Match

01÷22÷10
Meeting up with a friend at a nearby hotel and randomly waked into Match: Surprise!
The bar was not as busy since it’s only 5-​ish and we had quick meal before dinner. I ordered a dirty martini, however, the bartender didn’t chill the glass before serving.
Spicy shrimp $ 9.50
asparagus with prosciutto $ 3.75 — so many asparagus and prosciutto for under $ 5.
Great cocktail and atmosphere, highly recommended.

This food is crap and so overpriced!
Went for a friend’s birthday. Got a bunch of ridiculously overpriced martinis. Thought the cheap mini burgers would offset the cost. Instead, I left hungry and broke. The burgers are a bite or 2 each and disappointing. I remember my side salad was the best part of the meal and thinking I could probably recreate it at home.
Really nice atmosphere. Would try again on «ladies night» though the servers were trashy last time I was there…

So, I found myself here for a class reunion for my leadership development program. It sure is full of wood paneling and dark lighting!
Match is a place I probably wouldn’t have gone on my own, as evidenced by the fact that it’s been open for like five years and I never went here. It’s definitely cool looking on the inside, and has a pretty romantic vibe, but I wasn’t around when it was really busy, so I can’t say for sure that it’s actually a good date location.
Positives for this place: the burgers are actually pretty good! I didn’t really expect them to be, but I was very much mistaken. They were juicy and the tiny buns were toasted just right. Surprising! The waitstaff was attentive and efficient (although our party was also like the only one in the restaurant at the time), and the atmosphere again is pretty cool. IF I were a secret agent attempting to seduce an agent from a foreign nation, I would take them to Match.
Negatives for this place: as indicated in the name, Match is about cocktails, and I’m not really a cocktail sort of fellow. I don’t know that I can rightly dock them anything for this, it’s not like they were deficient in any way, but they don’t have a lot of beer options. Hoegarden isn’t terrible, but I dislike having to drink it because I have no other options.
Also, the burgers are SERIOUSLY small. Again, this isn’t false advertising — it’s how they are marketed. But I needed about three of them to feel like I’d had anything to eat at all, and even then I got more food when I got home.
If you go there between 5−6pm, you can get mini-​burgers for $ 1. That’s a great deal. If you don’t, then you have to pay something like $ 4 or $ 5, and for my hunger, that would not have been a reasonable price. For people who eat less than I do, though, it’s pretty cheap.

I was looking for a fun, romantic place for valentines day. This place hit the spot. My husband and I love burgers… and I love martini’s. Perfect combination. The hubs is not a drinker but they even made him a non-​alcoholic version of one of their martini’s. That made his day. He usually gets embarrassed by ordering a Sherly temple but they made him feel special.
He ordered 2 cheeseburgers and their onion rings and I had the mac n cheese with a BBQ burger. We licked our plates. Those were some yummy burgers!!!
Will we return, definitely… the prices were just ok. the martini’s were $ 12 (ouch) we might wanna try one of there $ 1 burger happy hours next time.

This review is based solely on the «$ 5 Entrees for Ladies» night. Otherwise, I probably would never set foot in this place. Not that it’s a bad place, its just not necessarily my «scene». Not that there’s really a «scene» here, but ok I’m gonna stop blabbering about nothing and get to reviewing.
The vibe in this place is kind of cool… kind of lounge-​y and dark. Except for the bathrooms. They are mad dirts. I think the dresses they make the waitresses wear are weird– Like short brown assymmetrical «Jane from Tarzan» dresses. Strange.
Anyway, on to the food. The first time I came here I ordered the pasta with lobster chunks in it, which was very very creamy and yummy. Portion was a little small, but I mean I was only paying $ 5 for a usually almost $ 20 meal, so there’s no way I can complain.
Second time I had the steak with mashed potatoes, both of which were very tasty. I can’t believe I only spent $ 5 on a steak! Sweet!
They are known for their martinis here, which I can’t comment on since I’ve never tried any of them. Apparently they have one with pop rocks? Interesting. Couldn’t justify spending $ 12 on it though.
Overall I like this place because of the $ 5 Entrée night, but otherwise I probably wouldn’t pay full price for anything on the menu. Mostly because I’m cheap and there are other restaurants in which I’d rather spend $ 20 + for a meal.

