this place, so I guess it deserves 3 stars. read more

Free WiFi elevates it above Diesel, and it's way less crowded. It's still ridiculously overpriced. Tea and a cookie for $7.50? That's... Well I can't believe I keep paying this much. But they have free WiFi! read more

Absolute best coffee I've ever had. Normally I'll load up my coffee with cream and sugar and choke it down for the caffeine, but this is the first time I've got coffee and drank it black explicitly for the flavor. Still get that caffeine boost too! If you have the time, get a pourover. Takes about 5 min, but totally worth it. Otherwise, their drip coffee is still fantastic. read more

This place has gone downhill. Shocked that this place is frequented by hipsters and their vegan options are scant at the absolute most. They used to have delicious vegan options (I am a lactose-intolerant vegetarian), including delicious sandwiches (remember the Firehouse 1?) and breakfast sandwiches. Now all they have is a sad veggie burger that falls apart and a mediocre (at best) salad. You can also get granola if you'd rather pay about six times what it should cost (but with my luck it is probably loaded with butter, which of course none of the employees would know). Found out recently after having an egg sandwich multiple times that there is in fact dairy in the eggs, thank you to the one employee who knew this and finally told me. Super disappointed and you lost a family of regulars. Their coffees are also undersized and overpriced. I was going to give two stars and then realized I had nothing good to say and was merely being an optimist. I was going to ask if their ice cream shop had non-dairy options, but let's be real, I already know the answer. Very anti-progressive for Somerville. read more

Ice cream is delicious! They feature exciting flavors and the always friendly staff (special shout out to Alex and Olly, who are the servers I remember as being especially helpful). My favorite is the oatmeal chocolate chip flavor, which isn't always available but is definitely a must-have when they have it. Atmosphere is also fun, sort of a mix of 1950s dairy bar with some modern twist. The little bar stools, if you can get a seat at them, are the best if you want to get work done but also see them make the ice cream. Definitely a staple of Porter Sq/ Somerville! read more

I'd go everyday if it wasn't so expensive. Pretty much refuse to spend $12 on a coffee and breakfast sandwich. It ain't right.

Had lunch here today for the first time. The food was very good but something very awkward happened when I was paying. I used a credit card and in the midst of paying a screen came up asking me to choose how much I would pay for a tip: 15% 18% etc. This seemed odd because there is no table service, you order at the counter and then are summoned to come pick up your food. And you are expected to bus your own dishes. What is the tip for? There is no waiter, perhaps you are tipping the folks who collect the money? I felt somewhat coerced by this approach. read more

While Forge bakery is good - we like the baked goods - the ice cream bar is way too overpriced and the service we received today was horrendous. Prices are not posted for toppings so when I was told the price for 2 kiddie cups, each with one dry topping, and each with whipped cream, I was shocked - $13 (though there could have been a mistake here, but I'm still not sure about that). Whipped cream was $1.45. They better be milking the cow out back for that price. Pricing aside, the service was also terrible. The person who helped me felt the need to tell me it wasn't even his shift, and when he summoned his manager to help she didn't even bother to talk to me. Never going there again, and considering never going to the bakery either. read more

Very good baked goods and Intelligentsia coffee. Biggest problem with Forge is the prices. Nearly $5 for a baguette and cookies are $3-4. Latte is about $4.50. French bread is a little too sweet and chewy for my taste -- I prefer Iggy's country baguette. read more

The guy making sandwiches on Sunday has no idea what he is doing. It took him 9 min to make a pb&j

Wow, I can't believe more people are not offended by these prices! I've been in Somerville for 4 years so I'm used to inflated cafe prices but this place is absurd. I stopped in on my way to work for a coffee and a pastry. For a "large" coffee and a croissant, the total came to 7.50! The coffee was the same size as most place's mediums and the croissant was pretty good, but not over $4 good. Not sure why people are willing to pay these prices but I certainly won't be! read more

We have visited Forge three times now. Twice for coffee and baked goods, once for lunch. The food is good, but the service is the worst. In all three instances, the people working there have been sullen and even rude. Won't be going back. read more

I've been there several times usually on a Sunday morning. Always just busy enough... not too crowded but clearly we'll liked. Pretty good coffee and tasty baked goods. Super friendly staff and a cool layout. I feel they are a little over priced. Overall it's worthwhile though because it is close to home. read more

