My wife and I visited the New American Cafe after seeing the Homer exhibit this past week at the museum and had a most delightful lunch. We shared the pork belly which was perfect, she had the shaved Brussels and kale salad with chicken and raved over it, and I had the salmon with grains and radicchio slaw which was delicious. I love to revisit meals like this and am so sorry I did not think to snap a photo of the menu since the one on line is only a sample. But great work, chef!
Ethan
Great food, bad service.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 2
F3207DQbarbarad
I wrote a bad review in July 2021. And here we go again 4 years later! I must be really dumb because I ordered salad again. And again I got a few leaves of arugula, three very thin pieces of squash, one milligram of feta and basically no dressing. Bread I had to order extra, as always. The invisible salad was $19 dollars and I did not see the charge for the bread because my husband paid the bill. The waitress seemed to be having a bad day and called my "honey" in a very annoyed and condescending tone, in spite of the fact that I could probably be her mother or even grandmother. As I said before, it is easy to take advantage of a captive audience, but it does not help one's reputation. But then who cares about reputation, when people are inside and don't feel like leaving the premises to eat. Oh, and another thing. I had to fish out tiny little blue fragments of something from my salad. No idea what they were but at that point I was already so miserable that I had even lost the desire to complain!
Alexander Rosen
Really good food. Kind of annoying to need to pay $8 extra to share a main. Short rib kind of small too
Ivna Aragao
Food was great and the atmosphere is beautiful. Only issue I had the day I went was the rap artist that were playing didn't quite make the vibe interesting. Almost like the music was not going well with the food. This is not on the restaurant at all, but something to watch out for. The service was ok.
mgovindan2019
Almost inedible, intensely creamy and odd tasting food options. I do not recommend the toast with ricotta, the buffalo cauliflower, the potato gnocchi, or the veg tart. Tastes were all horribly off, seasoned badly (wasabi in the ricotta? Velveeta cheese in the cauliflower?) and the portion sizes are very small. I'm not a picky eater, either. It was bizarre how awful the food was. Plus, the bill comes out to about $40-45 per person. Really not worth it. Gave this place 2 stars because the wait staff are super kind and attentive.
Judy J
Our family visited the museum and decided to find a place to rest and have lunch afterward. New American Cafe was the only real option available inside, since the café downstairs only offered a small selection of quick bites. So, we headed upstairs to try this restaurant.
The space was a bit disappointing — there was barely any decoration, and the atmosphere felt plain and uninspired. However, the food was decent. Nothing exceptional, but the portions were fair and the flavors were generally okay. Some dishes were nicely presented and tasted fine for a quick museum lunch.
Service was relatively fast, which was a plus. That said, the staff didn’t seem particularly friendly or welcoming. They did their job, but there was a noticeable lack of warmth or enthusiasm.
Overall, it’s a convenient spot if you’re looking to grab a bite after exploring the museum, but don’t expect anything special in terms of ambiance or customer service. I would rate the food 3.5 stars, the service 3 stars, and the location 4 stars. It’s fine for a quick break, but not somewhere I’d go out of my way to revisit
705harsham
If you visit Museum of fine arts, make this your lunch place. Nice staff. Enjoy the art show and break for lunch. Food items are minimal with above average prices and tastes good.
Vincent
A cool cafe. It gets very busy so get there early. Prices are higher than normal.
DeniseM
This is from an experience we had last summer. It was early in the day, well before the lunch crowd, and we decided to eat before going through the museum. Must add we've been members here for years and this is my favorite museum aside from the Louvre. The young hostess who seated us put us at a table for two right in front of the wait station where the sun was hitting me in the face. There were not more than six tables occupied and no line to get in. Since I was not comfortable, we switched to a table away from the sun that was four top. But like I said, the place was nearly empty. Next thing the hostess is there placing her fingers on the table and telling us the table is for four people, like we're too stupid to count. I said, are you telling us to move and pointed out that only a half dozen tables were occupied. She sighed and said again, the table is for four people. Nothing we said got through, it was like talking to one of the exhibits. She kept hovering, insisting a four top is for four people and since we were only two we had to move. Finally, she went away, said something to the wait staff and after we'd been there at least 10 minutes with no one even offering us water, we got up and left. I can assume she was either inexperienced or knows somebody who runs the place. I've worked in some very nice restaurants and have never, ever seen a customer refused to sit where they want unless the place was packed and there just wasn't any other room. I reached out to the person who heads up customer service for the museum and gave the details but never heard back. So although it's a beautiful museum, the mummies from the Egyptian collection will rise up in the name of Amun-ra before I set foot in that restaurant again. Any place that lets the staff get away with bullying their customers doesn't deserve my business.