I went here last night and despite my bad mood I had a wonderful experience.
We got there around 10:15 and started with the calamari appetizer and a bottle of their Malbec wine. The calamari was delicious and the only downside was that it was a very small portion and amongst the 3 of us (I was with two guys), it disappeared pretty quickly! But calamari can be pretty awful or really amazing depending on where you go and it was amazing here.
The malbec was delicious btw and we ended up ordering another bottle.
We wanted to stick around until 11 for the infamous $ 1 burgers. Our waitress was very attentive and informative and told us right away about the deal and also made sure we knew which burgers were included in the deal.
After many a glass of wine, the time flew by and it was finally 11, when our waitress promptly came over to ask if we were ready to order our burgers. I ordered two of the spicy lamb burgers and a side of the onion rings… so much for my plan to start eating healthy :(
Alas, the burgers were DELICIOUS. They are mini burgers, fyi, but they are great. The buns are perfectly cooked, the meat is perfectly cooked, and the spicy yogurt is the perfect touch of flavor. The onion rings were great too and served with a side of barbeque sauce.
I read some more reviews of Match on here and I didn’t know about Ladies Night– I will definitely be returning on a Thursday very soon!
Oh! The ambiance is nice too– especially the fireplace.

Definitely a great romantic spot; maybe not a first date type place since its kept pretty dark (you wouldn’t want a nasty surprise later on ;)) but a fun time.
Keep in mind, Match takes the slider size mentality to all of their menu… except the martini’s! Everything was delicious (I had the lobster and the salmon, he had the veggie and pork), but the sides were small for splitting (definitely order one side per person at the table at least). More importantly, my French Kiss was amazing, and his (yes…HE ordered this) PopRocks Martini was fun (I can’t get used to that fizzle as you sip!!)
There was a big group next to us, and the waiters looked pretty frazzled, so maybe not the next reunion destination, but I’ll definitely be back with my ladies for some drinks!

Why would anyone pay full price for those mini burgers? Just come between 5−6pm or 11pm-​1am for $ 1 burgers for the first 3 burgers on the menu (I think they were the regular cheeseburger, lamb burger, and the turkey burger).
$ 1 for a (dare I say) GOURMET-​ish mini burger, what a deal! The lamb burger was deeeeeelish and the spicy flavor with yogurt relish was perfect for the late night munchies. Also, that’s a huge chunk of meat for a mini burger.
yay for $ 1 mini burgers!

Went here twice and I love the food and décor.
The first time I went on a Sunday to take my friend out for his birthday. They had a Guy’s Night with $ 4.99 steaks and fries and the steak is a good size, maybe 8−10oz. We got the chicken satay as a starter which was god and I got a lamb burger slider. It was about $ 8 almost double the price of his meal and half the size. But, it was very flavorful I must admit. The beer was cheap only $ 5, I think they make the money mostly off of the martinis which are about $ 13. The waitress was nice and she wore a cute brown dress which she said the male managers chose for them to wear haha.
I went once again for Ladies’ Night on Thursday for $ 5 entrees and sat in the lounge with about 10 girls. I had just a beer and we ordered the calamari for an appetizer. It was really small, but flavorful indeed. I ordered the steak and it was about 10oz. It seemed bigger than that and I even brought half of it home.
The food was great, but the service was slow in the lounge, but it was crowded. It took a good 20 minutes to just order drinks and when we were trying to pay and get to-​go boxes, I just gave up and walked over to the waitress to get that taken care of. I will return, but I’ll probably sit in the main seating area.
Also, not many single guys to choose from, my friend overheard some guys commenting that they go there on Thursday for all the ladies, but I mostly saw girls with friends or guys who were with their mothers or girlfriends.