hi forge! i've seen you in your infancy. i've seen you grow from your oversized space (think big trousers, little squirmy baby) to hella packed like whoa, say like today, which is veteran's day, which i hear is the same way every holiday. just sayin.' note this. i like the open warehousey concept of being able to stalk-watch the baker baking and rolling and prepping and making things. i like the vintage-y and slightly upscale vibe. i like your bread. i think your english muffins are generally swell. i think your pastries are okay, even if i won't go out of my way to get them, because sorry, i make better pastries than you do. i tried your ice cream (congrats on opening this up! after reading the article in boston magazine not too long ago about this awesomeness, i finally got to witness your ice cream. vintagey with a soda streamer and toppings and several flavors and (one sorbet? only one non-dairy option? what about all the vegans? fomu isn't close, you know.) good ice cream. thumbs up. still not as good as my hands-down #1 favorite in the whole wide world which is kimball's in westford, MA -- sorry, boston. make it happen, and i'll make it to you. grow your own cows and make your own cream and make ice cream from your own cream. yeah, do it. in boston? do they allow city cows? details. there are several big caveats. here they are. it gets packed. if you take the models of bloc 11 and diesel, their older sisters, well in both places, the wi-fi is still not free because they don't like squatters, or so the rumor goes. get da hell out. love, boston. no further explanation necessary. are we a hotel? not really. it's cool. i think forge might also think it's a hotel, but not really. because it's not. why do i say that? well, there's free Wi-Fi. this is 2016 and the clock is ticking. even hotels have free Wi-Fi these days, or at least in lobbies, you know. i know this because i've been. i think we all live in the same time, but sometimes i'm not sure. technology has gotten better with time, i swear. i was sitting in the front of forge drinking my ~$4 kilogram tea (not a kilogram of tea, but it will do) and trying to get an internet connection. it was crazy packed. i asked a cashier. yeah, it's packed, nothing we can do about it. there's only one free guest Wi-Fi connection. two hours of not being able to open pages, or breaking my own connection. i haven't had a connection this shitty since the early days of Wi-Fi -- you feel me? are you old like me, and do you remember NetZero? yeah, that. it's free, it has ads, and they'll still boot you. stuff like that. can forge afford a higher powered Wi-Fi connection with their place chock full of customers? stop complaining. if you want to pay for your Wi-Fi, go to Bloc11 or Diesel. this wi-fi is free. you don't pay for what you don't get. guess what? the bathrooms are also free, and they're also clean! so Wi-Fi, i gave you another chance. i moved away from the light and joined the dark side, which is most of this place. it's not as dark as diesel and doesn't have diesel's grit, but it's dark. have you seen the meme, "come to the dark side. we have cookies?" well, come to the dark side. we have WI-FI! i did and i guess i'll never go back. what else. in the interest of not staying long, there aren't many power plugs. what, we live in boston, one of the tech capitals of america? this is not about all of you getting your work done by staying here all day, you have to understand. this isn't workbar. they pay for workbar you know. but did i get a power plug? yes, i did! and i even got wi-fi! and now i can open pages and *gasp* stream music as i update this review. what else. the dark side is cold. i guess that makes sense. as nicely done in the past, the sandwiches menu swaps itself out a bit periodically. i'd like to see more quirky fun vintagey local goods up at their sales corner (hey, you see what clover harvard square is doing? i mean, it's pretty mainstream but i think it's a nice touch. go local, go good, get and do good things. etcetera.) what else. off my podium. read more

Food is decent - I would eat it again but the service is horrible. Lucy (think this is her name) was rude and dismissed my concerns about serving cold coffee. Spend your money somewhere else. read more

I normally love this place which is I'm giving it four stars, but my most recent visit was disappointing. They got rid of grits, which were my favorite thing on the menu. Also tried the breakfast sandwich for the first time -- very disappointing especially considering the price. I ordered egg, cheese, tempeh bacon, on a a bagel. The cheese and tempeh bacon were cold, making most of the sandwich feel cold. The eggs were a scrambled patty that was pretty dry and flavorless. Bagel was also quite dry. Overall, the effect was a fairly cold, dry, and flavorless eight dollar egg sandwich. I'll come back because I like everything else, but definitely won't order the egg sandwich again. Also, bring back grits. read more

Love the vegan Caesar salad- it's amazing. But seating is annoying as so many tables are taken up by people lingering on their laptops.

I really wanted to like Forge. Unfortunately, the prices are too high across the board. I'd keep coming back if the wifi was halfway decent, but it cut out every 10 minutes. read more

Great flavors -- dark chocolate w/ almonds was rich and creamy -- and also superb service. Visited on a sleepy afternoon (the cafe side was humming but not packed) and asked if they would be able to make an affogato. Even though it wasn't on the menu, the scooper was kind enough to make one on the spot, and walked around to grab the espresso shot from the cafe side. Here's hoping it becomes a standard offering :) read more

We dropped by after an unsuccessful furniture hunt and it was such a pleasant surprise. We tried four flavors and end up getting five! The strawberry, banana and mango ice creams have genuine fruity tastes rather than that of artificial additives. Cookies and cream tastes very smooth and soft! Good ambience and friendly stuff. read more

Great sandwiches and baked goods, but like its sister bloc 11 everything is on the pricey side. Coffee is great and so are baked goods. hipster people watching galore. read more

You can get free wi-fi here and it is a great environment for studying or socializing. The coffee and pastries are expensive, but delicious. If you like ham and cheese croissants, theirs are a must try! read more

