The Savant Project

Good night sweet prince. Or whore. You had so many good, naughty, artsty and frankly… kinky sides. You will be missed. Closed on 5÷22÷2011. Leaves behind a horde of Mission Hill art scene freaksters and local professionals in search of booze and edible bits n’ pieces.
I shed a tear cus’ I’m missing you…
Chin up, son.
Stiff upper lip and all that…

It took my roommates and I a grand total of 3 months of coordination to finally make this brunch happen. And glad to say it wasn’t a disappointment.
In the same vein, it certainly was not out of the ordinary. The place probably has more charm at night with its regular crowd, music playing, and the ambiance in full swing. However we got there when there was only one server for the entire place and the other one rolled in rubbing his eyes clearly indicating the sun had just risen for him at 1 in the afternoon. So yes, what followed was incredibly slow service.
But to put a positive twist to it, the servers were nevertheless apologetic and very accomodating to our brunch demands. We ended up getting the Eggs Florentine, the Savant Breakfast w/​Fried Tofu, and the Sweet Brioche French Toast. All were good. We also finished that off with their fried twinkie. Tasted much like a churro, which they also have on their menu.
Then again, it’s very difficult to mess up brunch. It’s a mixture of eggs, potatoes, and bread. The real test for this place would be if and when I got a chance to come back here — with my days in Boston dwindling and their brunch being nothing out of the ordinary, that may be difficult. However, I hear they serve absinthe and have a fun vibe to the place in the evenings and that, given the chance, I’d certainly want to experience.

This is the worst restaurant I have EVER been to!
Fooled by a groupon, was dragged here for brunch.
Violating my own rule to never eat anywhere where the restaurant isn’t full, I enter.
It’s a nice day in Boston, so why not sit outside?
Waiting, waiting, waiting.
Waitress arrives with menu in hand.
Fills water into our classes from a pitcher that was sitting outside behind a dusty shed. As a result, water in our glasses is full of dust. Yummy!
Place order:
1) Bloody Mary
2) Mimosa
3) Ginger Pancakes
4) Eggs Benedict
Blood Mary tasted like tomato soup
Mimosa — how could you screw up orange juice and champagne
Now: Onto the entrees
Waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting…
Waitress comes by:
«Ginger pancakes are taking a long time because we ran out of pancake mix, we are going to go to Shaw’s and get them.»
Why would a brunch place run out of pancake mix? And why would anyone admit their pancake mix comes from Shaws?
My eggs Benedict served. Eggs overcooked and a stale english muffin. Took one bite and said no thanks.
Tried to settle bill, no waitress came to give it to us. We summed up what we had. Threw down the Groupon (losing about $ 20 of the groupon) and a tip.
As we left, the manager had the audacity to say: «Do you want to just pay your bill and keep the Groupon to use at another time.»
Hahaha. As if…
There is a Dunkin Donuts next door. Me and my date decided on Iced Coffee and Toasted Everything Bagel’s with chive cream cheese. yes were were THAT hungry at that point.

I JUST had valentine’s day dinner with a friend tonight. We, as two single ladies, were naturally drawn to their «Love It or F$#k it» theme — and the inclusive menus couldnt be beat, price wise and it was just funny and an awesome alternative for two single girls on single awareness day.
I got there about 15 minutes early, and was lead to the bar, where there seemed to be reserved seating, luckily my friend showed up right at 7, because I felt a little «rushed» in my seat at the bar in an almost empty restaurant. Turns out the seats were «reserved» for staff’s girlfriends. Okayy… whatever. Strike 1. A chip, really.
Anyway, I loved the menu, HYSTERICAL! My friend and I picked off the «F#$k it» menu, and the drinks and first course came quickly. And before we could say «yum» so did the 2^nd. And wayyy before we could reasonably be done with our burgers (mine veggie, and very good, friends hamburger stuffed with bleu cheese and bacon, also very good) after eating a bowl of mac and cheese (YUM), the waitress was back giving us our fried twinkies. Now, I know it was a fixed menu, and they needed to turn over tables — but, come on. The waittress all but booted us from the table when the next party showed. She was starting to say «ahh, guys-​» and I cut her off and said «we’re leaving, we got it».
Time elapsed for a 3 course meal on valentines day, between being seated and check paid? An hour and a half. Its not like we were dawdeling.
She was borderline nasty about it.
I loved the goodie bags they put on the tables, and the music guy singing the backstreet boys was downright awesome. The food was great too, but we werent given the opportunity to enjoy it properly. You could NOT beat what you got for the price, but I would have rather paid $ 65 bucks for the same menu and not be rushed then pay $ 40 and be writing a review that is less complimentary then I hoped to write.
Sum: they need to balance their awesome, funny, draw events with the size of their place, and adjust prices accordingly. Especially on valentines day!

