Beat Brasserie

Address:	13 Brattle St, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Phone:	+1 617-499-0001
Site:	beatbrasserie.com
Rating:	4.2
Working:	4PM–12AM 4PM–12AM 4PM–12AM 4PM–2AM 4PM–2AM 10AM–2AM 10AM–12AM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 6

Cristina Ruiz

Whats better than a live music brunch to jazz up a sleepy Sunday? Extra points if it makes you feel super hip. Cue Beat Hotel. Beat Hotel is not a hotel at all. I know. CRAZY, right? Misleading names are hip. As is the space. The funky interior decor of the large room features hemp. Hip hemp. The stage is on the far end of the restaurant, so from where we were sitting the music wasnt too loud and provided a nice backdrop to our conversation. If youre more into the jazz part of jazz brunch, try to sit closer to the stage because I kept forgetting about the performers. The waitress arrives and says shes here to "guide us through our brunch experience." Were pumped. Every brunch should be an experience. My buddies bloody marys are savory and spicey. They dig em. I order some tea, but for some reason the waitress brings a third bloody mary along with it. Shes confused and asks if we want it. "Well... I dont really need another one. Will it just be thrown in the trash if we dont take it?" asks my thirsty but broke friend ($10 for a bmary - no matter how tasty - is no joke). "Probably" is the only response my friend receives. We dont want to straight up ask our waitress if it would be free, but my friend assumes so and agrees to take it. I mean, we can drink it if we really have to. And the food? Also hip. Classic brunch staples with a twist appear alongside more nontraditional offerings like bowls a la Life Alive in Central. I opt for the Inca bowl which features a nice mix of quinoa, avocado, greens, hominy, and other tasty morsels. You can pick your protein, and I opt for poached eggs. Its brunch, after all. The eggs were not runny at all, so I dont know what they think a poached egg is, but the mix of goodness was yummy, filling, and at least seemed healthy. A brunch slam dunk. My other friend enjoyed her soy-based Earth bowl, and my more traditional brunch copatriot dug into her American breakfast featuring truffled scrambled eggs, bacon, and skinny frites that rivaled McDs in tastiness with far more class. Triple hip. The check comes around, and yall this place aint exactly cheap. Were disappointed to see that that extra bloody mary was in fact charged. Not hip. We were deciding whether we should be annoying and ask about it, when a manager comes up to our table saying that she heard us say something was "obnoxious" and wanted to see if it was something to do with the restaurant. The walls have ears! Embarrassing. We then explain the bloody mary mishap, and she agrees that it shouldnt have been charged. It was so nice of them to go out of their way to make sure we were pleased with our experience (albeit a little creepy that they were listening to our conversations.. who knows what else they heard)! A nontraditional, hip brunch experience is waiting for you at Beat Hotel. The mixture of delectable food, funky ambiance, and soothing live music makes me wish it actually were a hotel so I could stay longer.

Bill Greenberg

Went last Sat. night. Service from our waitress was excellant. The issue was dancing. This is a club with a live band serving alcahol and nowhere is it disclosed that no dancing is allowed. No signs are posted, it isnt posted on the menu, not even on the frequently asked questions section of the web site. When we got up to dance a little near the end of the set a "bouncer came over yelling at us No Dancing! No Dancing! He was unprofessional and agresive. He acted like we should have known their was no dancing and was really upset. We were two couples that had just spent $500 and were treated very unprofessionally and agresively for doing something that we would have absolutely no reason to expect we couldnt do. If they want to keep charging these prices and dont want to disclose it up front from fear of losing business than at least train your bouncers to be a little more professional and understanding that in a tourist area folks from out of town might not be aware of quirky local laws. I did reach out to management first last Sun. and gave them a chance to respond prior to posting but they chose not to bother.

Michael Shine

Its a really nice looking place, been there several times since it has opened, but once again left with a poor experience. Went in for a Sunday brunch to meet friends. There was great music playing and the atmosphere was cool, but once again, had the bartender forget my drink order, took about 10 minutes for a bloody maria after I asked again and eventually made by someone else on the staff . This place seems to eat up bartenders. The first few months it was open, they had some really skilled, amiable bartenders, but they all left one by one. As for the brunch, the duck comfit egg was amazingly salty. Burn the back of your throat salty. I switched with the girl I was with and forced it down because I was so hungry (regrettably) but my friend could not finish my eggs Benedict for the same salty reason. I mentioned it to the bartender and he told me he would tell the kitchen, but I somehow doubt it. The brunch for 3 people, 5 drinks and three meals came out 98 bucks. Once again, not impressed and will not speak highly of the place. Which makes me sad, because of such squandered potential.

Dk Niels

I liked the atmosphere, drinks were well crafted; delicious. Great comfort food, and good portion sizes. Consistently great musicians. Note this is not a hotel. I did not give them 5 stars and I was close to giving them 3 despite these great qualities. This is because, with a vibe like that, and drinks; people really like to dance, and have room to move around and socialize. There is absolutely no space to do this. There a huge space in front of the stage for this, but it is filled with crammed in dining tables right up to the front of the stage. My suggestion, since of course they need to make money off of dining is at a certain point in the evening to move tables to the side, and open up some free space for this. Every other club of this type in the city has dance space and they get packed. Also, I would move the price of the food and drinks from 2 stars to 3.

Shannin Miksek

We had an amazing dinner here-from the atmosphere, the food, the service, and the live music. We had made reservations and although they were a little behind (5-10 minutes or so, no biggie), they promptly texted us and led us to a front-row seat to the live music. Our server was great-on top of it the entire dinner, even though it seemed like there were only a few servers out there handling a ton of tables. Kudos. Drinks came quick despite the huge crowds in there on a Friday night. Dinner was delicious (shrimp tacos and steak frites, cooked perfectly), and dessert was a perfect ending. The live music started at 10, and happened to be some fun jazz. Will definitely be going here again next time were in Cambridge.

Frederick Wright

I knew it was going to be good, as their sister location Beehive in the South End has been a favorite since they opened. But I didnt expect that a random light lunch on a Saturday would turn into one of the best meals of the month. Each dish our party of four hungry guys ordered was best-in-class. The gazpacho - rich and dense with a bright tart finish, like summer in a bowl. The ceviche, probably one of the best Ive had in the United States, we wanted to order another round. And the hummus, so complex with bright pops of Mediterranean olives. Cant wait for a return visit.