Hmmm..... I thought I had written a review on Shopper's - apparently I hadn't. Well it goes like this. Ever since my local hang out closed, I started coming to Shoppers more and more. And well I'm glad I did! Shopper's offers excellent food, friendly staff, and a large amount of space so that if you do decide to come in with a large group, there's plenty of room and none of that sardines in a can feel. Just be careful of nights with bands or game nights because it can fill up rather quickly, but still the staff manages to deal with the crowd well. I also love the fact that they have Photo Hunt and Keno. And for those into Buck Hunter, they have Safari there I believe and some bowling video game. I only wish that they had more Keno screens at better angles for those days I'm near the back window to find out if I've won or not. Shoutouts to Melissa B, Jamie and Joey L for always keeping our drinks full and offering such amazing service. Also be sure to try their steak tips, home-made hand cut fries (w. cheese - the cheese really makes 'em great!), fish & chips, sweet potato fries, pork chops... alright all their food is good! read more

Oh Shoppa'z how you complete me. Giant oak door leading into a paradise of alch and food. ...Though I didn't try any of the food I made a good work of their weekly special, sunset wheat, for 3 dollars. It filled my tummy with a burst of sunshine and kept me going on through cinco de mayo/ karaoke night! I sang a little Elvis, Can't Help Falling In Love, and wooed the women into being interested at the new guy on the block. This place is great, nice prices, nice females, and even nicer bartenders who act a lil shy and laugh at your crappy jokes. If heaven were an 'ok' bar, Shoppa'z would be the place, And I would bathe in it's glory. read more

I never knew this place before it burned down in 2006, but I've been coming here for 8 months now and it feels like home. It's been run by the LaCava family since 1937, and you can definitely sense the family-vibe whether you're talking to the owner (Paul) or his 2 bartending sons (Joey and Michael). There's live music several times a week (acoustic on Wednesdays, cover bands on Fridays, and occasionally a band on Saturdays) and there's always a good Beer of the Month deal (February was $2.00 Killian drafts!). During the day it's the usual townie crowd...middle aged dudes having some beers, playing Keno and cursing loudly....but on weekend nights, the Brandeis/Bentley/Lasell college crowd comes in, they crank up the music, and it becomes a pretty good pickup bar. I think if they had a dance floor, it'd be a pretty hoppin' nightclub spot. Parking can be a little frustrating at times, since customers often park in the "TENANT PARKING ONLY" spots behind the building which occasionally leads to double parking and aggravated bar-goers. The food is standard bar fare....burgers, wings, pizza, a couple salads, etc., but they do it well. I highly recommend the steak tip sub with cheese. read more

The location burned in a fire about a year and a half ago and reopened on August 9th. I had never been in the restaurant prior to the fire, but the new place has a large bar, plenty of tables and room to move around. The food was good and the prices were reasonable. Pub food. The menu is still temporary but worth adding to the local lunch rotation. It will be great to watch this place improve. read more

You know what? I'm a big fan of Shopper's. It's spacious, clean, their food is pretty damn good (being "bar" food), and their service has never made me complain. Which is... saying a lot. :) Their burgers are huge and meaty - and I LOVE their new fries - it's a cross of a potato chip and french fries - perfectly crispy, and heaven in a bite once dunked into an appropriate amount of ketchup. BF and I usually get an order of their wings - we agree that it's pretty much one of the best places to get wings in the Waltham area! Get it just regular buffalo style - it's not too spicy (even though I looooooove spicy), with a touch of honey sweetness, and the wings are meaty and not covered in breading. It's just... perfectly good. The large order is sufficient to fill us both up, so we tend to get the small order and end the meal with burgers. :) $2 Drafts, and Big Buck Hunter, Safari style in the corner. Huge plasma screens, and a mixed crowd of college kids, people after work, and neighborhood regulars. Always fun to people watch while cramming wings down your gullet! read more

Shopper's Café is a pub. It stands apart for it's excellent food for the price. In fact, what's on offer is simply a pub menu so, that implies cheap burgers, soups, fish and chips, salads, roll-ups and the like, however, pub food doesn't necessarily mean the cook knows what he's doing. The cook working at lunch time I can recommend without hesitation. Also, the service is attentive, chatty, and with no air of self-importance. The ambiance as "spacious pub" with twenty or so plasma screens displaying sports, CNN, and Keno. The bar is huge and comfortable enough to eat at. Waltham is well served with ethnic restaurants but, decent American old school fare is thin on the ground. I can recommend this one with certainty if you need your meal to be cheap. If you want fancy, go to Tempo. read more

