Cityside Tavern — Restaurant in Boston

This is a traditional US pub located near Boston College. The food menu is not very expansive, and lately they've lost some of the nice details that warranted the roughly $3/item upcharge (such as stamping their name on the sandwich bun using a wood burner-type device) - they've also ran out of beers on tap (tap selection is mid size, probably 4 or so beers of each type, so 86'ing multiple beers on draft without replacements is somewhat inexcusable).

I frequent this place because of its central location, and I've noticed one bouncer there consistently gets unnecessarily aggressive with guests, I'm concerned for his well-being, the danger he poses to other guests, and his lack of ethics as he consistently violates the law.

This past Saturday, that particular bouncer was on shift and decided to target me and my friend visiting from out of town. It started because the upstairs was closed and nothing was roped off, he got aggressive toward us as we went to check out the upstairs and made it to about 3 steps, again, nothing was evident the space was closed from the bottom. We apologized and took a seat at the main bar for 1 drink each, paid, and walked away.

We were casually walking and made it well up the road (Englewood Ave) and the aggressive bouncer grabbed me by the arm saying I skipped the tab. I explained to him I paid and I would need to call my bank if it's the case, well he continued to get aggressive with me and forced me to return to Cityside after a long time out on our feet when we were just looking to go home. The moment we return, the bartender told the bouncer that indeed we had paid and I was telling the truth (as was my bank).

Despite humiliating me in front of my friend, physically and verbally assaulting me, the bouncer refused to apologize to me, demonstrating his lack of maturity. He then proceeded to ask me to leave when I asked for an apology - reminder he was the reason I was forced to come back when we were already well on our way! I was harassed by this man, both inside and outside the restaurant, while he was working here, it was clear he was targeting me all night.

I'm also concerned as I've seen this same bouncer, when checking IDs, take pay outs to admit underage people/underage drinkers to the bar after stepping outside the view. Minors are not allowed to sit at the bar or to be served alcohol in the state of Massachusetts, no matter how much they tip the bouncer. All of these are in clear violation of Boston and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Liquor License Laws. The establishment has lost rapport among residents in the neighborhood, largely due to this bouncer. It is still very conveniently located, which would be the only reason I'd go back after these experiences. Hopefully they can avoid losing their liquor license with this risky & high liability bouncer.

Below is an older photo I took in May from this establishment showing the wood-burned bun they used to detail and the amount of fries they used to provide with a meal (last 2 times, expect about half and not nearly as...

Loved having Anna as our server. Tables were very close together and hard to get comfortable. Eliminating just one table would probably elevate the experience. Even changing one four person table to a 2 person near the bar. Though we were separated i felt closer to other guests than any other restaurant ive been to since vaccination. Disappointed that the fish and chips is gone. The fish sandwich was okay.. Wrong choice of bread and the sandwich was extremely crispy and dry... No tartar sauce to make up for it and no lemon wedge. It was good but only bc it was the same fish. Towards the end of our meal a male manager came by our table as we were literally standing up and dropped a $80+ tip on our server and asked us to hurry up. I found this extremely unprofessional. He didnt ask us how everything was or if there was something keeping us. He tried to rush us out but there were other tables and we were the only folks left in the bar. After receiving incredibly slow service (due to demand) he didnt check anything just rushed us out. We were the only people of color eating at the restaurant and this manager spoke to every table happily but did not touch our table and then rushed us out without giving any level of customer service. We had considered making this our spot but after that situation its very hard to imagine going back there. I dont mean to make it would POC bit. But it absolutely felt that way considering the environment and the abundance of tables. He came by asked us to "hurry it up as there was another reservation" when i got to the host stand i casually asked if there were pending reservations or a wait the host responded that there was not. Regardless of the reason... Unprofessional. Ive managed ive worked as a server in places like this in my prime. I will try to go back maybe with less people... But again anna was stellar and turned that around for us...

This is a solid neighborhood sports bar. I’ve been twice in the last 4 months and both times it took awhile to get service at the bar both for my first drink, my second drink, and my food. It’s three stars as it’s very average and due to the lack of adequate service.

The first time my buddy and I were catching the end of the Pats game and we thought the guy out front was there to check our IDs. Instead, as we presented him with our Drivers Licenses, he loudly mumbled how great the Eagles were and we realized he was an “unhoused” drunk guy. Although we did get two spots at the bar, it took some time to get our first beers, seconds, and food put in. I’m sure they’re busy but I’ve been a bartender and one of the keys is to quickly scan eyes as those who want a drink (in this case we both had beer which is incredibly easy to serve) will try to make eye contact and then you service accordingly.

The second time a few weeks ago we got seats right at the entrance so there was no chance of seeing a TV if we were there to watch and the constant opening of the door was irksome. Took forever to get a corona and then didn’t have time to get another cause service was so slow and because we were just pregaming around 5 on a Saturday before an Uber to the city.

There aren’t a ton of options around here so I may venture back, but I won’t go out of my way and I wouldn’t recommend going...