savant: a person of learning; especially: one with detailed knowledge in some specialized field (as of science or literature)
If this place is a «savant», its detailed knowledge lies in chode sucking. The «project» is to see how many chodes can be sucked at once.
I’ve been there three times now, and each time they have proven their crappiness in a new event… sort of like coming in first in every event in the crapolympics.
The first time: Drinks only. Had a few of their signature drinks which were all raw sewage. Stop dumping wine into beer, fools. A «Lychee Mojito» tastes like a plain mojito. Soaking rose petals in Jim Beam tastes like Jim Beam. Also, they were out of three of the things we asked for. The drinks are made by people with all the grace and subtlty of a three year old making a penut butter and dog crap sandwhich.
The second time: If you ever want to experience the feeling of being brainwashed, eat here. The food is so bland, you’ll swear you ate because you are full… and yet… you have no memory of tasting it. Their burger sucks-​unseasoned meat cooked badly on a gigantic roll. Tuna sliders souded promising, but again, they were unseasoned. I can’t even remember the rest of the slop that resides in a boring, gray area in my memory.
The third try: Had a few beers when a crummy, noodling band took the stage. If you are into pseudo-​jazz played by some Berklee tool thumbing a six-​stringed bass and Dave Mathews’ brain tumor noodling on an electric gitaur, then you should come here. And then murder yourself.
The ambiance: great space, retarded staff, boring clientele. Seriously, our bartender was like a zombie with Downs syndrome.

I went here on a Saturday afternoon to use my Groupon. I walked in and was kind of surprised. This place was pretty dank and dark. I used to hang out in this ‘hood when I went to NU and I guess I was expecting something very different from when I left five years ago, but this felt like every single other bar in the area. In fact, if I hadn’t heard they had fairly good food, I would assume they didn’t even serve food based on the appearance. However, they do have a nice patio in back.
My boyfriend ordered the Manny’s Burrito and I got the chicken and beet salad. All of the food was good and fairly cheap. I also tried a «Millermosa» (miller lite, oj and orange curacao). It was shockingly delicious.
Although the food was good, it was nothing to write home about. And the bathrooms were freaking gross.

First, I need to say that this was a groupon experience. I’m not sure if this negates my review, but I feel like it is something people should know.
We went on a Wednesday night. As we walked in we noticed another couple already waiting. We both proceeded to wait for 10 more minutes for someone to come seat us. There were dirty tables all over and the server kept saying how busy it was for a Wednesday. I didn’t see too many people, but what do I know. I was hoping for something a little darker and chic as their website suggested. This just wasn’t so.
Because they were so busy we waited after being seated for at least 10 – 15 more minutes before the server even came by to give us a menu. Had I not had a groupon to use I would have walked right out the door.
We browsed the menu, finally got our servers attention and started to order… only to find out that out of 8 different entrees, they were out of four. FOUR! I went with the veggie burger and my date got the «lunch» cheddar burger. We also started off with the mussels and a few drinks.
Surprisingly, our mussels and drinks came out quickly. The mussels (topped with sweet potato fries for some reason?) were tasty but a bit salty. Still good though. Our drinks were eh. My mangria tasted like a watered down margarita.
Our dishes were bland. My veggie burger could be described as stuffing on a bun. It had no texture and no taste except for a huge burnt piece on the bottom. The regular burger immediately started to not settle well in my dates stomach. The only upside… the fry mix. It was a nice mixture of sweet potato and regular fries. Quite tasty.
Our server was friendly enough and I felt bad that he was sweating so much.
Had it not been for the Groupon I’m not sure if I would have ever made it out to The Savant Project. I can now safely say that I will also never be back.

