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Challah for Hunger: Baking to Give Back

Published on April 16, 2015January 25, 2016 by The Crimson CraveLeave a comment

By Dana Ferrante ’17

At 9am on a Thursday, I was a little surprised to see five Harvard students grinning as they stretched and turned (and stretched and turned again), a batch of sticky bread dough. This gooey mass, after it has risen and been braided, will become the sweet bread Challah, a traditional bread served at Shabbat dinner, or the Friday evening meal of the Jewish day of rest.

But the bread is not for them –save for a few furtive bites.

Headed by sophomore Amanda Jowell, Harvard’s Challah for Hunger mixes, bakes, and sells freshly baked Challah every Thursday evening at Hillel starting at around 6pm. The proceeds all go to MAZON, an advocacy group that works to bring nutritious food to the hungry in both the United States and Israel. And so far, so good: within the first four weeks of selling, Challah for Hunger has already raised more than $500.

The original organization founded about a decade ago, Challah for Hunger now exists on over 70 different campuses across the US, Canada, Australia and England. Jowell got the idea to bring CfH to Harvard after her twin sister started an outpost of the group on Stanford’s campus. Supported by Hillel, Jowell was able get the supplies and manpower together, and is now even able to offer different flavors of bread in addition to completely kosher Challah.

As someone who had never heard of the bread before, I had to ask: why Challah? The answer is quite simple. At Shabbat dinner, Challah is something expected, as the dinner usually begins with a blessing over two Challah loaves. In this way, the goal of CfH is to come together as a community to aid those who ultimately cannot take Challah on their dinner table for granted.

Making bread from scratch is a pretty serious time commitment (especially for a Harvard student), so it is only through community that the Challah makes it into the oven each week.

The Challah making process consists of four main parts: 1) mixing/kneading, 2) rising, 3) braiding, and finally, 4) baking. Following the procedure Jowell had already perfected by the second week of production, the process begins at 9am when about five to six Harvard students get their hands dirty combining the ingredients and kneading the dough.

Step two, rising, occurs throughout the day, letting the yeast metabolize as many sugars as possible, while the students attempt to digest their professor’s lectures. It is essential to let the dough rise for a significant amount of time, as it maximizes the amount of carbon dioxide and alcohol released into the dough (i.e. the dough magically triples in size). At 4:30pm, a new round of students comes to braid the dough

and then slather the loaves in egg wash,

essential for achieving the coveted caramel brown on top of the loaves.

Finally, the Challah goes into the oven, and is still warm when it is sold to the line of people already lined up and waiting for the bread to arrive.

At just $5 a loaf, the braided beauties are sold out within minutes. Just one bite into these pillows of soft, sweet dough, and you’ll know why.

Boston Bites: A Harvard Freshman’s Foodie Instagram

Published on April 12, 2015 by The Crimson CraveLeave a comment

by Caroline Gentile ’17

What do foodies love more than actually eating food? Looking at pictures of food, of course. Accordingly, food-centric Instagram accounts have become all the rage. One in particular stands out, with its mouth-watering images and clever captions: Boston Bites (@Boston_Bites).

“Biting our way through Beantown,” boasts Boston Bites’ Instagram profile. Founded by Harvard freshman, Alana Steinberg and a friend from home who went to Boston University, the Boston Bites instagram account was originally a way to keep in touch with each other and ensure the two friends actually went out to explore Boston. “We started collecting photos when we got to college, and started posting in October,” Alana explains. Over time, however, it evolved into Alana taking charge of the account, although, she notes, “I still keep in touch with my friend, and sometimes she will send me pictures to post.”

Alana herself has a background in photography, although she usually focuses on portraiture instead of food. She also does multimedia for the Harvard Crimson. In terms of her food background, “I love to bake”, she says with a smile. “At home, I’m known for my popovers and snickerdoodles.” Like many other students (read: the entire staff of the Crimson Crave), she wishes she had more time at school to bake. Luckily, managing Boston Bites serves as her outlet for satisfying her love of food.

Armed with a book of Zagat-rated restaurants in Boston and inspiration from other Boston foodie Instagram accounts, Alana sets out into Boston on average once a week to try a new place and take pictures for Boston Bites. Finding the time to get into Boston can be challenging; “sometimes I go three times in one week and then not at all,” she admits. However, for weeks when she is too busy to make the trip and post new pictures, Alana is able to rely on and repost the five to ten daily submissions she receives from some of her 1659 followers.

