Tatte Bakery & Cafe | Harvard Square — Restaurant in Cambridge

I visited for the first time yesterday (visiting from NYC) and can I just say that Tatte is the best kind of chain? So, really a non-chain.

Tatte has it down. Well past having figured it out. All boxes checked.

I got no chain-feeling when I walked in. That said, when I later learned that they have other locations, it made perfect sense. They've done it many times before, have learned what works (and what doesn't) and have put that into play. Ordering is easy and personable, unrushed and patient. Lots of seating (if not available -- more on that later). Menu: expansive, different, something for everyone, from coffees to savory to sweet.

I ordered the chicken, kale and chickpea salad. Big, delicious chunks of chicken. I resisted the urge to lick the plate clean. Took home a chocolate croissant to enjoy this morning. It was chocolate-generous, which was such a nice surprise. Can't remember the last time that happened. Usually it's an Is That All There Is? feeling.

When downstairs was short on seating, I asked if I could take my order number upstairs? Would my food find me? The answer: Sure! And find me, it did. The only thing less than delightful was a shortage of seating. After looking around a while, I ended up at a long, communal table. I noticed that I was surrounded by kids on laptops with empty coffee cups that were like props. Not surprising -- it's a cafe thing. Starbucks, Peets....I too have camped out for hours. But those places don't have the expansive menu of Tatte, so kind of a bummer to be competing for seating with folks who bought a coffee hours ago. Perhaps it's a Cambridge thing, and other Tatte locations, that are not such a part of a college campus, offer more seating. The university population probably accounts for the majority of their income.

Regardless, I'll be back. To the very next Tatte location that I...

I’m very torn about this review because the food was absolutely delicious but the service was very bad and ruined our experience here.

We arrived for lunch on a Tuesday (having already had a good experience at the Tatte in Back bay the day before). There was a big queue which was absolutely fine as we arrived at a busy time.

After patiently waiting for about 15minutes I was near the front of the queue (behind two women who were looking at the pastry case and talking to a member of staff. So I thought they were being served).

The young woman working the register called for the next guest to come forward, so as I moved forward she quickly shouted to me ‘I wasn’t calling you sir, these ladies are before you’ which was very embarrassing and confusing.

When she did take my order, I specifically said that I wanted the house breakfast plate with the additional beef sausage. She seemed distracted and I could tell she wasn’t properly listening to me and was trying to rush my order through (all whilst asking for a 20% tip).

We sat outside and when our food came, the beef sausage was missing. I went back inside and waited near the register waiting for her to finish serving a guest before I said ‘excuse me, the beef sausage is missing from the breakfast plate’. And before I could finish the sentence she snapped back ‘you need to pay extra for that and you didn’t order it’. I know for a fact I did because it was THE MAIN REASON I wanted to eat at Tatte again. She was so rude multiple times and ruined my experience with the brand.

Eventually a different server brought the sausage out and apologised, confirming that it was on the bill.

The food here was exceptional. The service and atmosphere very bad. And the pistachio latte was very gritty and not very nice to drink.

I would never...

I used to visit the Brookline location every week when I lived in Boston in the early 2000s, so was thrilled when I noticed a larger Tatte in Cambridge near where we're staying on this trip in 2022. Sadly, the new location doesn't exceed my memories. It's no longer a pastry shop, and now more of a restaurant. I'm excited about their success to achieve that, but the layout makes it very echo-y which makes it very loud and hard to hear your own conversations. On this trip we visited twice. Once I ordered a hallumi sandwich with the Tatte Latte iced, the other I ordered a pistachio croissant and oat milk latte hot. The hallumi was a bit bland and the rest of the sandwich was OK, the iced coffee very nice if you fancy something sweet! The pistachio croissant filling was lovely, but the pastry wasn't a croissant in the traditional sense - it's over baked and the pasty has gone hard and stiff, except for where the filling is. The filling is delish and that saved the pastry, but I wouldn't pick it again. The oat milk latte is nice as well, but seems a bit weak (probably because it's a 12oz so has a lot of milk compared to what I'm used to in the UK).

4* because the decor looks nice (even if it's very echoey!), the coffee is good by American standards, the staff are friendly and there are plenty of options for...