Althea — Restaurant in Cambridge

Updated review July 2025:

I remembered liking the seafood at Althea, so came by for an impromptu late dinner on a Tuesday. Unfortunately, the food was quite disappointing.

We were told that the special was a ceviche, but it turns out it was a cold tomato soup with fully cooked, tough shrimp and squid. The chips that came with it were nice and thin and crispy, but the "ceviche" was definitely not what we expected. 3/5

I really liked the grilled octopus last time, but this time it was very burnt, which made it quite unpleasant to eat. 2/5

The smoked chicken croquette was weird -- quite gluey and lacking in flavor. 1/5

The brussels sprouts were overly oily and were under seasoned. They were wanting for some acidity. 2/5

The smoked brisket was decent, though not particularly tender. It had the best balance of flavors amongst everything we tried (finally, some acidity!). 3/5

The grilled oysters were decent as well, though the beer seasoning was not as good as the chili oil last time. 4/5

Overall we were quite disappointed by the food this time. I was hoping to like it more than last time! Alas. Service and atmosphere are great, but we won't be coming back.

Previous review (4 stars)

I walked into Althea around 8pm on a weekday -- it doesn't seem too busy and they have a good amount of outdoor and indoor seating. We tried a few of the small plates and entrees. The standouts were the seafood items -- I wouldn't expect anything less from a Viale sister restaurant! The meat items were not as impressive.

The grilled oysters ($12 for 3) were really delicious. The perfectly-cooked oyster, delicious chili crisp, and other savory sauces made for a perfect bite. It's not a bad price either, given that raw oysters go for $3-4 each these days. I'd definitely get it again.

The grilled octopus ($18) was also excellent. Perfectly grilled/charred on the outside, tender inside, and paired very nicely with the sauce and the fresh brussels sprouts salad. I would come back to Althea just for the oysters and octopus.

The pork ribs were $4 each so we got two. I didn't think these were very special -- not particularly tender, and served with a very standard barbecue sauce. We also got the barbecue plate ($28). The potato & greens salad was quite good and fresh, but the brisket was quite tough and the sauce was again just a standard barbecue.

We also got the lobster pappardelle pasta ($25). There's a lot of lobster in this dish -- two claws and a whole tail -- and the lobster is decently cooked. The noodles were very wide and thin and bathe in the sauce. The sauce was a bit too sour for my taste, but overall it was a very rich dish and a decent deal.

I enjoyed my first Althea experience and could see myself coming back for some evening small plates. I would probably stick with the seafood options in the future. Wishing them...

New restaurant in Central Square that offers a nice patio experience but mediocre food.

Viale team recently opened this new spot in the former Dial space. They didn't change much of the layout, so it retained the same laid-back vibe as The Dial. Given my great experiences at Viale, I expected Althea to be amazing. Unfortunately, the food overall was underwhelming compared to its sister restaurant.

We’ve tried several of their small plates, but most - like the steak tartare, stuffed littlenecks, and BBQ Duck Crepe - were mediocre. The only decent dishes were the Salmon Crudo and the Smokey Lamb Ribs. I liked the garlic chip accents on the crudo, but saffron aioli and finely diced olives made it a tad too salty. Salmon also didn’t taste fresh, so I would recommend skipping the raw bar section.

As for the ribs, despite being made with very fatty cuts, the lamb smell wasn’t too prominent. They reminded me of the ones I always used to get at The Dial, but with a higher fat content. While I typically don’t mind a bit of extra fat on ribs, some pieces were mostly fat, making them quite greasy. The Fresno peppers on top helped to balance this somewhat, but I highly recommend pairing the dish with a drink.

Among the entrées, we tried the Short Rib Hot Dog, Spicy Crab Spaghetti, and Duck Breast. The hot dog was decent, but aside from the chow chow salad toppings, it didn’t particularly stand out. The Spicy Crab Spaghetti, sprinkled with black bread crumbs, was flavorful, although the spaghetti was slightly overcooked. My favorite was the Duck Breast—the duck was impeccably cooked and tender. The overall flavor leaned a bit too sweet with prunes and sweet sauce, but it was still enjoyable.

Overall, the food at Althea felt more like elevated tavern fare—good enough to pair with drinks, but not particularly outstanding on its own. Among the restaurants with patios around Central Square, Althea does offer the best experience with its isolated patio area. However, I'm not sure if I would return just...

Heard great things about Althea and brought a friend visiting from out of town for lunch. Staff was kind and we were seated immediately since it was a quiet day. Back patio was spacious and thoughtfully decorated.

The disappointing experience was the food itself. We let our server know that two of us were vegetarian and she confirmed that the dishes we selected wouldn't have any meat in it.

However when the food arrived, one of the soup dishes had pork chunks scattered on top. Totally understand instructions can get mixed up. We politely asked for the dish without meat again, and the server was prompt in bringing us a new one.

Unfortunately, we were surprised to realize that the second dish still had pork toppings inside, after accidentally eating a few that seemed to be buried at the bottom. (Perhaps they used the same dish and tried to scoop the meat off the top). Given the price of the restaurant, we expected the quality control and communication between the servers and kitchen to be more competent, or at least more considerate towards dietary restrictions, especially since they confirmed the dishes we ordered would be vegetarian. It's less of a concern that we accidentally ate meat and more of a concern that if we (or really, anyone else dining there) had some allergy to say nuts or gluten, would that information be properly conveyed to avoid something serious from happening?

We asked for the soup to be removed from the bill but we were still charged a "kitchen appreciation fee" and left feeling hungry.... so we stopped by Clover on the way home for a second meal lol. A bit of a bummer but there are lots of other restaurants...