The reason to go to the Hourly is great seafood. It's not an especially fancy place. The service is nice, but nothing to brag about. If you sit at the counter, you get to watch professionals shuck oysters. Not all that interesting, but much less noisy than sitting at a bar and hearing all the noise attendant on making cocktails. But you go to a restaurant to eat. Everything we ate was delicious. The mussels appetizer was perhaps the best mussels I have ever had. I love scallops. I order them frequently in restaurants. The scallops at Hourly were as good as any I can remember. I usually don't order dessert in restaurants. The desserts are usually over priced, magnificent to look at, but disappointing when eaten. For some reason, we ordered Basque Cheesecake at Hourly. It was delicious. A lovely end to a great meal
Lisa
Decided to try Hourly Oyster House for the first time for my partners birthday celebration dinner and thought it was very good. The Oysters were probably the best I've had...very flavorful and fresh. We both ordered the scallop and risotto dinner which was wonderful and a good size portion. Very nice ambience - busy without being loud, and the service was prompt and friendly. Definitely would recommend.
Mary
We love the oysters at Hourly! There are always new ones to taste and they are so fresh and plump. We tried 3 new ones and one old favorite. I think the best oysters in Cambridge. We tend to eat the raw seafood the most -- tuna tartar, hamachi curd are also excellent. Beyond that, we've had mixed results. I usually love their grilled octopus with papatas bravas with chimmichuri, but last night the octopus was over cooked and tough. I could barely eat it. Service is always speedy and cordial, so that part is always consistent.
William J
Wonderful service and accommodation for our gluten free needs. She showed care and consideration and double checked with the chef to ensure no contamination. Oysters were excellent as werel our meals around the table. Love this spot whenever we're in Harvard Square.
Todd
Great spot for seafood and drinks. Excellent selection of oysters. Popular spot for Harvard Square. Only nitpick was the kitchen really skimped on the chorizo in the roasted brussel sprouts plate. Oh well.
Karly Singletary
I was exploring around Harvard square and decided to stop by The Hourly Oyster House for dinner. I am a fan of checking Google reviews for recommendations on specific dishes and was hoping I would see some rave reviews for the lobster roll. Unfortunately I was mistaken.... The reviews for the roll were not...in fact rave. But I was already sitting at the bar sipping a cocktail so I felt obligated to try something off the menu. I wanted to try the lobster mac and cheese so I ordered it along with a second cocktail. The consensus.... The cocktails are fabulous and I would highly recommend them. The lobster mac and cheese is more like eating the dry crumbs out of the bottom of a sleeve of Ritz crackers with the occasional surprise of a chunk of lobster and noodles. Overall the servers were really kind and accommodating and the drinks and ambience were wonderful. Definitely stop by for cocktails. If food is your goal.... There's probably a dozen other places close by that could offer something better and less costly.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 5
Heather Owen
It’s all about the oysters! There are so many options from up and down the Coast. We got hamachi tuna and their version includes crunchy radishes with salty caviar and a little slice of blood orange. It’s a lovely accompaniment and my favorite iteration of this trend. I’d be curious to try it with a pink grapefruit section. Service was flawless.
We were at a shared tabletop and that would be fine except the couple beside us kept fidgeting and shaking the table which was odd. I don’t think it would ever happen again but it was a bit distracting.
Altogether we both thought it was a great value for the price as well.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Oysters on the Half Shell, Tuna
Lanye Huang
Recommend oyster, lobster roll, octopus
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Lobster Roll, Oysters on the Half Shell, Seared Scallops
Lizandra Santos (Luna)
Delicious and hear atmosphere
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Katherine Von Kohorn
Great oysters and everything else was equally excellent!
Oysters made me sick. Like really sick. They were super salty. Not ocean water salty. Like salt was added to mask taste.
Salads were meh. Beers only chilled not cold.
Great vibe. Nice servers.
I would go for beers and fries, but would not recommend eating there.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 2
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Fries
Lin傻標
The oysters here are a must! They are really fresh and as someone who usually has stomach issues after eating seafood I was perfectly fine and happy after the whole oyster feast! We had 8 different sources of oysters and not only do they tell you their locations, lined them up form sweet to savory, they also have a little card to tell you what flavors and textures to expect. It was SO FUN and interesting!
Definitely a perfect date spot if you sit at their booth but they also have a bar and the vibes are great for socializing.
We got their salad and hush puppies that were both delicious, their butter was sweet and a little bit spicy which really made us hungrier 😅
We really loved this cod dish that was new, the bucatini was also delicious and filling but the cod was just such a fresh and clean flavor we wish we got another.
For desserts we had the basque cheesecake which was definitely a guilty pleasure, but in this cold weather that hit apple crumble really hit the spot!
10/10 would come back to try more entrees and to explore more oysters!
Also their staff were super helpful, cleared our plates in time and checked in as needed so we got to enjoy our girls night out!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Oysters on the Half Shell, Seafood
Amanda Wood
Food is mediocre at best. Fish is not fresh despite what you’d expect. Service is slow. Left there without my lululemon garment and they say there is “nothing in the lost and found” and “you’re accusing my servers of stealing.” Yes, I am. I know how little you pay them. Where did my stuff go? I had to bring the police in. Hold your purse tight to your chest if you eat here. They have an appetite for Lululemon ;)
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Sasha Swan
Oh wow these oysters are soo delicious. Quick service and cute ambiance
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Recommended dishes: Clam Chowder
Joanna Ma
Stopped in for lunch (in June but forgot to post a review) and was pleasantly greeted with such good food and an array of oysters and other seafood dishes (see photos).
Our star of the show was definitely all of the different types of oysters and the mussels Provençal!
