While driving on Route 30 a few weeks ago, the glowing letters of Tavern In The Square caught our attention. The restaurant opened its Framingham location on Aug. 7, and serves many options from “small bites” to pricey main entrees. Our expectations were high, so we decided to give the restaurant a try. Here are our thoughts:

Food:
The $17 mac and cheese was surprisingly tasty. Crusted with a generous layer of breadcrumbs and served in a cast iron skillet, the very traditional American delicacy was elevated. The serving size was also impressive. Considering this dish is only priced a couple dollars more than a bowl from Panera Bread and is triple the size, we rate the mac and cheese an 8.5/10.

The steak tips, served with garlic mashed potatoes and a side salad was $29. A great way to truly critique a restaurant’s quality is to get its most expensive dish, usually a meat, and put it to the test. We asked for the steak done medium-rare, but many pieces were tough as bricks. All we can say is that it was medium-rare at one point. The “garlic” mashed potatoes were bland and mediocre at best. I’ve never had instant mashed potatoes in my life, but these potatoes were what I imagined they’d taste like. The side salad was the best part of the entree, probably because it’s hard to mess up a salad.

As for the $17 burger, even though the fries were forgettable, the burger was unforgettably bad. Ordering a burger at an American restaurant like Tavern In The Square is usually the safe route, because how can someone mess up a burger? But, Tavern In The Square seemed to do just that. The burger lacked the juicy, tender meat flavor that is to be expected and none of the condiments and toppings seemed to meld well together. Instead of tasting like a cohesive burger, it tasted like two patties with some cheese and a shred of lettuce. The “special sauce” displayed in the photo below was just ketchup and mayo, nothing special.

Ambiance:

The noise levels in the restaurant are way too loud, or at least when we were there. The tables were only feet away from each other, and the music was blasted so obnoxiously that it was hard to keep our conversation going. Don’t come here if you’re looking to catch up with an old friend, because you’ll probably be finding yourself repeating “come again?”

Every square inch of wall space in this corner restaurant is covered in flat screen TVs playing college football. Before coming to Tavern In The Square, we had no idea that many live broadcasts would be happening at once—kudos to their cable company.

Service:

The service at Tavern In The Square was the highlight of our evening. Even though it took a while to be seated, once we were seated, our server was attentive and full of energy. She happily accommodated all of our orders and special requests, and made our experience much more enjoyable. Even though the food was mid-tier at best, our server made the restaurant seem like it was much higher quality.

Overall Rating: 6/10

We can imagine this restaurant being much more enjoyable for adults, especially since the bar was crowded with people who looked much more satisfied with their experience than the rest of the customers. Cracking open a beer and watching some football with your buddies is what it seems like this restaurant specializes in, so at least for us, we wouldn’t go back to Tavern In The Square anytime soon.