Having tried at least one place every week since she first started at Harvard, Alana has eaten a lot of food at a lot of different restaurants. Of all these meals, her favorite has been the avocado toast with burrata and pecorino cheese at Met Back Bay. “I highly recommend Met Back Bay for brunch in Boston,” she says, “but in the square, I really like Bagelsaurus and Russell House.”

As for dinner, she recommends Theolonius Monkfish, a sushi/Asian fusion restaurant in Central Square, a mere 10 minute walk from campus. In Boston, Joe’s American Bar has “really good American food, like spinach dip.” Sounds good to us!

Chicken stuffed lychee from Theolonius Monkfish

Spinach Dip from Joe's American Bar — Spinach Dip from Joe’s American Bar

In the near future, Alana hopes to make it to the Union Square Donuts store, and also to a sushi place called Oishii. Be sure to follow Boston Bites on Instagram to see not only these pictures of donuts and sushi, but also the many other mouth-watering pictures of foods that can be found in the Boston area.

A Recap of Passover and Easter Eating

Published on April 7, 2015April 7, 2015 by The Crimson CraveLeave a comment

Whether you went home this weekend for the holidays, or stayed on campus, we’re sure you ate some delicious food. The Crimson Crave has compiled a collection of pictures of meals that several members of the Harvard community enjoyed over the Easter/Passover holiday. Bring on the food porn!

Orlea Miller ’16

Charoset is one of the foods traditionally eaten during the Passover Seder, and many families have their own special way of making it. The basic recipe includes chopped fruit, nuts, grape juice or wine, and spices. Its burnt red color and nutty texture symbolize the mortar used by the ancient Israelites to assemble bricks when they were enslaved in Egypt.

Rachel Talamo ’18

Dessert, dinner and brunch from Passover in Montreal!

unnamed-2 — A scrumptious dessert called “il flotant”

unnamed — Stuffed cornish game hen, asparagus, sweet potato, apple, chestnuts, cranberries, and fruit sauce

unnamed-1 — Hard-boiled eggs with avocado and greens; smoked salmon with asparagus, butter lettuce, onions, avocado, and cream sauce; greek yogurt with berries and maple syrup

Annelie Hermann ’18

These are “sunflower cupcakes,” garnished with an Oreo, green frosting, and orange/yellow frosting applied with a ziploc bag. Very spring-like, indeed!

Caroline Gentile ’17

Every Easter brunch, my mom makes french toast, and she recently just found a delicious recipe for overnight french toast with raspberries and orange in Ina Garten’s new cookbook, Foolproof. The sweet tartness of the raspberries and orange perfectly cut the rich egg-y taste of the challah bread and custard.

For dessert, we had coconut cupcakes with coconut buttercream frosting, garnished with egg-shaped M&Ms. The recipe can be found on browneyedbaker.com!

Squash is the New Spaghetti

Published on April 2, 2015 by The Crimson CraveLeave a comment

by Danielle Leavitt ’17

As someone who eats gluten-free, spaghetti squash is one of my favorite vegetables. With its noodle-like nature, this yellow member of the squash family is the perfect substitute for pasta for gluten-free foodies! Not only is it delicious, but spaghetti squash can also be prepared in a variety of ways, is extremely healthy, and easy to make in a microwave. Compared to pasta, which has 200 calories and 40 grams of carbohydrates per cup, spaghetti squash boasts only 42 calories and 10 grams of carbohydrates per cup!

The easiest way to prepare spaghetti squash is to cook it in the microwave.

Cut spaghetti squash in two halves.
Place side by side with the seed side down into a microwaveable pan with about 1 inch of water in it.
Set microwave for 6-8 minutes depending on size of the squash.
Remove from pan and turn squash over seed side up (Be careful! Squash will be very hot!). Using a fork, loosen the seeds and squash strings attached to the seeds and remove them from the squash and discard.
Scrape gently along the inside of the squash, loosening the strands of squash and place into a bowl.

And that’s it. You can eat it plain or add your favorite toppings: parmesan cheese, pesto, tomato or meat sauce, butter, olive oil…be creative! Enjoy!