Not worth the trip. One of the few places on Moody St which features a younger clientele, mostly college students, but the wait for service is rediculous. I literally spent 50 minutes at the bar trying to get the bartender's attention whilst my friend was almost sexually molested by some old creeper that walked in and thought it was fun to go and grab girls' butts. They have a good selection of food at decent prices though even though you can find better quality anywhere else on Moody St and they have a decent selection of booze too, I particularly liked them because once (after trying to get service at the bar for 15 minutes) the bartender was willing to make a snakebite (lager and cider mixed with a little cordial on top, traditional English pub drink) and charged us very cheap for it so they get a star for that. Aside from that, this place is packed, slow service and nothing to write home about. read more

I had the worst fish and chips that I have ever had, ordered takeout and could smell fishy smell in the car on the way home. Fish was overcooked and inedible. read more

I love shoppers. We come every Sunday for football. They label all the tv's so you know where to sit. The food is better than you would expect at a local bar. There chili cheese fries are amazing, they really know how to make a good chicken sandwich and they have fantastic onion rings. The drinks are reasonable too. They have free wifi. Really they have it all. If you are on Moody street and you want to avoid food poisioning or being annoyed by college kids go to shoppers it is the best place on Moody Street. read more

I love Shopper's and I don't care who knows. I can see how it might be off-putting to young, pretentious, oh-so-Cosmopolitan ""Foodies"" who think ordinary Waltham sports-bars like "Shoh-pah's" care one actual iota about what kind of disgruntled Yelp review they might dare compose on their iPad Air 2 when they get back to their chic Somerville apartment, but to me, Shopper's is really just a welcoming, laid-back place to drink Miller Light and watch the game. Ok, ready--there are townies here. If you don't like townies, or you think that they are objectionable people, there are plenty of bars on Moody Street (to say nothing of Main Street) which regularly contain a more upper-echelon clientele so you don't have to sully your pure, beautiful hands sitting near this filth. As for the food, they have Pizza, and it's good. I'm not joking. I mean, it's not quite as delicious as Franco's (which is across the street), but it beats Angelo's and New York Deli, and the bartenders here are friendly and cool, so what's your problem? They have plenty of TVs, and lots of room to roam around during karaoke night. All I'm saying is, if you WANT upscale dining or a hipper-than-thou atmosphere, then go down the street to Red Bird or Tempo so you can spend way too much money for sub-par food and rude service. If you just want to relax with a beer after work and listen to some local Walthamians complain about their lives while you unwind, then just go here and stop complaining. read more

Since we just bought a condo in the area, we were psyched to find Shopper's. The food was good, the beers were reasonably priced, it's large, there's lots of seating and you can pretty much see the game from anywhere. Within minutes we had decided that this would be our place for the football season. It's only June, but we're already excited to have a great place to go within walking distance. The boy loved the steak tips, I enjoyed the grilled chicken sandwich with honey mustard, and overall we were very happy. Also, the service was wonderful. The waiter was friendly, remembered our names and really enhanced the experience. He was lovely. I had but one gripe!!! One big enough for me to remove a star!!! The nachos? They are not nachos. They are a bowl of chips and a bowl of stuff. At best, they are deconstructed nachos. At worst, it's just lazy. Really guys. Step it up. Put the stuff ON the nachos, serve it on a big plate (add some more cheese, but that's getting nit-picky) and call it a day. Don't serve me a bowl of chips that I then have to stick into the huge pile of mush. TASTY mush, great meat, great beans, good veggies, but mush nonetheless. It's difficult and slightly gross to share with a group and I don't like it. Yes. The "nachos" bothered me that much. Seriously. Final word: We're going back, probably a lot, but I really want to see some improvement on the nachos front. It's not a big jump from here to 5 stars!!! read more

The only reason Shopper's got 2 stars instead of 1 is because of their beer selection. They do have a food, but it is pretty bad. Its edible, but you are better off walking down the street to any of the other places on moody and getting some food. The atmosphere of the bar is pretty crappy too. The bar is usually filled with typical Waltham townies. I have been there twice on a Saturday night, and the place was pretty much empty. Won't go back! read more