Ugh, just… no.
I heard there were good cocktails here, so I came armed with a Groupon. Apparently, so did everyone else on a warm Wednesday night and with one waiter manning the entire restaurant (or so it seemed), it took forever for anything to happen. Ten minutes waiting to be seated, ten minutes to get water and have our orders taken, etc, etc. In fact, the only thing that DIDN’T take long (surprisingly) was for the food itself to arrive.
Not that it would have mattered. My salmon was dry and tasteless with slightly over-​salted coconut rice and a mango salsa that didn’t blend well at all. My boyfriend’s chicken was drier than tree bark and the fried mushrooms had zero taste (this coming from a mushroom lover!).
The promised drinks list was relatively interesting but not any more exciting than other lists I’ve seen. I got the most unique thing (imo) – the Cocoa-​Cochon (bacon vodka + chocolate… whaaa – ?) and it tasted like mostly chocolate with some strange weird aftertaste you’d never know was bacon. When I mentioned this to the waiter, he brought over a shot of the bacon vodka because he wanted me to try it on its own. It smelled kind of bacon-​y, but just tasted salty and gross. Nice thought, but no thanks.
The extra star (besides the obligatory one to post a review) is for our poor waiter who was friendly and nice even though he was immensely overworked. Otherwise, this place was just a big let-​down. I get that they’re mostly catering to the Northeastern crowd so I didn’t expect Craigie on Main, but maybe something a little like Central Kitchen/​Enormous Room? Kingston Station? Hell, even Zuzu at the Middle East was better!

It is now clear to me that I should have spent my groupon at Savant Project having liquid dinner. Probably beers since the cocktails, while okay — weren’t anything mind-​blowing.
I should have listened to the Unilocal reviews — since the majority of these folks were right on the money. Why oh why would I want to eat here? The place (food wise) is way overpriced and the food is downright terrible.
I’m sorry, Savant Project. I call it like I see it.
First: Caesar salad with tempura shrimp. An odd combo, I’ll admit — but the tapas menu was scarce in appetizing choices. The salad was over dressed and the tempura batter on the shrimp was over the top. For tempura, I’m a firm believer that the batter should be light, crispy and (if fried at the correct temp) not greasy. This tempura shrimp was overly battered and not fried for long enough because it was soggy and nasty and tasteless! I salvaged the shrimp by taking off the batter (which came off in one honkin’ piece).
Second: pork ribs. These ribs looks okay — but the smell of them turned my dining companion off completely. We tried them anyway only to find them to be the blandest of all bland.
Third, fish tacos. The fish was battered and fried and we ran into the same issue as we did with the shrimp. The cabbage slaw and guac accompanying were tasty, but once the batter was off, the taco went from a fish taco to a cabbage slaw taco with a bit of fish. Sadness.
The service was friendly and the décor was pretty cool — but I don’t think it was worth the trip out there. We would have been better off going to TGI Fridays.

I saw this place last summer, when I was visiting Boston and we heard it was good. My husband has family in Boston and his cousin had been here before, so we took his advice and went for lunch. We headed over to Mission HIll from Roxbury. It’s just a short walk from there.
I like the space and the art. My baby Maya was admiring the art as well! The waiter/​bartender was very nice and got to us almost right away. He told us the specials and suggested the veggie burger. He said they made it there and it was delicious, but he needed to check to see if they had it first. Their delivery was late that day, so I was out of luck. He suggested the quesadilla then and I was glad he did. It had roasted veggies inside and a delicious sauce on the side. I was happy with my selection and washed it down with a glass of Allagash White! Slurp!
All in all, it was a good meal and not too pricey. We were happy with it and will most likely return next visit.