Unacceptable quality of food and service. Food was overcooked and was missing items from the menu. Service response to fix the issue was slow. I didn’t finish my food.
Natalie P
Don’t be off-put by the 3.8 star rating. I can only imagine that it’s so low due to old reviews or something because the food is exceptional. We have been twice and each time the flavors were way above your average restaurant. The winter tart and coconut crispy tofu are sooo dang good!!! We really appreciate that the restaurant has some exceptional vegetarian dishes and the prices are fair. How refreshing!!!
adobe1944
This beautiful airy venue in the Boston Fine Arts Museum was perfect for taking a break while viewing the overwhelming collections. My black angus hamburger was good, not great, helped by crispy house-made French fries. My companion had better luck with a chickpea salad. The menu is limited as is often the case with museum cafes, but there's something for almost everyone.
AlisonLS
(This restaurant is on the first floor of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.) The line was daunting around 12:30 on a Friday, but it moved very quickly. The seating is in a large, airy room, essentially a glass cube - very bright and inviting. Despite many tables, it is surprisingly quiet. The menu is brief with interesting choices. Everything we had was good. The brownie/black currant mouse dessert was fantastic. Our server was pleasant and well-informed. The management were actively involved and very hands on, keeping things moving seamlessly.
haskellj2014
Sorry, but my main course of home-smoked pork ribs were tough, chewy and not served hot. The taste was fine. I cannot give them more than three points. Service was fine, the cadre as well
My wife and I visited the New American Cafe after seeing the Homer exhibit this past week at the museum and had a most delightful lunch. We shared the pork belly which was perfect, she had the shaved Brussels and kale salad with chicken and raved over it, and I had the salmon with grains and radicchio slaw which was delicious. I love to revisit meals like this and am so sorry I did not think to snap a photo of the menu since the one on line is only a sample. But great work, chef!
Great food, bad service.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 2
I wrote a bad review in July 2021. And here we go again 4 years later! I must be really dumb because I ordered salad again. And again I got a few leaves of arugula, three very thin pieces of squash, one milligram of feta and basically no dressing. Bread I had to order extra, as always. The invisible salad was $19 dollars and I did not see the charge for the bread because my husband paid the bill. The waitress seemed to be having a bad day and called my "honey" in a very annoyed and condescending tone, in spite of the fact that I could probably be her mother or even grandmother. As I said before, it is easy to take advantage of a captive audience, but it does not help one's reputation. But then who cares about reputation, when people are inside and don't feel like leaving the premises to eat. Oh, and another thing. I had to fish out tiny little blue fragments of something from my salad. No idea what they were but at that point I was already so miserable that I had even lost the desire to complain!
Really good food. Kind of annoying to need to pay $8 extra to share a main. Short rib kind of small too
Food was great and the atmosphere is beautiful. Only issue I had the day I went was the rap artist that were playing didn't quite make the vibe interesting. Almost like the music was not going well with the food. This is not on the restaurant at all, but something to watch out for. The service was ok.
Almost inedible, intensely creamy and odd tasting food options. I do not recommend the toast with ricotta, the buffalo cauliflower, the potato gnocchi, or the veg tart. Tastes were all horribly off, seasoned badly (wasabi in the ricotta? Velveeta cheese in the cauliflower?) and the portion sizes are very small. I'm not a picky eater, either. It was bizarre how awful the food was. Plus, the bill comes out to about $40-45 per person. Really not worth it. Gave this place 2 stars because the wait staff are super kind and attentive.