I'd probably give Shopper's a 3 1/2 if I could, but because of their fantastic pizza, I've bumped it up to a 4. The pizza really is the star of the menu -- maybe the best pizza in Waltham, as far as I'm concerned. Very crispy crust, good quality cheese and toppings. One pizza is perfect for 2 people and they are really cheap! I think the rest of the food is just fairly generic bar food. The service is always super friendly and efficient. They used to have better beer specials (the past few times I've been, it's been $2 Coors where it used to be $3 better beer.) And there are lots of big TVs for watching sports. But really, just go get the pizza and you'll be happy. read more

This is one of my favorite sports bars period. First off the atmosphere is inviting and friendly for lunch, dinner or a game. Secondly for "bar food" this place has a leg up on typical sports bars, the quality just seems to have more pride than other larger places. I recommend the steak tips for sure, very reasonably priced. One of the reasons I usually watch games at home is because my biggest pet peeves while watching at a bar is missing any play because I can't see or hear but at Shopper's that's not possible, they have TVs everywhere and put up the sound loud enough so you're involved. I usually frequent Shopper's for the UFC fights because there's something about being able to see all the fights and the sound jacked up that's just a good night out. Overall the best bang for your buck for a local sports bar in that area. Beer of choice: Black and Blue (Guinness and Sea dog blueberry) read more

Our mozzarella wedges had no cheese in them and were just empty shells. The worst mozzarella wedges I have ever had. They were also kind of burnt. The pizza was ok. I think there is too much sauce on the pizza and it is very sweet for tomato sauce. read more

If you went to Waltham High or are currently in a motorcycle gang. This is the bar for you!!!! WEIRD mix of people. Alot of townies and some bikers, who all come in for the cheap beer. The $2 tallboys are tailor made to make you forgot you have 2 strikes. Good luck! read more

I really enjoy going to Shopper's to eat and/or drink. They have some of the best chili around, decent app's and salads too. The beer is always cold, pretty good mixed crowd with all sorts of people; the 20 something crowd, blue-collar workers and bikers too. My friend and I usually throw our laundry in across the street and come over here for a few $2 drafts in between the wash and dry, Shopper's makes laundry fun! read more

Great food great service . I had the Steak Monti it was awesome. Chilli cheese fries wow and great price .. read more

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I met friends here for a quick lunch. I live locally. This was the first meal in 10 years that I tried and declined. 10 years ago I was served uncooked eggs in Maine. On this lucky day I was served a Reuben which wouldn't pass as grade school lunch fare. White processed fake bread bun straight out of the wonderbread bag, (untoasted) hard, fatty, greasy meat that tasted like cooked knuckles. Absolutely detestable and with no discernible Reuben characteristics. This place isn't a cafe and Moody St isn't a place for shoppers so it's all very confusing. The food tastes better if you mumble about the yuppification of Waltham while chewing. read more

I have been to Shoppers a few times, always with big groups after work. This place is perfect for groups, lots of tables, nice big bar area, and a menu with something on it for everyone! I think this place a good venue to watch sporting events, they TVs at all locations, not matter where you are seated. I have had many of their appetizers and have also had their pizza. I have been happy with everything I have been served. The service is good, especially with larger parties - I have been impressed with how good they were with all of us!! This is a reasonably priced place too - for both drinks and food. read more

This is one of my favorite restaurants,the food is amazing,the waiters are friendly, there is no reason to complain! Once they were very busy and service was slower, but in general it's a fabulous eating joint! read more

Nice place to watch a game(s). $30 Table taps of BL are nice (180 oz?). Food was nothing special. But the waitress was perky and that kept us entertained during commercial breaks. read more

Exceptional neighborhood bar. Great experience. Ample tvs to watch the game on the tele. read more

Shopper's Cafe - Not your father's root beer? - American Near Me - Waltham, Massachusetts

I have been there several times and the service has always been pretty slow, even when the place is mostly empty. The reason I will never go back there is the last time I was there the owner was behind the bar making very insulting racist comments. He was doing it very loudly and I was there with my Hispanic boyfriend. I don't know if he is normally that loud and racist but it seemed like he was doing it intentionally to try to get us to leave, especially since we sat there for over 5 mins without a server coming to give us menus. It was really uncomfortable so we ended up leaving and went somewhere else for lunch. As far as the food goes it's average bar food. The drink selection is a bit more limited than other bars in the area. read more

This place is super close to me and therefore I like it a lot. But also: -great friendly staff. willing to do things like move your tab from the bar to the dinner table and make suggestions for food and drinks -good food. great selection of food, a lot of options. I love their quesadillas. -they have karaoke -really mixed crowd of locals and students but not sketchy read more