The Friendly Toast: A Perfect Place for Pancake-Lovers

Published on March 29, 2015April 2, 2015 by The Crimson CraveLeave a comment

by Caroline Gentile ’17

Whenever I talk to strangers about food (which happens more often than you’d think), my favorite question to ask is, “Where’s your favorite place to have brunch?” Brunch is, after all, the most important meal of the day—nay, week. Over the past year and a half I’ve been in Boston, the most frequent answer to my question has been the Friendly Toast.

Located in the heart of Kendall square—a 30-minute walk from campus, or a 5-minute walk from the Kendall/MIT T-stop—this old-timey-but-still-modern diner is a gem. Most of the decorations are typical of a classic diner (think old ads for Dr. Scholls and figurines of Barbie from the 60s), but the bright green walls give the place a more modern feel. Overall, the Friendly toast has a very fun and lively atmosphere, especially on a dreary Sunday morning.

Now, for the reason we came: the food. The menu offers both breakfast and lunch options, and many stood out. The oatmeal raisin pancakes with berries and homemade whipped cream and the Rob Roy, a burrito stuffed with chicken, corn salsa, black olives, brown rice, jalapeno jack cheese drizzled with chipotle and Jack Daniels BBQ sauce, both looked tempting. However, my friend and I ultimately settled for the King Cakes—creamy peanut butter sauce sandwiched between two banana chocolate chip pancakes and topped with bacon and homemade whipped cream—and the smoked salmon eggs benedict. I also opted to try the coconut-flavored hot cocoas, and my friend ordered orange juice.

The orange juice was not fresh-squeezed, the cocoa was obviously made with syrup, and my friend described the eggs benedict as “good but not great”; the toast was too thick and the hollandaise sauce not creamy enough.

However, we both agreed that the pancakes were out of this world. The sinfully rich peanut butter sauce soaked into the fluffy pancakes, giving them the perfect consistency. The pancakes themselves were stuffed with perfectly ripe bananas and chocolate chips, but their sweetness was offset by the crispy bacon. Elvis would be proud to have these pancakes named for him.

If for no other reason, make the trek to Kendall Square to try these pancakes, but be sure to beat the morning rush. We got there at about 9am and barely had to wait, but by 11am, it was packed! That said, those pancakes are worth the wait.

A Recipe for Hamantaschen: Three-Cornered Treats

Published on March 8, 2015March 8, 2015 by The Crimson CraveLeave a comment

By Orlea Miller ’16

When I tell my friends a Jewish holiday is coming up, they know there will be food involved. Delicious food, and lots of it. There’s bagels and lox all year long, challah for Shabbat on Friday nights, apples and honey for the Jewish New Year, latkes and jelly-filled donuts for Hanukkah, and the list goes on. But if you haven’t tried hamantaschen yet, you’re missing out.

The most recent holiday, Purim, celebrates the survival of the Jewish people in ancient Persia despite Haman’s plot to destroy them. Haman, the villain of the story, wore a three-cornered hat, which the traditional hamantaschen are meant to resemble. The rest of the word was derived from two German words: “mohn,” meaning poppy seed and “taschen,” meaning pockets. Today, we eat pocket-filled pastries to symbolically destroy Haman’s memory in every bite.

When I was younger, my sister, my mom, and I would gather in the kitchen year after year, filling our hamantaschen with our favorite ingredients: poppy seed (which tasted too bitter for me, but my grandfather’s preference), raspberry, strawberry, and peach jelly, and, the best, if you ask me: any form of chocolate. We would each make our mark, filling our own hamantaschen (and often writing on the foil above it before placing it in the oven) just so we would know which were ours.

These delectable treats are quick, easy to make, and require few ingredients! They’re a great way to involve everyone in the family/blocking group and let each baker add their special touch. (And if you’re really advanced, I’d recommend going for apple pie or brownie filled hamantaschen instead – http://cantstopbaking.blogspot.com/2012/02/ode-to-my-broand-some-hamantaschen-on.html instead.)

Last week, students baked hamantaschen at Harvard Hillel, using a recipe from Student Activities Director Paige LaMarche!

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

2/3 cup oil

filling

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

Directions:

Mix eggs with sugar and add oil. Add baking powder and salt, and flour, stirring all the time. It will be a moist dough. Next, place enough flour on a board to prevent the dough from sticking, and roll the mixture.

Cut out round forms with cup.