The Savant Project has:
1. funky décor (kind of a mixture of bohemian, antique, and modern/​contempo)
2. a. tasty veggie burger (as well as a few other veggie options)
3. an unique drink menu (lots of fun drinks and cocktails to try)
4. a laid back wait staff
5. good background music choices
6. reasonable prices
7. good access to the T (Green Line E)
8. back patio with spots in the sun and shade
I have eaten dinner and brunch here and have enjoyed the experience. When I was here for dinner, there were not many people in the restaurant and the bar staff were really friendly and talkative. It was a really nice experience to get so much time with them and talk about whatever was going on. I do not have that feeling in most bars in the Boston area.

Sheer disappointment is what I felt upon leaving this place; no, I really was. I really wanted to like it place and went there with Erick H and was quite excited about it — we made a reservation on Open Table and proceeded to drive over.
Having first heard about this place because of their trivia, I had investigated their menu and it looked fairly appetizing; and when a Groupon became available I jumped onto the occasion figuring that it would be well worth it.
We entered the establishment and stood near the entrance, in front of the deserted podium. A few people were sitting directly to our right and a waitress walked by completely ignoring us, apparently in a rush. A bartender glanced at us but seemed busy making small talk with a customer. We waited patiently.
One minute passed… two minutes… five minutes. Still nothing. No acknowledgment of our presence. We are just standing there, ignored. The staff doesn’t seem to notice or care. Erick and I are at a point where we’re thinking about turning around but then the bartender tells us that we can grab a seat anywhere. Wow, they couldn’t have told us that on one of the numerous types they glanced at us? I mean it wasn’t like the place was packed, there must have been 10 patrons in total. Not hard.
Maybe they hired Hellen Keller to work as a waitress and bar tender???
We got seated in the terrace in the back which was really poorly lit and proceeded to order our food and drinks. I had sangria, and then we split the polenta logs. I then ordered the burger.
The polenta logs were really good despite not being logged shaped. They came with a very addictive dipping sauce. It was the highlight of the meal. The burger was really hard to eat, too high and the meat was undercooked in mine. Their grill didn’t work and they just shouldn’t have offered it on the menu. They baked it instead I think or something. It wasn’t bad but wasn’t great.
The sangria was far from amazing and the service very flakey and slow, which really ruined my experience there and would keep me from coming back — the menu was promising though, featuring tapas and a lot of various dishes which excited me upon gazing at it — and their events seem like a lot of fun. They just didn’t seem to care, like they had given up and I felt disrespected. A shame really.

This is definitely not a place to watch sports. The crowd here is in the young twenties. Also, there are no hard liquor here… so sangria hit the spot!
If you enjoy loud live music, you should hit this place. Personally, I didn’t care for the loud part cuz I had a difficult hearing the conversations around the table.

I was quite disappointed by this joint. The food was less than spectacular and it didn’t live up to the vibe I was hoping to find in the Mission Hill neighborhood.
I ordered the salmon coconut rice with mango bites and a side of roasted asparagus ($ 18). The salmon was not well cooked and the waiter never asked how I wanted my fish to be done (there is an asterisk on this particular dish where you can specify how well you can have this dish prepared for you).
My friend ordered the Veggie burger which didn’t look so good either. As for the the pork tenderloin dish (see my photo), I don’t have anything grand to say about it.
Although we had reservations, we were first seated by the door (it was already cramping my style). I had to ask if we could sit in the back and then was later offered an empty table in the back.
The white sangria was good but I was hoping for a special twist to it.
Otherwise…it’s an okay restaurant but seriously… the food on the menu can be made at home.
See my photos (COMING SOON) attached.

Four months later, we return to the SP for another post-​MFA lunch. Most Bostonians agree that the question of where to dine post-​MFA has never been resolved because of the paucity of good restaurants on Huntington (there are, of course, some exceptions).

