A&B Kitchen • BAR — Restaurant in Boston

I recently had an exceptional dining experience at AB in Boston, MA. From the moment reserved online and called ahead, Nick, the manager, assured us of a great evening despite us running close to the cut-off time and generally having a bad night - needing a reset. Unfortunately, our go-to psychological reset restaurant in Allston, Article 24, closed and we are in search on other, like, places with a similar feel. This was our second or third visit, and we were delighted to have chosen this place again and it remains a high contender for an A24 replacement in our hearts!

Our server, Madi (sp), was outstanding. She remembered our drink order from the last time – an extra dirty martini with a green tint, cloudy, with olive bits, and three olives – perfectly crafted, probably by Eric, who I believe makes one of the best martinis in Boston based on my previous visits. The service was stellar, with Madi and Nick ensuring we were well taken care of throughout our visit.

I saw that there was a new menu, but we were simple and got the steak tips, and salmon. While the food quality and presentation could use some improvement, the taste and portions were on point. The proportions of the plates and glasses seemed off, which is something I study for a living and would be happy to consult on. The food didn't quite match the industrial aesthetic of the restaurant, which might impact customer perceptions and reviews. I am a professional in these kind of utilizations and I still struggle to "understand" a restaurant when this happens, luckily the service and professionalism were so good I almost cant stomach leaving 4 stars for the oddity of size/weight of a plate but worth bringing up because if I noticed it there are surely customers that are not noticing it and just responding negatively in general. This can look like impatience, lack of impression on presentation, etc.

The atmosphere was lively, with a current playlist that kept everyone in high spirits with all employees, which did seem a bit thin, attending to customers, manning the door, and periodically cleaning the restaurant. I did find it odd that everyone had a smile on their face, pretty rare in boston. I noticed that Nick's leadership and willingness to contribute to the floor operation galvanized people and seemed to motivate them and this makes for happy customers that tip more.. Finally, special shoutout again to Nick Madi and Eric (phew I needed that drink to be right lol) for his dedication to making sure we had a great time despite the crappy direction it was heading, even recommending a delicious milkshake for the ride home – a perfect end to our evening.

Overall, AB Kitchen and Bar offers a great experience with top-notch service. With a few tweaks in food presentation and aesthetic alignment, it could easily become a five-star (on google) destination; this location has among the lowest reviews in all of Causeway and the negative reviews have not been in line with my experiences, this tells me this is something unsettling people about the interior of the restaurant. Utensil size, glass height, and restaurant temperature should be examined for any quick fixes to the "mood". I look forward to my next visit and would be happy to provide some consulting to help this fantastic place reach its full potential.

Thank you, Nick, Madi, and Eric (I think), for making our night memorable! Looking forward to coming back later in the summer. Ill have to add some images later, I believe...

This gets two stars instead of one because the service was decent and they at least tried to fix the horrible food. Three of us found A&B by looking for interesting brunch menus online. We had: a breakfast sandwich, crab cake benedict, and "pastrami" hash. Let's start with the positive: the bacon on the breakfast sandwich was delicious. For the rest of the food...the croissant for the sandwich was the smallest I've ever seen and tasted like it came form a convenience store. The eggs on all three dishes were rubbery and overcooked. The waiter failed to understand that a request for an over-easy egg entailed a runny yolk. When we tried to ask them to be re-made (b/c they were all rock hard yolks and, as mentioned, plastic-like), he tried to tell us we actually wanted a sunny side up. We just told him that was fine as at that point, the clear egg white on a sunny side (versus no clear egg white on an over-easy) was better to eat than a plastic egg. The "homemade pastrami", we deduced, was some sort of dark brown chunks of beef, the most interesting of pastrami categorizations any of us could fathom. The crab cakes were what seemed to be deep fried and consisted of, possibly, the crab they would use in a sushi roll..maybe..but they tasted of nothing so one doesn't know. All of the potatoes in the dishes were soggy and bland. When they did go back and put the hollandaise on the crab cake dish, it didn't make much difference: runny and semi-tasteless. Overall, two of us were far too hungry to not eat, so we ate. However, if there had been an option to get something quick anywhere else nearby, we would have. Nothing was worth the event. While the food was the worst breakfast we can remember, our waiter was friendly and attentive enough. We figured they didn't comp anything because they probably have half of the dishes they make for breakfast coming back and then they'd go out of business. Save yourself the money and go to a diner for half the price and way better food (at any...

I was a part of a party of 6. We all ordered some mixed drinks, beers, and apps to start. The drinks were great and the apps came out quickly. We ordered our meals, and maybe 15 min later they started coming out. Everyone at the table was served except for me. I asked the waitress if mine was coming and she apologized, even though it wasn't her fault, and went to the kitchen. She came back and said she wasn't sure what had happened, but my meal wasn't there and they were re-making it right away. Mistakes happen, I wasn't concerned and appreciated the honestly. About 10 minutes later my meal came out. I cut into the food, took a bite, and it was stone cold. It wasn't even warm. I'm convinced these ribs were pre-cooked and they attempted to heat them up as quickly as possible since the meat was cooked, but just cold. Eventually the manager came over and apologized, saying the kitchen rushed the food out because my first meal was lost. I appreciate the effort, however the food was not edible and would've waited a few more minutes for hot food. To the manager and waitress's credit, they were very apologetic, took the food and my drinks off of our bill, and offered to get me anything I wanted from the kitchen. At this point I was too aggravated to eat, and my whole party was already done with their meal. Again, I appreciate the service and offer for another meal, but it was far too late and I couldn't sit there and start to eat a new dish with 5 other people who already finished. The quality of the food did not come close to matching the price...