The Circle Pizza Tavern — Restaurant in Boston

Mediocre Food, Extraordinary Experience: A Story of Mild Inebriation and Blatant Incompetence.

We sit around a circular table, three Sip of Sunshines half consumed, deliberating on how to best describe the dining experience in which we just partook. The first task, a star rating: three feels appropriate: no one left feeling disappointed, but simultaneously it would be hard to leave a rating fit for Chez Panisse.

We’ll start from the beginning, a very good place to start. 4.9 stars attracted us to this establishment, but upon arrival we received no further assistance as to the direction of our quest. Upon entry, one is greeted by an automated ID scanner which displays the last patron’s personal details. We attempted to ID ourselves, but were ultimately unsuccessful. Coupled with the absence of a bouncer was the absence of a hostess. Finally, a friendly couple out for their traditional friday evening, pointed us to an appropriate seating location.

We were eventually greeted by an amicable waitress who recommended their large, soft pretzel. She later returned for a drink order. This was an ordeal in itself, but we’ll start by saying, she seemed surprised to be informed that indeed, our original pretzel request was sincere.

To the drinks: now, we feel that it is important to mention that we had consumed a few alcoholic beverages prior to our arrival, nonetheless, our experience is as follows: Our waitress was unfamiliar with with both a PBR (An award winning beer) and a Miller High Life (The Champagne of Beers) and required assistance locating both on the menu she had just provided us with.

What we thought to be our pretzel arrived shortly thereafter. Granted, it was not to our table, but rather a neighboring table who had ordered caesar salads rather than a pretzel for their appetizer. We were offered the pretzel after it was initially refused, but to our dismay it was claimed by our other neighbors who, in all fairness, had purchased their pretzel prior to us.

Our pizza came rather uneventfully, but the same could not be said for our neighbors. As their table was moderately crowded, they were offered the alternative of leaving their pie on an adjoining hightop (at least 3 feet away and 2 feet higher). They opted for rearranging their silverware to make room. What feels nitpicky, when considering the rest of the ordeal, but worth mentioning, was that our pizza-split between the three of us--came with no plates. When we requested them, the void was filled with cocktail plates.

Our beers did ultimately come, delivered to the wrong person, to no one’s surprise. We sorted out the first two, but couldn’t help but find some amusement in the third beer (the PBR) being delivered to our friend who was already happily enjoying his Miller High Life.

The hilarity continued throughout the course of the night. Whether it was suggesting changing the TB vs TOR game to the BOS vs NYY game or our waters being taken away once we had finished our initial serving.

To wrap up, the waitress stopped by to inform us that she was leaving, but rather than transferring our table, asked if we’d be willing to pay on the spot and hovered while we signed the check.

We then finished our beverages and food, to leave and partake in a similar experience at the liquor store next door. Overall, our night was far from ruined, but would recommend consuming at least three beers prior to arrival.

⅗; would only recommend if the perfect...

I’m disappointed and hope that they were having an off night, and hope that my experience is not the norm for this place.

I read a review saying that the Spanish food here was good, so I ordered the “Arroz con gandules con una carne y ensalada” (translation: Rice with pigeon peas (which is a Puerto Rican dish), with one meat, and salad). I also ordered Cajun fries and a cheese pizza because I wanted to have leftovers for another meal.

What I received for the rice with pigeon peas dish was a container with white rice, and a few pieces of fried chicken. Another container with kidney beans, and another container with a salad. Look up/Google “arroz con gandules” and you’ll see why this was completely wrong.

The Cajun fries barely had any seasoning.

And now for the pizza. I wonder what happened here. The sauce tasted like someone messed up and made it overly sweet, so they tried to cover it up by adding more salt, making it too sweet and too salty at the same time. The cheese was good, and the crust was amazing, so I’ll give them that. Maybe that sauce is supposed to be that way, and maybe it would taste better if I paired it with a beer.

I’ll probably give them another try, in case this was an off day for them, because I can’t believe how the food was considering how this place has such...

This review is based off of two ordering experiences I had.

First delivery order: Pepperoni calzone and Greek salad. The calzone was cooked perfectly, with just the right amount of every ingredient and a nice crispy crust. Excellent quality. Greek salad was amazing!

Second delivery order (last night): Chicken parm calzone. When the box arrived it felt room temperature, and upon opening it up the calzone looked doughy and a bit undercooked. I took a bite into the first piece and it was COLD in the center, and the shredded mozzarella was raw and still “shredded”, it had not even begun to melt. I put it in my own oven for 20 mins at 400 degrees and then it was cooked through. Seriously such a letdown especially after it was so good the first time. Probably not going to give this place another chance for awhile there’s no reason the kitchen should be sending out a raw calzone that costs $18...