Came here with my boyfriend to grab a bite after a few drinks elsewhere. It was another one of those restaurants that I didn’t even know existed until it was pointed out to me.
My first impression was that it had a very hip vibe, but it wasn’t pretentious or pompous. We were seated very quickly (it was a Tuesday night after all) in a big booth. The boyfriend recommended I try one of the burgers so I went ahead and ordered the roasted veggie and mozzerella mini-​burgers. I was assuming it would be a veggie burger, but when they came out… it was literally roasted veggies (mushroom/​red pepper) with a hunk of mozzerella on a bun. The mozzerella was very fresh and the veggies had a nice smokey flavor.
As for the drinks… I went for one of the signature martinis though I couldn’t think of the same of it off the top of my head. It seriously packed a punch though and threw me for a loop.

**Disclaimer** This review is for drinks only! If I ever return to Match for food, I’ll update this…
If you’ve ever ventured into the world of internet dating, you likely know that just about every other single fella here in Boston thinks they’re being super original and creative when they ask you to meet them here for your first date. Why? Because then you can say you met at Match… no potential uncomfortable «I get dates off the internet» explaining to do to your friends and loved ones if you ever make it that far. They were darn smart when they came up with the name for this place because I guarantee they get a few extra customers in there just because of it.
That said, Match is actually a pretty cool place in my book. They definitely make a mean dirty martini and having tried that alone (plus the pretty neat décor) gets them the 3 star rating.

Came here for pre-​21^st birthday shenanigans.
The drink menu is extensive. They offer creative cocktails like a pop-​rocks martini.
The décor was nice. Love the big fire wall.
The prices are a bit steep but they offer weekly events like «$ 1 burger night» and «$ 5 entrée ladies night» where you can get good deals.
I only had drinks but the menu did look tasty. I will be back to sample the food.
(Sorry I can only give 3 stars without tasting the food). I will update my review after next visit. :)

Thursday is Ladies’ Night = $ 5 entrees.
$ 5 for filet mignon? I’m SO there.
My friend and I came here to get some cheap dinner, given that we’re poor graduate students and seriously needed some pick-​me-​ups.
We showed up at 9ish, and was told by the hostess that it was a 45 minute wait. «Sure, no problem, we’ll just go to the bar to get a drink,» we told her.
We took a walk around the bar and couldn’t squeeze in to get a drink. The bartenders were quite busy, but luckily, the hostess came to seat us 10 minutes after we came in.
First things I noticed: the fantabulous fireplace and décor — great ambience, cute little candle on the table. We had a friendly waitress, and ended up ordering two martinis each for the night. We both had the filet, and ordered the lobster spaghettini for our appetizer (which were able to get for $ 5 as well).
Herein lies a problem: Thursdays are busy nights for Match. And apparently, lots of chicks order filet mignon. Once our order came out (picked up by another waitress), we asked her how each was cooked. She didn’t know, and answered that they were both cooked «Medium.» Well, I asked for medium and my friend asked for medium rare. And the chicks at the table to my left side decided that the filets were theirs (despite having been seated 20 minutes AFTER we ordered). This waitress did NOT bring the filets back to the kitchen to check; instead, she gave what might have been OUR dinner to these broads. (MAJOR GRUDGE HOLDING HERE.) So, we had to wait awhile longer for our dinner. It really doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that you should check with the kitchen before offering up a dish to the next customer. And for that, it’s minus a star.
At least the martinis were delicious — I had an East Meets West and a San Francisco Shake Up. $ 12 for a martini would be pricey for a normal night, but with $ 5 entrees? Hell yes. We even ordered dessert — the pan-​seared cookie dough with coffee ice cream. Great end to a great dinner.
Will we be coming back again? In the wordage of Sarah Palin, «You betcha.»

