Hobson's Bar & Kitchen — Restaurant in Boston

I want to make this review as fair and honest as possible because I really want this place to do well. The service was fantastic, the staff was friendly and management was warm and welcoming. The atmosphere was extremely nice for the area. The food however was extremely underwhelming. I always order an old fashioned for a cocktail as a barometer for how well any particular restaurant will prepare their entrees. The old fashioned was not great. Loose ice cubes, no cherry or orange peel, and simple syrup instead of muddled sugar cube. Just all around disappointing. I ordered the "Bar Steak" medium which came with truffle fries, micro greens, blue cheese butter, and house made steak sauce. The classic saying goes "if you need steak sauce then it's not a good steak" and let me tell you this steak needed the sauce. It was succulent and cooked properly, just extremely unflavorful. The best part about it was the blue cheese butter. The truffle fries were average and the micro greens were forgettable. Even the house made steak sauce was missing a particular zap that you would expect. I want to be clear that this review is not coming from a place of contempt because I know this restaurant has the potential to be so so amazing and I really want to see it happen. I did try my friends cocktail which was a midnight margarita and that was phenomenal, top marks. I'd just really love to see this restaurant live up to the potential that I see in it but as it stands, the food that I sampled which to be fair was an extremely small sample, was forgettable and disappointing. My love to the staff, management, and chefs. I'm looking forward to my next visit to taste...

I’ve been here a couple of times and the food has been generally pretty great, but I don’t think the service was that good

A couple weeks ago I ordered the Black Sea Bass special and after eating some of it, I saw that the inner meat was pink and so raw it was still clinging strongly to the bone. I politely showed the waiter, who took it back to the kitchen and confirmed with the chefs that it was underdone and also not gutted properly. I expected a comp for the raw fish but it was not offered, but since I ate some of it, I let it slide. I want to see new business succeed, and the scallops and mac and cheese were so good I chalked it up to one mistake. No problem

Last night I came back with a group and ordered some things including a truffle fry. The waiter brought us two orders of fries instead of one, and without touching or eating any of it, I sent it back. He said I ordered two but I definitely ordered just one. But he politely took it away and told me “all good.” He also completely forgot about an order of deviled eggs which never came out.

Then I got billed for two truffle fries, including the one I did not order and made sure not to touch. That irritates me because I was also billed for the pink raw and ungutted fish last visit.

In three visits I have been served raw and improperly gutted fish, billed for items I never ordered, had whole items forgotten about, and never offered a comp or refund. I love the food and love to support small businesses but I cannot recommend this place because of the poor service. The scallops...

Tried Hobson’s in Allston for the first time and unfortunately, it was a miss on nearly every level. Met a friend at the bar and started with their dollar oysters—which quickly made sense. Whoever is shucking them clearly hasn’t been trained properly. Every oyster looked like it had been through a blender—mangled, torn, and completely unappetizing. Presentation was non-existent.

I ordered the chicken piccata, which turned out to be something entirely unrecognizable. Instead of the classic lemon-butter-caper sauce, it arrived smothered in a bizarre cheesy, creamy concoction with sun-dried tomatoes and a couple of capers tossed in for good measure. It was served over limp, overcooked fettuccine and topped with the smallest, rubbery piece of chicken I’ve ever seen. Two bites in, and I pushed it aside.

My friend ordered a double smash burger and specifically asked for it plain with just cheese. It arrived fully dressed with everything imaginable from the kitchen—clearly not what was requested.

The bartenders seemed completely disengaged—checked out and robotic. Despite both of us leaving our meals virtually untouched and visibly disappointed, there was no acknowledgment, no curiosity, no real interaction. Just a perfunctory, “How was everything, guys?” with zero sincerity.

There’s a reason the place was nearly empty. I won’t...