Love this place. Expensive but delicious, with lots of seating and free (if slow) wifi. Highly recommend the coffee drinks, mint brownies, and turtle bars. read more

Love this new Somerville bakery! The iced coffee is delicious, go for the nitro if you REALLY need a pick me up. I'm obsessed with the maple butter they put on their egg sandwich, so add that to anything you order. Great croissants too! Can't wait to go for lunch ! read more

Stopped in after my daughter's soccer game on a nearby field; great environment, baked goods, & support of local artisans (who were there displaying/selling their wares). Great place! read more

Overall a pretty good place but some of the menu items seem significantly overpriced. For example, their egg and cheese breakfast sandwich is 5 or 6 dollars and if you add bacon they charge you 2 dollars extra. The sandwich is perfectly okay but nothing special. This is probably a good place just to get a cup of coffee or some other drink but the food seems not to be worth the price. read more

Croissant and baguette, marvelous. Probably the best in Boston area. I did live in France too so it is not like I don't know bread.

It's a great space with very high quality, albeit expensive food.

If I have to choose between diesel, bloc, or forge, this place wins hands down. Friendly atmosphere, awesome coffee, and love their breakfast sandwich. read more

Delicious breakfast sandwich but really no need to wait 20 minutes for it when it was not very busy. The people making them seemed to be confused and stumbling over each other as well as significantly coughing read more

Great lunch sandwiches, coffee, breads, and other yummy sweet pastries. Cute quiet environment. But the English muffins for their breakfast sandwiches were rubbery/ extra cheesy, and flavorless. read more

This place is great. Their pastries are some of the best in the area, especially if you're looking for a more "sophisticated" sweet taste, meaning its not just loaded with sugar but has quality ingredients and is well done. They obviously have some talented pastry chefs in the back. However, before you skip over my review, this place is WAY overpriced. It's about $four dollars for a lousy 6 ounce cappuccino. What am I supposed to do with that? I just paid $10 for the cappuccino and a croissant. (Yes I wondered why too and they told me butter and jam are an extra $2 - really?!) I would expect something along the lines of $6 in this area which is supposed to be cheaper than Cambridge, but this place is far more expensive than any other cafe hot spot including quality cafes like Burdicks in Harvard Square and Tatte in Kendall. It's a great study space but for the price of it, make sure you've packed yourself a lunch if you're sticking around for a few hours. God, why the high prices Forge? Get with the program! Ya'll are not Poilane in France. Calm down and lower your prices! read more

Very disappointing. I expect a bakery to be warm and inviting with smells of freshly roasted coffee and most importantly freshly baked bread. Not the case. Forge was cold, cavernous and uninviting. The staff at front of house was pleasant (and the reason why I'm giving two stars instead of one). My small coffee was $2.50. It was put into a cold porcelain cup and instantly lost its warmth. If I'm going to pay $2.50 for a cup of coffee make sure the mug you put it in is warm!!! When I went back for a refill they charged me $2.50. Really?? Overall the coffee was just okay. Nothing special and not worth $2.50. Onto the food. We tried the ginger scone and coffee cake -both were good - and the English muffin egg sandwich. We waited a long time for the sandwich only to discover it had been waiting on the counter and was now cold. Note to the owners....figure out a better way to serve your customers. We were tucked in the back corner at a table and could not hear when they called our names. When I mentioned to the girl at the counter that it's really not possible to hear when they call your name she just gave a "not my f'ing problem" look. I kinda wanted to slap her. Needless to say the sandwich was nothing special just tasted like a plain English muffin and tasteless and tepid egg. read more

Forge is a great addition to the 'hood. They pay careful attention to ingredients and the salads I mostly order are filing enough to serve as dinner (so for ~$10 it becomes a delicious, healthy and affordable meal) they pull amazing flavor out of ingredients - the roasted onions, homemade hummus, little pickled fruits on a toothpick (what were they? Now I can't recall. But they were tasty!) I want to love the space and conceptually I do - but it's a little too sterile, which the artwork reinforces (I agree with the other "creepy artwork" person who posted -- its amazing artwork, and if its going to be the first of other amazing art exhibits then cool....but it is super disconcerting esp. given that the cafe atmosphere almost borders what the artwork seems to be skewering....sealed off windows to watch the worker-drones in the bakery, hard little chairs with everyone at their laptops...) THe baked goods are consistently top notch and the 'ridiculous' prices become a lot less ridiculous once you actually spend the money and try something. Forge follows in the tradition of the other 2 cafes in trying to keep ingredients local and responsibly sourced, and the waste stream to a minimum. Those costs are embodied in your choice of food - as they should be but are not for 99% of what we eat - which we the consumers will pay for downstream in other ways (waste, health, enviro costs we bear as tax payers). I congratulate them for being early adopters of a whole new way of doing business that truly cares about sustainability in the long haul. And makes it taste delicious as well. read more