A few observations:
1) This is clearly not a Sat lunch place– it was absolutely dead again. There were two couples eating on the patio, and not a soul inside. Maybe the place is packed at dinner?
2) SP, are you a fake dive bar like B Side was once upon a time? If so, that explains the positively sad décor. If not, please, please jazz this place up — it’s actually a nice space with those big windows that look out onto Tremont Street and that funky coffered ceiling, but man, you guys are doing nothing to work with your assets. The entrance is bizarre (with that unstaffed computer sitting there…), the bathrooms are absolutely depressing, and the artwork (this time it was old LPs with drawings of birds on them) leaves something to be desired.
3) The lunch was fine. Just fine. I had the veggie burger– again– and it was ok though slightly clumsy (the patty is topped with one teaspoon of hummus and an enormous onion ring– and then squeezed into a bun) — the best part was the side potatoes. My husband had the omelette — also served with potatoes (some sweet potatoes thrown in for good measure).
Clearly SP is doing nothing to make the food refined (e.g. no salad served with the sandwich, no bread basket, no real presentation to speak of. The veggie burger looked almost naked on the plate with an old looking piece of lettuce, a tomato, and some potato squares) but it’s absolutely fine for a Saturday lunch. I just sort of wonder if they might want to go the extra mile (hell, even go an extra 5 feet) and do something, just something small, that indicates that they actually care about food preparation and presentation.

Oh cute. I would for sure come back for their trivia night to get some beers and appies. The food is creative, but not gourmet, even though it seems they are trying to move in that direction. The cocktails are fun and the menu is actually funny (read the cocktail menu).
And if you go, get the Greek salad with the Fried Feta Balls. You won’t be sorry.

I picked up the recent Groupon for this place just before I left for a long weekend in Boston — the menu was intriguing and the timing was perfect! We ended up headed there for Sunday brunch before we started the drive back to DC. I made a reservation for 11AM on Open Table… and when we showed up, they were still cleaning up from the night before.
«We don’t open until 11:30,» they said.
«But we have a reservation,» I replied.
«Okay,» they told us, «have a seat at a table and we’ll be ready at 11:30.»
I frowned. «But we made the reservation for 11.»
«You shouldn’t have been able to do that. Sit down and we’ll be with you as soon as we can.»
This was an auspicious start to our brunch experience — confusion with a dash of ambivalence. And a dirty restaurant. Yay! We had two glasses of water placed in front of us, each with weird floating bits. We pushed those aside and looked at the menu. It was all trendy stuff — familiar drinks and dishes that have been tweaked and distorted with hip ingredients and overly clever twists. Steak and yucca fries! Ginger pancakes with sake-​soaked berries! A mimosa with Miller instead of champagne (WHAT??#!@#?)!
I ordered a «mimosa» that was just a blackcurrant-​flavored champagne drink. This is not a mimosa! Their blackcurrant syrup doesn’t actually dissolve in champagne, which is a design flaw. We tried to get water without floating bits, which were shrugged off as «maybe coming from a lemon,» but never got a refill without some. The food we ordered was tasty, but nothing special. The steak had gristle and the yucca fries were lukewarm. The ginger pancakes didn’t taste like ginger, and the sake-​soaked berries tasted like they’d been defrosted from frozen and never saw the sake. Still a tasty combo, and the lime whipped cream was excellent. The real highlight was the homefries, which was a mix of regular and sweet potatoes, perfectly cooked and salted. DELICIOUS. That brought this restaurant up to a solid 3-​star level.
Our waiter was friendly but harried — he was opening the bar and waiting on a growing crowd of patrons all by himself. I understand they’d had a particularly crazy night before. Would I return? No. And I’m not just saying that because I live 600 miles from the place. It just wasn’t spectacular. It’s straight-​up trend that doesn’t back it up with top-​notch food.

The staff here was very friendly, but the food was only ok. I went with a few friends, and between the four of us we tried:
the Beef Sliders (only 2, if you really want a hamburger, this isn’t the way to go)
the Half Pound, Vermont Sharp Cheddar Stuffed Angus Burger with Crispy Applewood Bacon (Overcooked, I couldn’t find the cheese) which came with a mix of sweet potato and regular fries (good, but not crisp, kinda soggy)
the Smoked Salmon, Wasabi Honey Crème Fraiche and Fried Pita
Tempura Veggies with Mustard Peanut Sauce (the sauce was amaaaazing)
the Quesadilla trio (not, bad, but certainly not good, and they don’t have sour cream or real salsa)
the Churros (served with cayenne chocolate dipping sauce, delicious, probably serves 2)
the sake-​soaked berries (served in a glass with whipped cream, and no spoon… i don’t know if we were supposed to drink this? I asked for spoons, pretty good, but a lot of food)
Also, I hate websites that play music. Turn it off by default please.

