The Washington Square Tavern

Fantastic establishment. Great food, great drinks and even better service. Hidden gem on washington and beacon!!

Love the Tavern! Staff are awesome, polite and respectful. Food is creative and delish. Drinks are beyond!

Some of the best wines and whiskey selection. For an Irish Pub you will not find better food.

Great food! Best burger in Brookline period. Good was on point, drinks were fantastic, bartender amazing!! Loved every second and I highly recommend going. If you want good wine than this is the place to get it.

I'm done eating here. I've been two times prior, and I keep having the same experience of rude waitstaff and hosts. For our most recent visit, it wasn't busy, and the whole ordeal took over 3 hours for our party of 2 to eat. Our server was really disinterested and we were watching her socialize in the service station area as we had our menus closed and waited to order. The host, an older lady, seemed really annoyed when we showed up for our reservation as we appeared to interupt her chatting with another worker. While we waited to be seated, the host socialized with another table, looked around, and then waved us over to sit. The whole vibe of the restaurant is basically that if you aren't buddies with the server or host, they don't care about you. There are better food options in the area with much more hospitable staff.

Edited review to a 1 star due to the restaurants response. The restaurant says they fired their staff (what a joke) and there is a difference in training and socializing. What I witnessed was not training so thanks for trying to gaslight about that. This establishment would rather place blame on the patron rather than look internally at the low standards they have for their staff. As I said originally- there are much better places in the area that are worth your time and money.

On another note- other reviews also mention the poor service so perhaps this is worth looking into. But, I appreciate the reminder to post about positive experiences in the area at establishments that care about patrons! Thanks!

Best restaurant in Washington Square. The menu evolved over the years but there are always several excellent things on offer (such as duck breast and octopus as of my last visit) and they offer simpler gastropub fare as well. Service is good and the ownership has the right sensibilities.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Burger, Pan Roasted Duck Breast R I Johnnycake Blackberry Jam Cracklings Greens, Steak, Fish & Chips, Grilled Octopus

[Update: after posting, the owner of the venue got in touch to apologise for the handling of the situation. This showed great customer awareness and desire to address this lapse in their service.]

Had a bad experience here with my daughter. We ordered a burger and steak, both came out pretty cold. (They were served on cold plates, can't have helped.) Sent them back, waited 10 minutes, they returned - cold, again. Sent them back, were told they couldn't heat them up without overcooking them - so what we would like to do? Eventually they said they'd redo the meals. Waited another 25 minutes - by this point well over an hour at the table with no food. (Also nobody came by to fill our water, offer any drinks, comp a snack while we waited etc.) The food finally was delivered on plates that were hotter than the sun, with everything scorched. Maybe just me, but it sure felt like someone in the kitchen was trying to make a point! Why not just cook the food like normal, put it on a heated plate, and send it out? Not that hard, and we weren't being unreasonable. Food in the end was fine, not great.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 2

Service: 4

Best restaurant in Brookline, actually in Boston. Food is fantastic. Great cocktails and best wine list in Boston. Owner also owns a wine store and as a result has excellent wines. Best overall dining experience. I love it! My go to place.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

A cozy pub with a wide drink selection and well made food.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Scallops

I have loved the Tavern for years. New chef. New menu. Awful food.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 1

Service: 3

It was a beautiful evening . We had dinner outdoors. Hands down, the star of the show was our waitress, Sara. She was charming, professional smart. Because of her, I'm awarding 4 stars. The ambience outside was fine - we didnt go inside. I ordered the less expensive of the two steaks offered. It was a bit chewy, the duckfat frites were not particularly tasty. They had a odd flavor. My wifes vegetarian dishes were fine, not spectacular. We enjoyed eating out here.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 5

Not so great experience. Food really not well done. The steak with no flavour, undercooked and served cold. The burrata served with very little veggies. The falafel overcooked or recooked. A so so service so for me it’s and unacceptable experience for 160$.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 1

Service: 2

We had an amazing time last night at this tavern! Sam was great at creating a fun, social atmosphere that kept up there until almost closing time, the drinks were great and we will definitely come back next time we'll be in the area ?

Atmosphere: 5

Service: 5

An eatery or pub or meeting place with a great atmosphere, good beer/wine and delicious food. Without TV screens! Top this!!!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Our 17th wedding anniversary dinner was perfect!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Steak Frites