I went here last night after about three months. Big disappointment, seriously. If I ever come back here, it definitely won’t be my choice.
We had a reservation for 7:30, and we got there about ten minutes early. We checked in with the hostesses, and they said it’d be about 5 minutes. Which is fine, but these girls were A MESS. They got a party of 4 from the bar and were about to sit them, but then told them to wait and gave their table to someone else. That is quite unprofessional. Then, they sat these two girls who got there after us, and I stood there just brooding over having to wait. Finally, the hostesses got their act together and sat us.
Our waitress was a hot mess, and I mean that quite literally. It seems that whomever hires these waitresses (all girls) just goes for goo-​looking girls, regardless of them being able to do their job. It took about 10 minutes for her to come over and take our drink order, and about another 10 to get our drinks. Then we ordered our entrees, and waited and waited. The people next to us got there later and ate first. I do not exaggerate when I say that a good 40 minutes went by from the moment we ordered to the moment we got our dishes. I had to loudly say that the food was taking FOR-​EVER in front of the waitress so that she popped into the kitchen and came out with our food.
And when we finally got the food, it wasn’t as good as I’ve had it before. I mean, Match is not terrific food, but this was far below their usual level of quality, I guess. My plate looked messy and sort of hastily thrown together. When we were done eating, it took forever for someone to clear our table.
By this time, it’s probably around 9, and we really just want to get the hell out of there. The place was extremely loud, the service was horribly slow, and the food was less than satisfying. So we called our waitress over and asked for the check. Except it took her like a good 15 minutes to bring it over. Printing a bill takes no more than a minute and there was nobody else at the register (so it’s not like it was busy), but she was just running around waiting for drinks at the bar, or serving entrees or something. I seriously wanted to just get up and leave without paying, because why the hell would we have to wait 15 minutes to pay?! Needless to say, girl did not work for her tip.
Overall, I’d think about it twice before coming back here again. The menu is just so uninspired and simple, and yet they can’t get it right. The mashed potatoes are bland and lacking seasoning. The chicken I had was tender and juicy, but the «mushroom» sauce it came with– well, that was just atrocious. That was like baby vomit or something, totally flavorless and chunky and gross. We got some fries to share, and these tasted like they came out of a bag in the freezer. Frozen fries are OK at the Cheesecake Factory, but for a place this trendy and expensive, I would’ve hoped for something more homemade-​looking. If I were to pay regular price for this food, I would be very, very upset by the end of my meal.
I doubt I’ll go back.

A friend and I went here on Ladies Night (every Thursday) to find out if $ 5 entrees truly exist. I think we asked the valets, the hostess, and the waitress for verification, and still expected to get smacked with a bill in the triple digits.
But ladies and gentlemen, it’s true. A swanky, too-​cool-​for-​school place on the corner of Newbury and Mass Ave has $ 5 entrees every Thursday night. I still pinch myself sometimes to make sure I’m not dreaming.
Other notes:
— Order the Pop Rocks Martini. Yeah, it’s $ 12, but you’re eating Filet Mignon for $ 5. You have no excuse. Get the drink.
— Only order the Filet Mignon if you know what it is. Or if you’re the opposite of a vegetarian. This might be obvious to you, but to someone like, I don’t know, myself? This advice would’ve been extremely helpful. That’s all I’m saying about this subject (props to my waitress for being so… patient).
— Get there early. It got real serious around 6 pm, the line was out the door.
— It truly is Ladies Night. Match is not a place where bro-​dudes hang out. So girls, bring your friends out, and don’t expect to find a date for Friday.
I told everyone about this deal at work, and «Match Thursday Nights» have already been instated at the office. What a great idea.