Well, I feel like the Savant Project is still a work in progress.
I met a bunch of friends here for drinks/​tapas last night. I was the first to arrive at about 5:45p, and even though their cute little website (matches the cozy space) says they’re open and raring to go, I walked into a noisy construction project (gotta love nail guns) and sawdust. Then they didn’t have a few of the drinks and beers on their menu. Then they were having an unannounced (at least not on their cute little website) guest chef and prix fixe menu starting at 7.
All that awkwardness and I still have to say I had the best margarita ever — made with jalapeño-​infused tequila and real live sour mix with egg white and everything (it was foamy!). So excellent! My tuna sliders tasted good, but the little tiny rolls were stale. The tuna sashimi had a great dressing and I loved the wasabi peas, but not really a tapas dish. at least in presentation.
Overall, the drinks rocked. Our laid-​back waiter/​bartender was friendly and commodious. Prices are actually decent. I would def try this place again, first because it’s so close to work, but also just to see what the change in season brings to the menu. I’m curious!

Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares would have a field day with this place.
I was really excited to try this place for dinner, based on all the rave reviews on Unilocal.But like anything, there are variances in experience and perception. This review just reflects mine.
We came here on a Friday, about 8:00 p.m., and the place was almost totally deserted. A scruffy hipster-​looking guy in a t-​shirt and jeans got up from the bar and asked us «two for dinner?» *This* guy is the host/​manager? This guy is the face of the restaurant when the owners aren’t there? I don’t care how avante-​garde and twenty-​something your clientele is, this is a Fail.
We sat, and were given the glass of cucumber-​infused water, which the GF liked, so points there. At this point there is one large bachelorette party in the upper level, two other two-​tops in the restaurant, and 1 bar patron. That’s it. Keep that in mind as you read on.
I wanted a stiff irish whiskey after a shitty week of shitty work, and discovered (yeah I should have read the reviews more closely) that they have a limited liquor license. They have flavored vodka, flavored rum, Goldschlager and Llagermeister (?). So I ordered a cocktail and a glass of wine. That threw the waitress for a loop, she asked what I wanted first, I said «bring the cocktail then the glass of wine.» She responded by doing nothing.
Nothing. She went back to the bar to lean. At some point the bartender got the message that we were waiting for drinks, and somehow got the white wine that the GF ordered, and came herself to our table, and asked me «Did you want something?»
OK, maybe I’m a grumpy old man, but that just makes me think our waitress is a dim bulb. Repeat the order.
After that fiasco, we ordered our food, and decided to try the polenta logs, again, based on rave reviews. I ordered the fabulous-​sounding bleu-​cheese stuffed burger, the GF ordered the tuna steak with mesclun greens (those greens? very eco-​unfriendly, by the way for all you hipster green liberals) with a potato pancake.
The polenta logs were disappointing. Soggy, limp and structurally unstable, it was like dipping wet cornbread into the surprisingly piquant machango aioli.
I had a view of the kitchen window from my table, and I said at one point, seeing both my burger and her tuna sitting in the window, «oh good, our food’s up!»
And waited. The waitress moved through several times, looking at the window, sorting through plates that were stacking up, giving the bachelorette party what they ordered while our food SAT. THERE. GETTING. DRIED. OUT.
Fifteen minutes the burger and the tuna sat under the heat lamp. FAIL. EPIC FAIL. I have spent more than my fair share of time in a real kitchen and dining room, and you get that food out when it’s ready. The owners should be ashamed of themselves — this is the kind of thing that they should fire people for.
So yes, when we inevitably got our food, The fries were overly salty, dried up on the outside, limp and soggy on the inside. The burger was of course, devoid of any remaining natural juices, and was saved from being a total disaster only by virtue of the bleu cheese insides which were still warm and goopy.
The second star is for the valiant attempt which fell well short, and for the décor, and for putting up such a place in Mission Hill, which could use more places like this. But alas, with a world of great restaurants so close by, we will absolutely not be going back.
P. S. the «sangria» is made with goldschlager.