Brunch at John Harvard's + A Giveaway Winner

Looking for a place to grab a wallet-friendly brunch this weekend? I have your answer: John Harvard's Brewery and Ale House in Harvard Square.

Z and I visited John Harvard's last weekend, as part of my involvement with the Boston Brunchers. The Brunchers typically go as a group to a local restaurant to sample their brunch options, but John Harvard's had their's set-up a little differently. Basically, any Bruncher could reserve a table at John Harvard's whenever was convenient for them (within a certain time frame) to try out the restaurant's brunch menu on their own time.

I had only been to John Harvard's once since they renovated the Cambridge location (they also have a location in Framingham, among others), but only visited for drinks on my last visit. This time around, it was nice to experience the spacious dining room, which is appropriately separated from the bar and sports lounge area.

Per usual, I started my meal with a House Bloody Mary ($8).

I adore Bloody Marys that are served with a generous amount of garnishes, and John Harvard's was no exception. Their house bloody mary mix was delightfully spicy and well-seasoned, too - and their bloody is even made with tomato vodka for extra tomato flavor. 

After we ordered our entrees, our waiter brought us some bread and oil to nibble on. 

The bread was delightfully warm and had an addictive cheesy crust. The oil was, unfortunately, a little thin for our liking, although it was seasoned nicely.

For our entrees, I went with the Harvard's Omelet ($9.99) and Z went with the Thick Cut French Toast Stack ($11.99). (Quick note: John Harvard's also offers their regular menu at brunch).

Let's start with the omelet first: At John Harvard's, you can create-your-own omelet from a variety of ingredients, without them charging you per ingredient. Much more economical than the usual create-your-own-omelet set-up - that is, unless you only like one or two ingredients in your omelet (weirdo...just kidding!). I added spinach, tomatoes, onions, and cheddar to my omelet. It was cooked to fluffy perfection, although it was a tad under-seasoned (I ended up adding salt and pepper to mine). The home fries on the side, however, were almost perfect - crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and wonderfully salty.

Z's French toast was quite the contrast from my entree. It consisted of brioche dipped in crème anglaise, and was layered with Nutella and brûléed banana. Talk about decadent! I tried a few bites of his French toast - which was also served with homemade whipped cream - and it was delicious. If you have a sweet tooth, this dish is for you.

Overall, we had a lovely brunch at John Harvard's. My only gripe: The large dining room was only half full, but the host sat each party right next to each other, instead of spacing us out. That's always a pet peeve of mine, but especially first thing in the morning.

*As part of the Boston Brunchers, our brunch was complimentary, but the opinions expressed in this post are 100 percent my own. 

Oh, and remember my Easter candy giveaway with Lake Champlain Chocolates? We have a winner! (I picked a winner using Random.org's True Random Number Generator). 

The winner is: Shaylan Rodman!

"My favorite Easter candy has always been chocolate covered malt eggs."

Congrats, Shaylan! Please email me within 48 hours to claim your prize (after 48 hours, I will pick a new winner).

Have a great weekend, everybody!

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