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Cambridge doing everything it can to contain outbreak of pizza in Harvard Square
By adamg on Sun, 07/02/2017 - 12:47pm
Cambridge Day reports &pizza, which you'd think would be a perfect Cambridge name, is trying yet again to move into a Harvard Square space, this time by teaming up with a bakery called Milk Bar.
Earlier, the pizza place narrowly avoided disaster by removing a trellis the Historical Commission had deemed unhistoric, only to founder on the shoals of the Cambridge zoning board, which put its municipal foot down and declared the square has enough pizza, thank you very much.
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Comments
A sandwich place would be good...
Something like Allstar Sandwich would be a nice addition to the Square. Especially if they do a breakfast. Leo's was a great go-to for just about anything you wanted to eat. If they could replicate a place like Jim's Deli in Brighton Center that would be amazing also.
With giant cake slices
They could call it the Greenhouse.
Good idea
I'd be OK with that too. I need a slice of five layer cake now and then.
Greenhouse guy
Not sure if he was the owner, manager, or just an employee... but there used to be a very very stern crewcutted man at the cash register. Always scowling. Like a gym teacher from the 50s.
My wife and I set a goal to make him smile at us someday. We'd try dumb jokes, over-the-top compliments on the food, etc. Nothing. Nothing at all. Perma-scowl.
I was eating there one Halloween and a woman came in with a little girl in costume. (I think likely his granddaughter), and immediately his face lit up and was like "THAT'S THE MOST ADORABLE GHOST COSTUME I'VE EVER SEEN!" He kissed her, and played "got your nose" with her, etc. Smiles the whole time the girl and her mom were in the place. And I was there to witness. Not sure my wife believes me.
Weird
Because every time I went there it was a stern, older lady hostess at the register. I used to get take out lunch there a lot when I worked in Harvard Square. Then one day I went in to pick up an order and the second I opened the door she told me I was banned from the restaurant. I was astounded. And she would not listen to me explain she clearly had me mixed up with someone else.
In a centrally-planned economy...
In a centrally planned economy, just because a business sells something that people in a particular location want, and just because that business would do well in that location, doesn't mean you can just open that business there. You need the central planning authorities to determine that there is a need for such a business in such a location.
A more likely scenario
They are protecting one of their friends, either a landlord or a proprietor, from competition.
If it is zoned for retail, you can't stop a tattoo parlor. If it is zoned for restaurant, you shouldn't be able to tell that restaurant what to serve.
What to do?
One thing that is really missing in the square is decent Chinese food. There are several asian places but the only Chinese since Yenching closed is the Hong Kong, and you are pretty much playing Russian roulette with food poisoning if you eat there. That's why the scorpion bowl is required--the alcohol helps kill the bugs that will get you sick.
I do miss Al's--their Greek Salad with grilled chicken was excellent. I'd rather not see another pizza joint but it's better than another bank. Maybe the Tasty can come back!
Ah, the Tasty...
I miss that place more than any that we've lost.
speaking of another bank
American Apparel is now going to be another bank :|
Uno's is closed, so why not
Uno's is closed, so why not let this place open. Bertucci's too. Yes there are a lot of pizza places in Harvard Square but the actual square footage of pizza places has to be way down from even a decade ago since both of those restaurants could hold a lot of people. Yes they had other items on the menu but if you are in Harvard Square going to those two most likely you were after pizza or something similar since casual dining wise they were not the only game in town by any measure.
Unos
Yah I went to that UNOs all the time. It's so bogus to prevent pizza places from opening. If the product stinks, it'll close on its own.
The article says the
The article says the landlords went out of their way to keep a restaurant in that space, which used to be a restaurant. They could have gotten more money from a bank, which wouldn't require the special permit. But they wanted to benefit the community by keeping it a restaurant.
The thanks they get from the (2 of 5 dissenting members of the) zoning board is yet more denials and delays.
What public purpose is served by requiring this special permit? Who benefits from all of this?
Well you do want to have some
Well you do want to have some level of planning as there is a finite amount of "pizza" or any other casual dining of a particular place that an area can absorb before it starts to put stress on other businesses or a similar nature. Although the Cambridge boards do not seem to fully comprehend the food layout of Harvard Square today versus Harvard Square at other moments in recent history. Neither Uno's or Bertucci's closed due to lack of pizza business it should be noted.
They also did not take into account what else the location could possibly be. With the Curious George block set for high end retail it would seem that a pizza place would be better than any other retailer that could afford the space. Surely better than another bank.
I think they have a sense of loss for the news stands and have some ill guided hope that something non food, non bank , non high end would move in when in reality the &pizza people are most likely their best option for that exact spot.
No.
No.
The purpose of the Zoning Board should not be the protection of existing pizza restaurants from competition.
My favorite pizza in Harvard Square...
...was the now defunct Oggi's in the Holyoke Center Building (or should I say Oggi's in the now defunct Holyoke Center Building). The basil leaves they used really added something to the pizza. Harvard Square just isn't the same as it used to be. It's so generic and boring now. Back in the 70s I would have thought the last word I'd ever use for Harvard Square is "boring".
Oggi's is still there
They just moved to the Mt. Auburn side:
https://boston.eater.com/2016/2/5/10922284/oggi-gourmet-harvard-square-c...
Oggi's is in the space
Oggi's is in the space formerly occupied by Finale, facing Mt Auburn. There is a lot of scaffolding blocking the front of Oggi's but I assure you it is still there, thankfully. I just had their tomato basil pizza last week.
I keep thinking back to the
I keep thinking back to the empty movie theater and then hope that none of the businesses that aren't big national chains succeed. That way they can keep their historic character by making it a suburban strip mall.
Two prior businesses have failed in that same location per the article (Crimson Corner & Tory Row) and another is willing to give it a shot. Yet the city feels it's better to leave the space empty rather than take a gamble at a business actually succeeding.
Well done Cambridge, well done.
An & is cute. They need to Up their Game to Davis Sq Level.
What might help is an oddly, though strategically-placed diacritical, a la "Spinal Tap." (Sorry, not typing with the French keyboard.)
http://oathpizza.com/?gclid=CKz4wMWG7NQCFdmIswoddbsOIw
That Cambridge Day article
That Cambridge Day article says "The many property owners – 17 members of a family trust – have to agree on what will go in the space and rejected Warby Parker, the high-end eyeglasses retailer that has found another space in the square." Does anyone know where they are opening?