Put 1/2 tsp of filling in each circle. Options above include: jelly, poppy seed, and chocolate chips.

Fold into shape of triangle. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes. Cool, then enjoy!

Photo credits: Aaron Klein and Talia Weisberg

Three Cheers for Chocolate: Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake

Published on March 4, 2015 by Victoria Piccione2 Comments

By Victoria Piccione ’16

You can also follow Victoria’s baking adventures on her personal blog Sweet Dreams: Adventures in Baking.

You know it’s going to be a good night when you walk into the dhall and find chocolate cream pie for dessert. There’s something about the light and creamy chocolate filling paired with the crumbly graham cracker crust that causes your stresses from the day to melt away. I know you know what I’m talking about because the excitement is audible as people first see the night’s dessert offering. There are proclamations of satisfaction. You just don’t get that with the lemon shortbread bars. Needless to say, my Saturday brunch was made when I saw that little mound of sugary heaven.

But what if I told you that you could make something with not one but two layers of chocolate mousse? And rather than a disintegrating graham cracker crust that honestly could benefit from a little butter to hold it together, a layer of flourless chocolate cake serves as the base for these two-toned layers of chocolate decadence? Don’t get me wrong; I’ll be the first to admit to embarrassingly excessive excitement when HUDS spoils us with chocolate cream pie. But I’ve also tasted the magic of Cook’s Country Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake and experienced its transformative effect.

The cake takes some effort: with three layers of different flavors and consistencies, there are a good number of steps to this recipe. But none are particularly challenging, and you can work on one layer while the other is baking or chilling. It’s almost like science class in sixth grade where you experiment with colored liquids of different densities that form a beautiful rainbow of layered liquids. Except the cake and mousses aren’t going to move through each other, so…

Maybe the comparison doesn’t work, but the idea is there. The excitement is the same, the thrill of three distinct layers of different colors, the same. Except unlike middle school science class, it’s not water and rubbing alcohol and baby oil, so I can promise you it’ll be much more edible than any retro density-related science project. And for everyone who shares my sentiments that chocolate cream pie is HUDS gold, I promise you that this triple chocolate mousse cake will exceed even your sweetest dreams.

Ingredients:

Flourless Chocolate Cake (Bottom Layer)

6 Tbs. butter, cut into pieces

7 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped

¾ tsp. instant espresso powder

2 tsp. vanilla extract

4 eggs, separated

Pinch of salt

⅓ cup brown sugar

Dark Chocolate Mousse (Middle Layer)

2 Tbs. cocoa powder

5 Tbs. hot water

7 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 ½ cups heavy cream

1 Tbs. granulated sugar

⅛ tsp. salt

White Chocolate Mousse (Top Layer)

¾ tsp. powdered gelatin

1 Tbs. water

6 oz. white chocolate chips

1 ½ cups heavy cream

Bottom Layer:

Preheat oven to 325°F, and grease sides and bottom of 9” springform pan that’s at least 3 inches in height.
In a double boiler, melt the butter, chocolate and espresso powder, stirring occasionally until smooth. Remove from heat and let cool for about 5 minutes, then whisk in the egg yolks and vanilla. Set aside.
In a stand mixer with whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and salt at medium-high speed until frothy, about 30 seconds. Add half of the brown sugar, beating until combined. Add the remaining brown sugar and beat on high until soft peaks form, about 1 minute longer.
Whisk one-third of the beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the remaining whites with a rubber spatula until fully incorporated and no white streaks remain. Transfer batter to prepared springform pan, smoothing top.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 12 – 18 minutes, or until the cake has risen, is firm around the edges and the center is set but still soft (center springs back when pressed gently with finger). Let cool completely, about 1 hour, leaving the cake in the pan.

Middle Layer:

In a small bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and hot water. Set aside.
In a double boiler, melt the chocolate. Remove from the heat and cool for about 5 minutes.
In a stand mixer with whisk attachment, whip the cream, granulated sugar and salt on medium speed until begins to thicken, about 30 seconds. Increase speed to high and whip until soft peaks form, about 30 – 60 seconds. This is easiest if the cream and bowl/whisk attachment are cold.
Whisk the cocoa mixture into melted chocolate, then whisk in one-third of the whipped cream to lighten chocolate mixture. Fold in remaining whipped cream with rubber spatula until no streaks remain.
Spoon mousse into springform pan over cooled cake, gently tapping pan on counter to remove air bubbles. Smooth top and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes as you prepare the white chocolate mousse.