The restaurant is in such a good location and a great place to stop for lunch if you’re wandering around Cambridge. Highly recommend!
The reason to go to the Hourly is great seafood. It's not an especially fancy place. The service is nice, but nothing to brag about. If you sit at the counter, you get to watch professionals shuck oysters. Not all that interesting, but much less noisy than sitting at a bar and hearing all the noise attendant on making cocktails. But you go to a restaurant to eat. Everything we ate was delicious. The mussels appetizer was perhaps the best mussels I have ever had. I love scallops. I order them frequently in restaurants. The scallops at Hourly were as good as any I can remember. I usually don't order dessert in restaurants. The desserts are usually over priced, magnificent to look at, but disappointing when eaten. For some reason, we ordered Basque Cheesecake at Hourly. It was delicious. A lovely end to a great meal
Decided to try Hourly Oyster House for the first time for my partners birthday celebration dinner and thought it was very good. The Oysters were probably the best I've had...very flavorful and fresh. We both ordered the scallop and risotto dinner which was wonderful and a good size portion. Very nice ambience - busy without being loud, and the service was prompt and friendly. Definitely would recommend.
We love the oysters at Hourly! There are always new ones to taste and they are so fresh and plump. We tried 3 new ones and one old favorite. I think the best oysters in Cambridge. We tend to eat the raw seafood the most -- tuna tartar, hamachi curd are also excellent. Beyond that, we've had mixed results. I usually love their grilled octopus with papatas bravas with chimmichuri, but last night the octopus was over cooked and tough. I could barely eat it. Service is always speedy and cordial, so that part is always consistent.
Wonderful service and accommodation for our gluten free needs. She showed care and consideration and double checked with the chef to ensure no contamination. Oysters were excellent as werel our meals around the table. Love this spot whenever we're in Harvard Square.
Great spot for seafood and drinks. Excellent selection of oysters. Popular spot for Harvard Square. Only nitpick was the kitchen really skimped on the chorizo in the roasted brussel sprouts plate. Oh well.
I was exploring around Harvard square and decided to stop by The Hourly Oyster House for dinner. I am a fan of checking Google reviews for recommendations on specific dishes and was hoping I would see some rave reviews for the lobster roll. Unfortunately I was mistaken.... The reviews for the roll were not...in fact rave. But I was already sitting at the bar sipping a cocktail so I felt obligated to try something off the menu. I wanted to try the lobster mac and cheese so I ordered it along with a second cocktail. The consensus.... The cocktails are fabulous and I would highly recommend them. The lobster mac and cheese is more like eating the dry crumbs out of the bottom of a sleeve of Ritz crackers with the occasional surprise of a chunk of lobster and noodles. Overall
the servers were really kind and accommodating and the drinks and ambience were wonderful. Definitely stop by for cocktails. If food is your goal.... There's probably a dozen other places close by that could offer something better and less costly.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 5
It’s all about the oysters! There are so many options from up and down the Coast. We got hamachi tuna and their version includes crunchy radishes with salty caviar and a little slice of blood orange. It’s a lovely accompaniment and my favorite iteration of this trend. I’d be curious to try it with a pink grapefruit section. Service was flawless.
We were at a shared tabletop and that would be fine except the couple beside us kept fidgeting and shaking the table which was odd. I don’t think it would ever happen again but it was a bit distracting.
Altogether we both thought it was a great value for the price as well.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Oysters on the Half Shell, Tuna
Recommend oyster, lobster roll, octopus
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Lobster Roll, Oysters on the Half Shell, Seared Scallops
Delicious and hear atmosphere
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Great oysters and everything else was equally excellent!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Oysters made me sick. Like really sick. They were super salty. Not ocean water salty. Like salt was added to mask taste.
Salads were meh. Beers only chilled not cold.
Great vibe. Nice servers.
I would go for beers and fries, but would not recommend eating there.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 2
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Fries
The oysters here are a must! They are really fresh and as someone who usually has stomach issues after eating seafood I was perfectly fine and happy after the whole oyster feast! We had 8 different sources of oysters and not only do they tell you their locations, lined them up form sweet to savory, they also have a little card to tell you what flavors and textures to expect. It was SO FUN and interesting!
Definitely a perfect date spot if you sit at their booth but they also have a bar and the vibes are great for socializing.
We got their salad and hush puppies that were both delicious, their butter was sweet and a little bit spicy which really made us hungrier 😅
We really loved this cod dish that was new, the bucatini was also delicious and filling but the cod was just such a fresh and clean flavor we wish we got another.
For desserts we had the basque cheesecake which was definitely a guilty pleasure, but in this cold weather that hit apple crumble really hit the spot!
10/10 would come back to try more entrees and to explore more oysters!
Also their staff were super helpful, cleared our plates in time and checked in as needed so we got to enjoy our girls night out!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Oysters on the Half Shell, Seafood
Food is mediocre at best. Fish is not fresh despite what you’d expect. Service is slow. Left there without my lululemon garment and they say there is “nothing in the lost and found” and “you’re accusing my servers of stealing.” Yes, I am. I know how little you pay them. Where did my stuff go? I had to bring the police in. Hold your purse tight to your chest if you eat here. They have an appetite for Lululemon ;)
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Oh wow these oysters are soo delicious. Quick service and cute ambiance
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Recommended dishes: Clam Chowder
Stopped in for lunch (in June but forgot to post a review) and was pleasantly greeted with such good food and an array of oysters and other seafood dishes (see photos).
Our star of the show was definitely all of the different types of oysters and the mussels Provençal!
The restaurant is in such a good location and a great place to stop for lunch if you’re wandering around Cambridge. Highly recommend!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Lobster Roll, Seafood
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