Located in a great spot. very trendy. and very busy on a Thursday night (aka Ladies Night)… the only night I have been there. This means that the place is packed with young ladies at the bar. at the tables. and the wait will be about 30 – 40 minutes.
Once seated. you will probably wait some more for food. After all. all the entrees are only $ 5. That means. you can get a 12 oz Delmonico steak or 10 oz New York Strip or Grilled Salmon for $ 5. Ends at 10 pm so don’t head there too late… and order before then! The food is not awesome… but for $ 5, very tasty.
Drinks are pricey. all specialty drinks are $ 12 and wells are $ 8.
Service is slooooow. and parking is tough… but that’s the city.
But how can you beat $ 5 steak though?! Ladies night rocks!

Found a huge piece of plastic in my salad… FAIL!!!
But the waitress and manager were very quick to come and try to make it all better, which I did appreciate. But unfortunately I’m one of those types that once u get freaked out by a crappy experience, I just don’t want to eat anymore. I suppose being a cute waitress helped alleviate the situation with her puppy dog eyes, though. Nice peeps. But even before I found the plastic, the Asian chicken salad I had STUNK… almost like it was a menu after-​thought.
I ended up having 2 meetings here, so on my second meeting an hour later, I opted for the Margherita pizza, while my other friends did the calamari, and $ 1 burgers.
So… here’s my shtick about this place. I’ve been coming here since my grad school days in ’96, back when it was known as «575», then again then it was «Blue Bar», and now this. I don’t know what it is about this location… but always manages to FAIL in the end.
This locale, no matter what skin it has, just seems to be an «ALMOST there» place. It has cool ideas (like the current fire place), or the sushi bar when it was «575», so it has some level of attempted chicness. But it always ends up feeling incomplete after a second or third visit.
The food is very second rate, and I almost want to say that the $ 1 burger is doing THEM a favor as it’s the only way to keep customers coming in during this crapola economy. It’s a massive space, almost too large for its own good. Service is fine, but that’s about the only other cool thing other than the fire place…
… NEXT!

I found Match to be highly trendy and extremely noisy, but very fun. My date and I sat right next to the long fireplace, which was definitely a cozy spot.
We shared some appetizers — beef carpaccio, chicken satay and exotic mushroom pizza with white truffle sauce. Although I personally do not like mushrooms, I loved the pizza, along with the other 2 choices. The menu was mainly burgers, which I look forward to perhaps trying in the future.
The drinks were the highlight of my dining experience — fruity flavored liquors in a martini glass, rimmed with Pop rocks! We were able to get 4 small-​sized drinks out of the shaker and they were quite tasty!
Very pricey, but totally different and well, creative.

Pros:
Good atomophere, although the fire place scares me a bit, its quite purdy.
I got the asian chicken salad, which was really good. The smoked chicken worked perfectly with the portion size and the type of dinner I wanted before we began the night. $ 7.50 so a great price for the atomophere.
The martinis are awful, they all tasted like cough syrup to me.
The mojito was meh, not the best, not the worst, but at least not tasting like vicks 44.

Match is hot.
As in, holy crap is it toasty.
I’m actually really mixed about Match. On the one hand, the food is quite delectable (the lamb mini burgers are quite good), and the martinis are well made (hence the martinis and burgers).
At the same time, the burgers are way too pricey. After some initial confusion, we figured out that the prices on the menu are per burger (so it goes from $ 5 for a mini cheeseburger to $ 8 for a mini lobster burger). The mini lobster burger is decent, but not worth $ 8 for the amount that one gets.
The other major issue I had was the overall restaurant climate. It’s hot in there. I don’t know if it was because of the mild weather that evening, or because of the aesthetic fire that emboldens the «Match» name, but it was way too hot. Coupled with a lot of people in one place, it was kind of a mess. I was ecstatic when I got outside into what felt like a nice cool breeze.
Overall, it seems like a nice place, and the food is quite inviting. While I’d be willing to try dinner, I think I would end up passing on the burgers in the future in favor of something a little bit larger and economical.