Our family visited the museum and decided to find a place to rest and have lunch afterward. New American Cafe was the only real option available inside, since the café downstairs only offered a small selection of quick bites. So, we headed upstairs to try this restaurant.
The space was a bit disappointing — there was barely any decoration, and the atmosphere felt plain and uninspired. However, the food was decent. Nothing exceptional, but the portions were fair and the flavors were generally okay. Some dishes were nicely presented and tasted fine for a quick museum lunch.
Service was relatively fast, which was a plus. That said, the staff didn’t seem particularly friendly or welcoming. They did their job, but there was a noticeable lack of warmth or enthusiasm.
Overall, it’s a convenient spot if you’re looking to grab a bite after exploring the museum, but don’t expect anything special in terms of ambiance or customer service. I would rate the food 3.5 stars, the service 3 stars, and the location 4 stars. It’s fine for a quick break, but not somewhere I’d go out of my way to revisit
If you visit Museum of fine arts, make this your lunch place. Nice staff. Enjoy the art show and break for lunch. Food items are minimal with above average prices and tastes good.
A cool cafe. It gets very busy so get there early. Prices are higher than normal.
This is from an experience we had last summer. It was early in the day, well before the lunch crowd, and we decided to eat before going through the museum. Must add we've been members here for years and this is my favorite museum aside from the Louvre.
The young hostess who seated us put us at a table for two right in front of the wait station where the sun was hitting me in the face. There were not more than six tables occupied and no line to get in. Since I was not comfortable, we switched to a table away from the sun that was four top. But like I said, the place was nearly empty.
Next thing the hostess is there placing her fingers on the table and telling us the table is for four people, like we're too stupid to count. I said, are you telling us to move and pointed out that only a half dozen tables were occupied. She sighed and said again, the table is for four people. Nothing we said got through, it was like talking to one of the exhibits. She kept hovering, insisting a four top is for four people and since we were only two we had to move.
Finally, she went away, said something to the wait staff and after we'd been there at least 10 minutes with no one even offering us water, we got up and left.
I can assume she was either inexperienced or knows somebody who runs the place. I've worked in some very nice restaurants and have never, ever seen a customer refused to sit where they want unless the place was packed and there just wasn't any other room.
I reached out to the person who heads up customer service for the museum and gave the details but never heard back.
So although it's a beautiful museum, the mummies from the Egyptian collection will rise up in the name of Amun-ra before I set foot in that restaurant again. Any place that lets the staff get away with bullying their customers doesn't deserve my business.
Restaurantji Recommends
Unacceptable quality of food and service. Food was overcooked and was missing items from the menu. Service response to fix the issue was slow. I didn’t finish my food.
Don’t be off-put by the 3.8 star rating. I can only imagine that it’s so low due to old reviews or something because the food is exceptional. We have been twice and each time the flavors were way above your average restaurant. The winter tart and coconut crispy tofu are sooo dang good!!! We really appreciate that the restaurant has some exceptional vegetarian dishes and the prices are fair. How refreshing!!!
This beautiful airy venue in the Boston Fine Arts Museum was perfect for taking a break while viewing the overwhelming collections. My black angus hamburger was good, not great, helped by crispy house-made French fries. My companion had better luck with a chickpea salad. The menu is limited as is often the case with museum cafes, but there's something for almost everyone.
(This restaurant is on the first floor of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.) The line was daunting around 12:30 on a Friday, but it moved very quickly. The seating is in a large, airy room, essentially a glass cube - very bright and inviting. Despite many tables, it is surprisingly quiet. The menu is brief with interesting choices. Everything we had was good. The brownie/black currant mouse dessert was fantastic. Our server was pleasant and well-informed. The management were actively involved and very hands on, keeping things moving seamlessly.
Sorry, but my main course of home-smoked pork ribs were tough, chewy and not served hot. The taste was fine. I cannot give them more than three points. Service was fine, the cadre as well
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