Thursday, August 7, 2008

Crema Cafe

Harvard Square used to be a place of many independent and unique stores, restaurants and more. But change has been happening, leading to a large influx of chain stores and restaurants into the area. So I was intrigued when Crema Cafe, an independent "coffee house," took over a spot that once had been filled by an Au Bon Pain.

The Crema Cafe is a place to hang out, to chat with friends, to access their free Wi-Fi and to eat & drink. It is fairly roomy, with a second floor loft that looks down over the rest of the place. On each of my visits, it was fairly busy though I was still able to find an empty table. They also have some tables outside for those warm, summer days. It is a comfortable place, without that institutional feeling you get at some chain restaurants.

Their menu has plenty of baked goods, sandwiches and various drinks. Prices are generally reasonable and the quality of the food is high. For example, the egg sandwich has real scrambled eggs and you can get slices of real bacon atop it. The sandwiches come on French bread, their own English muffins, croissants or bagels. They have flaky crossisants, and I very much enjoyed their ham & cheese croissant. The muffins are tasty, especially the banana walnut, but they are a bit small. They have fresh-brewed iced tea, unsweetened, which gladdens me.

Service is good and the servers are generally accomodating and personable. I really liked this place and it will be a regular stop when I venture into Harvard Square.

Crema Cafe
27 Brattle St.C
Cambridge, MA
Phone: 617-876-2700

Crema Café on Urbanspoon

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have to ask, since the name sets high expectations: do they have great crema on their espresso drinks and do they manage to make some good latte art???

Richard Auffrey said...

I can't answer that Jill as I do not like coffee so I have never ordered it there. But I will try to check with others who do like coffee about that.

Anonymous said...

I've really been enjoying Crema Cafe too. Good sandwiches and pastries. Haven't had too much trouble getting a seat either. We'll see if that continues once school starts up again.