Grew-up in neighboring Watertown and never knew about this place. Saw an online coupon a few weeks back and bought a couple, as I'm always in the WAT/WAL area to meet a buddy for beers & wings. We were pleasantly surprised w/ Shopper's Cafe. Big, bright & roomy. Lots of TV for games. Pretty good beer selection (Long Trail IPA and Double-Bag Ale on draft!), pretty extensive menu. Our wonderful waitress (Alicia) was everything a good waitress should be. We opted for the large order of bone-in wings and the "Shopper's Fries", which were thin-sliced wafers. The fries were so-so. Maybe a bit soggy and not crispy enough. The wings were a very generous portion that were nice & crispy w/ a good amount of spice to them. Beers were moderately priced and ice-cold. We'll be back and perhaps I can bump-up my rating another star. read more

I seriously stared at the computer screen for a good five minutes while deciding whether this was 3 or 4 stars...I'm going for 3 at the moment, with a very hopeful upside bias. First, the food and drink here are absolutely on point. The burgers (Oasis is my personal favorite) and steak tips are great from my personal experience, and I've never had a fellow diner complain about their meal here. Two for one burger deal is killer and totally a reason to go here for a lunch with co-workers as I've done numerous times. The reason I give only 3 stars is the service. Without fail, the servers are pleasant and knowledgeable, but the pace of service is often inexplicably slow. I've been either the only party or one of two parties in the place for an early lunch, and it's still taken me an hour and ten minutes to get in and out of there on average...and I'm by no means a slow eater. Summary - figure out the service piece, and you got a great little location. For now, as long as your boss will let you slide on getting back a few minutes late (or you're unemployed and don't have that problem), definitely worth a stop in. read more

I'll tell ya whaaaaaaaat........... Shopper's is solid for its location in Waltham. That area around it is a bit sketchy and a local hangout for some unsavory people. Once you get past the motorcycle thugs and butt-smokers out front its a pleasant surprise inside. Its a pretty big size, tons of tvs, clean, decent bathrooms, $2 drafts, plenty of seating. I haven't had the food there yet but will be back to try some. I have found it to be more fun for the happy hour, after work time. Later in the night its hard to get near the bar to order drinks just due to the layout of the place. There is a masthead presence there so watch out whose toes you step on. We & the boys went there one Sat night a little while back during the Celts playoff and a Sox game was on too. Plenty of TVs on and a good night scene but the other half of the bar had country line dancing.........WTF. Drunken fun youth on one side of the bar and country-square-dancing-steppin folks on the other. It was very strange. Once that was done there was karaoke BUT it was country songs only. sigh....... read more

I want to update my original review. I still think they need to address the noise level but we went there for lunch yesterday and it was great. It was quiet and the food was good.....not great but more than acceptable. Two for one burgers??? You can't beat that deal unless you eat off the dollar menu at your favorite fast food restaurant. Here is what we ordered. 2 burgers, one with a side salad one with fries, 1 coke, 1 $2 beer special, and 2 coffees. All that was under $16 The waitress/hostess/bartender was very friendly and the service was excellent....especially considering she was doing everything but cook the food. 3 1/2 stars is my rating for now. read more

This is a hidden Gem, delicious food experience on two occasions, good service, great prices, family friendly! An excellent value. Note: pub like atmoshpere, can be a bit noisy depending on the time and the crowd. But the food tastes as good or better than home-made! huge thumbs up! read more

This is one of my lunch standbys near my work in Waltham. The environment seems like a dive bar at first but once you look around you notice how clean and well-kept everything is. The bathrooms are actually really nice surprisingly. The beer selection is above average, and it's a great place to kill some time and watch TV or play Keno. The pizza there is pretty good, I like to get a white pizza with broccoli. Some of the other fare such as fish and chips can taste a pretty generic so I generally stick with the pizzas. Pro-tip: get the large sicilian style pizza. It's not much more and you can take the leftovers home for later. read more

The steak tips are a specialty at Shopper's Cafe and they do not disappoint. Tender, tasty, cooked to the degree asked, and no burns. Really among the best I've had. Other fare I've tried is good. Downsides: hard, uncomfortable benches, even in the booths, that, in our case, were worse for being too far from the table - a bit weird and they should fix that. Air conditioning blasting down from the ceiling. We went to eat deliberately on a late weekday afternoon when we knew there wouldn't be a crowd, because other times I've set foot in there on weekend or holiday-time evening, it's been packed and I'm not sure how you could get any service. Good food, though. Since I live nearby, I would go frequently in the evenings if they had live music consistently, and good bands, but that appears not to be a priority for them. read more

