Perched above Alden & Harlow, Longfellow Bar is a chic two-story spot in Harvard Square, serving inventive cocktails and elevated finger foods in a stylish, no-silverware setting.
"Just upstairs from chef Michael Scelfo's popular Harvard Square institution Alden & Harlow is Longfellow Bar, a sexy, two-story lounge with a seasonal roof deck. The 130-year-old building exudes charm, and Scelfo's loving restoration of the space has created one of the city's most intriguing places to have a drink. The bartenders here spin housemade seasonal syrups, infusions, and bitters into intriguing, somewhat surprising drinks. Consider the Fire in the Hole, a potent mix of Irish whisky, charred peach, and chartreuse." - Todd Plummer
"You've just walked in: Give us your first impression. Just upstairs from chef Michael Scelfo's popular Harvard Square institution Alden & Harlow is Longfellow Bar, a sexy, two-story lounge with a seasonal roof deck. The 130-year-old building exudes charm, and Scelfo's loving restoration of the space has created one of the city's most intriguing places to have a drink—think globe lights, cathedral-ceilings, original window panes, and a stunning Carrera-marble bar top. Cool. So who’s there? The best of Cambridge: intelligentsia coming or going from Harvard; good-looking young professionals on after-work dates, and coworkers catching up over drinks and snacks. What does the bar do best? The bartenders spin housemade seasonal syrups, infusions, and bitters into intriguing, somewhat surprising drinks. Consider the Fire in the Hole, a potent mix of Irish whisky, charred peach, and chartreuse. Food-wise, anything good to pair with those cocktails? The menu is filled with decadent, elevated comfort food favorites like pigs 'n' blankets with black truffle, honey, and dijonaise. The Longfellow Messy Fries come with an indulgent slather of beet chili, queso, and pickled jalapeños. How's the service? The bartenders here know their stuff. If you don't find something on the cocktail menu that tickles your fancy, they're happy to mix up something bespoke. Wrap it up: what are we coming here for? When you have an hour to kill in Harvard Square, this is the place to do it." - Todd Plummer
"Longfellow, a swanky place with furniture that looks like it came from the set of a mid-’90s legal thriller, calls itself a cocktail bar, but the best reason to come here is for the food. Everything on the menu is designed to be eaten with your hands, but instead of standard bar food like nachos and mozzarella sticks, you’ll find wild green and cheese pupusas and deviled eggs topped with crumbled potato chips and ikura. It gets crowded, but unlike most cocktail bars, you can make reservations (which is yet another reason we’re not totally convinced it’s a cocktail bar)." - dan secatore
"There’s no silverware at Longfellow, a cocktail bar above Alden & Harlow, as the food is supposed to be reminiscent of bar food you eat with your fingers. But we can’t think of any other bars that serve deviled eggs with ikura, or pigs in a blanket with black truffle and honey. Aside from the fact that you eat with your hands, Longfellow is civilized through-and-through, and it’d be wise to make a reservation - especially on weekends." - dan secatore
"A bar with a menu that reads like a table of contents from a cookbook, known for creative dishes like crab rangoon nachos." - Rachel Leah Blumenthal