Top Layer:

In a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over the water and let stand for at least 5 minutes.
Place the white chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl, then bring ½ cup of heavy cream to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat, add the gelatin mixture, and whisk until fully dissolved.
Immediately pour the cream mixture over the white chocolate chips and let sit for about 1 minute. Whisk the mixture until the chocolate is melted and mixture is completely smooth. This may require some reheating in the microwave, but make sure to temper the chocolate by using only short intervals. Let cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally; the mixture will thicken somewhat.
In a stand mixer with whisk attachment, whip remaining cup of cream on medium speed until it begins to thicken, then increase speed and whip until soft peaks form, about 30 – 60 additional seconds.
Whisk one-third of whipped cream into white chocolate mixture, then fold in remaining whipped cream with rubber spatula until no streaks remain.
Spoon white chocolate mousse into pan over dark chocolate mousse layer, smoothing top. Let chill in refrigerator until set, at least 2 ½ hours.
Remove the cake from fridge and let sit at room temperature for 45 minutes before releasing from springform pan. Dust top with shaved chocolate or cocoa. Before releasing from pan, run a thin knife around sides of cake. For clean, picture-perfect slices, dip sharp knife in hot water and pat dry between cuts.
Enjoy, knowing you’ve exceeded even the best that HUDS had to offer!

Recipe adapted from Cook’s Illustrated.

Our Restaurant Week Bucket List: Winter 2015

Published on March 2, 2015 by The Crimson CraveLeave a comment

by Caroline Gentile ’17

It’s that time of year again! Boston Restaurant Week, also known as Dine Out Boston, is upon us. From March 1st-6th, and March 8th-13th, many of Boston’s best eateries are offering prix fixe menus for both dinner and lunch. According to the Dine Out Boston website, there are three pricing tiers for each meal period: lunch for $15, $20 or $25, and dinner for $28, $33 and $38. In other words, this is the perfect time to go and try out that fancy restaurant you’ve been dying to go to! It’s also a great excuse to escape the Harvard Bubble and experience the rest of the Boston area.

Below is our restaurant week bucket list, but these are just a few of the very many restaurants participating in Dine Out Boston. For more information, including menus, pricing, and a full list of all participating restaurants, visit their website at http://www.restaurantweekboston.com.

In the Square:

Harvest

Rialto

Sandrine’s

Toscano

Beat Hotel

Outside of the “Harvard Bubble”:

Top of the Hub

Oishii

Del Frisco’s

Mistral

La Voile

Taranta

Sorellina

Bon appetit!

That’s the Way the Cookie Crumbles! A Review of Gluten-Free Girl Scout Cookies

Published on March 1, 2015 by The Crimson CraveLeave a comment

by Danielle Leavitt ’17

Watch out Thin Mints! There are new cookies in town, and they are not only supporting the Girl Scouts of America, but are also gluten free and incredibly delicious!

This year the Girl Scouts of America introduced not only one, but two new gluten free cookies. The first ever gluten free Chocolate Chip Shortbread cookie made its debut in select markets in 2014. Next up is Toffee-tastic, a buttery cookie with toffee bits distributed throughout the soft dough. Trios have a peanut butter base with chocolate chips and whole grain oats added.

Before the Girl Scouts started selling gluten free cookies, I was not able to enjoy the delectable treats that everyone raved about. Now, I am able to indulge in the delicious cookies. My favorite new gluten free cookie is Trios because the peanut butter, oatmeal, and chocolate combination is amazing. The gooey chocolate chips melt in my mouth and are the perfect bite size snack.

These addictive gluten free Girl Scout cookies are available for purchase online through a Girl Scout who has her own smartphone app, individual scout sales, and at various locations around Harvard Square. Finding cookie sale locations is quick and easy by downloading the Girl Scout Cookie Finder app to locate the nearest cookie sales booth, which is usually a temporary location set up near a business or store.

So gluten-free eaters, rejoice! And go grab a glass of cold milk and a gluten free Girl Scout cookie.