Nice solid place I always leave having a good time Good bar food read more

Used to have decent food, ordered a cup of soup to start which had clearly gone by. The manager came by to give us a hard time for sending it back, one spoonful missing and it was not taken off the bill. Will NEVER eat here again. read more

Shopper's is the best spot to be when in Waltham. I live down the street and although there are other places to go, I wouldn't want to be any other place but there. I watch all my Red Sox and Bruins games there without fail. The food there is awesome and they have great beers on tap. I am getting to know all the waitresses and have a great time there when the twins are bartending. I've been going there for about 8 or so months and those guys and gals have given me a ton of respect. I have return that favor by giving them big, big tips. Keep up the great work Shopper's Cafe. read more

First time, out-of-towner and I enjoyed my first experience here. The exterior and interior wasn't anything special and I had a hard time finding figuring out the entrance to the place. Good brews selection, tried the asian style + salt/pepper wings as well as a burger. All were good. Combine that with attentive friendly service and it made for a good first visit. read more

I went to this place on a Friday late afternoon. It was starting to get busy, but nothing insane. I've seen places waaaay more packed than this place was was. My first paragraph is the preface to my 1 star rating. You seat yourself, which to me, has more cons than pros. We got a great booth, but we were uncertain as to who was going to serve us. A waitress came and took our drinks order. 5 minutes later another waitress came asking to take our order. We told her we had already ordered, but she proceeded to tell us that we had been "passed on" to her. And of course, we had to repeat our order because the other waitress didn't bother to give her our order... or maybe the new one didn't bother to ask.... who knows. We got our drinks relatively quick, and I wasn't ready to order so I asked for an extra minute. We waited 20 minutes before our waitress finally got back to take our order. Though, I give ourselves the credit, because the only reason she came back is because we were waiving at her like crazy. We ordered a coke, two cannonball burgers, one chicken parm sandwhich and one bruiser burger. My cannonball burger was delicious. My onion rings sucked BIG TIME. They tasted like NOTHING. I also asked for a side of honey mustard and it was basically brown mustard. We got NO NAPKINS or silverware. And 15 minutes into our meal my coke still wasn't on the table... we started our second round of waiving at our waitress and 10 minutes after that, I asked for my coke and napkins. We asked for the bill and on the itemized receipt. We were paying with two cards and NOT splitting it. I wrote the name on the card and the amount to charge on the back of the receipt, which was facing up for the waitress convenience. Nope. Our waitress decided that she wanted to split our check and completely disregarded our indications... I know this is just a pub, but that doesn't mean the service has to suck! read more

Super place to hang! Food is GREAT! Quality and taste! Love it! Decor is super, love the colors!! Staff is super nice and friendly, always remembers your name and drink choice. Gets crowded at night with younger crowd. Lunch is really good, quickly served. I highly recommend Shoppers as a place to hang, relax and have a bite to eat and a few drinks with friends! If you dont have any friends, not to worry, you can make a bunch there!! read more

We love Shoppers! What a hidden little gem on Moody St in Waltham. You wouldn't even know it's a bar. Lots of room and he food is reasonably price, the bartenders are great. Lots of TVs to watch sports on, too! read more

WILL NEVER GO BACK!! I've ate here several times over the years with no real problem. Today,however was horrible. I ordered both specials(bowl of clam chowder and 8oz sirloin with roasted potato). First the clam chowder was barely warm, I waited for the waitress/bartender to return which wasn't till my steak was done. She took it away and said"sorry hope the steaks better". Well you know how this goes my steak which I asked for medium was in fact well done! At this point I told the waitress I was fed up and was leaving. She said eat the potatoes I know you must be. I told her I'd grab a beef stew to go cause I was in fact starving. The whole time I was neither rude or asking for handouts. But to my surprise the girl comes back and says my managers only gonna charge you for the potatoes and beef stew $13. I paid and left. Let me say one thing I've never been so offended. You charge me for your side of roasted potatoes ! Dude I'm starving waiting for your crap food! No wonder this place is goin under. If you wanna get drunk and BS all night sure stop in, but don't waste your $$ or time here. P.S. the beef stew was just as bad read more