Boston Burger Company Celebrates First Month at New Mass Ave Location

Published on February 22, 2015August 26, 2015 by The Crimson CraveLeave a comment

By Dana Ferrante ’17 and Adam Wong ’17

There’s nothing like a good burger: 8 oz (maybe even 16) of perfectly grilled cow, nested in a toasted bun, globs of ketchup spilling out the sides, meat juice trickling down your chin. But from Tasty Burger to Shake Shack, B.Good to Mr. Bartley’s, Harvard Square is so inundated with burger options, it’s hard to know which is going to give the best burger for your bite.

And yet, another contender has been added to the mix. This past Monday, Boston Burger Company celebrated its first month anniversary at its new location at 1105 Mass Ave, just a two minute walk outside of Harvard Square.

Taking advantage of another day off from school, The Crimson Crave, plus a few friends, took the opportunity to check out how the new eats compare to our old favorites. Somewhat comparable to Mr. Bartley’s and Charlie’s Kitchen, Boston Burger Company offers a menu of decked-out burgers. With everything from the standard Boston Burger, to the stacked 420 Burger (mozzarella sticks, fried mac & cheese, onion rings, fries, bacon, golden bbq sauce, and american cheese), BBC is more or less a classic burger joint with some unexpected twists.

A perilous, structurally unsound tower of Eliot Grille items: the 420 Burger.

Each burger comes with a sizable 8 oz patty made in house — that is, unless you get the Jumbo (pictured below) which is an entire pound of beef, smothered in cheddar, caramelized onions, bacon and BBQ sauce. Instead of fries, homemade potato chips play the role of supporting actor to each burger. Skeptical? We were too, but surprisingly these chips are a perfect combination of much fried and so flavor for any burger. That’s not to say BBC doesn’t have an impressive range of fries; while we were too full to order any, the buffalo cheese (buffalo sauce, cheddar jack cheese, and bleu cheese dressing) and the BBC sweet potato fries (sweet potato fries tossed in caramel and cinnamon) looked quite promising.

The Killer Bee: An obelisk of fried onions.

We strategically selected six different burgers in order to test the range of the menu. Like having the midnight munchies for lunch, the 420 Burger (mentioned above) looked and tasted as if all of the items at Eliot Grille were stacked neatly inside two buns for support. The Killer Bee definitely got the award for height, boasting an impressive stack of onion rings atop a cheese covered patty. With its fried egg, ham, bacon sautéed peppers, mushrooms, and three types of cheese, the Kitchen Sink Burger tasted like the breakfast burger you’ve only dreamed of. Another favorite came from the special menu; it’s called the Sophie Burger and it was covered with prosciutto, goat cheese, balsamic reduction, arugula and candied walnuts. Comparably, the Jumbo and Bruschetta Burger were not as awe-inspiring. Devoid of toppings, the jumbo lacked flavor and intrigue. The Bruschetta Burger was accompanied by tomatoes, basil, olive oil, and pesto, but the usually delicate flavors fell flat under the weight of the hefty beef patty.

The kitchen definitely knows how to cook a burger to order, something you unfortunately can’t always take for granted. Although the beef patties themselves were not the most flavorful, we found that the best burgers were cooked to medium. For those of us who got medium rare or well done, the undeveloped flavors of the burger were more apparent, and we ended up stealing bites from the people who wisely ordered medium burgers. Hey, what are friends for?

In the end, at Boston Burger Company, it’s really the creative, artery-clogging toppings that add flair and quality to the burger. Compared to Bartley’s, BBC is definitely the better choice for larger groups. It has a spacious dining area, complete with seats available at the bar, and some high tables that are the perfect place to catch the game. With full length windows at the front, natural light adds to the open atmosphere making it a perfect setting to enjoy a burger with your friends.

The Boston Burger Company completes its stylish industrial interior design with a full bar that features as much variety in their local draft beers as their burgers. The decorative tap handles showcase the twelve delicious beers that flow freely, tantalizing those of us that are still underage. The bar is the perfect setting to eat a massive burger paired with a stout brew while watching the game and shooting the shit with your buds. Overseeing it all is an excellent staff with very friendly and attentive servers.

Though the beef patties left something to be desired, we went home with the now-it’s-time-to-take-a-nap feeling, which is all a group of hungry students can ask for from a $12 meal. And maybe Harvard Square didn’t need another burger joint added to the mix, but with a burger called the Mac Attack, it’ll be hard to stay away.