Clover

Being here a couple of times for lunch. To me Clover is an exploration toward next gen dining experience, but somehow I am not used to its style and the food or can’t appreciate it, yet.

Attention Passersby-​Clover would like you to know how innovative they are. They’re experimenting right now with wild new food ideas like a chickpea fritter, which is not at all similar to a falaffel wrap. One shakes in anticipation for what they might call their daring new combination of bread, peanut butter, and fruit preserves. At the same time, when you put their Cambridge pretense and pompous celebration of euphemism aside, Clover makes some good food.

What I like most about Clover is that it is open 24\7 so its a place to go out after a night of dancing and drinking. What is not so great is that they tend to take a LONG time. Knowing how busy it’s gonna get on a typical weekend night, why not better prepare instead of giving out orders in piece mail.
A ten minute wait for a drink is ludicrous so I probably will never try one there.
However, the food is quite delicious especially the breakfast sandwich. I enjoy that they leave the egg as a whole hard boiled egg. The chickpea fritter is also really good and worth the wait if you can. Their home made pocket bread is so soft and delicious too yum yum AND the prices are pretty decent. I kinda wish they had pizza haha.

I’ve been to the Clover by Kendall Sq, so I knew what to expect with their food, but didn’t expect the service to be any different at the Central Sq location. I went in thinking it wouldn’t take long to put in an order, but when I walked in, I wasn’t certain who to speak to about my order. I saw a group of people surrounding (more like huddled around) an individual who I realized was taking orders, but he was taking such a long time talking about what seemed like every single item on the menu.
The ordering system seemed similar to Apple in which you have a person in the middle of the floor with a handheld machine ready to take your order. However, I was confused who was the employee or customer since he blended right in, and I don’t recall if this person was wearing a designated Clover Labs shirt.
I didn’t end up ordering anything that day. I had about 5 – 10 minutes and was hoping to put in a quick order, but there was only one guy on the floor taking orders and it was not efficient at all. On a side note, I had stopped in during the first couple months of them being open, so it may be different now, but if it isn’t, don’t expect ‘fast food service’ in that you’ll get your order in quickly.

Great vegan food! Fast service and good selection. Open ²⁴⁄₇ and its awesome! Menu items change based on seasonal selection it a nice change.

Trying to get a bottle of water, but we aren’t allowed to unless we buy food even though we were willing to pay for water. Never seen this in my life.

I love clover. The Rosemary fries are the best French fries in the world. I also like their mezze platter and the falafel dishes. Bbq seitan is good, too. Can’t go wrong, really.

Finally a 24 hour food place in central!!! Coming here after a night out is so clutch. It’s almost a good thing that the menu isn’t that big so not too much to choose from. Can get overwhelming ya know. Basically, in addition to all their drink choices– lots of lemonade options!- There is always the classic clover Rosemary fries, and there’s also always cheesy grits, and breakfast sandwiches, and some other sandwiches.
A review of the menu items:
Cheesy grits with an egg is literally just that– cheesy grits with a soft boiled egg dropped on top. This is the bang for your buck item-​the cup is big and the grits are filling! Very good stuff.
Their fries are always good. The end.
Sandwiches are great– chickpea fritter is always a delicious one. Sort of messy to eat. Loaded with food.
Personally I think their breakfast sandwich is the worst thing that clover serves. It’s straight up a big dry piece of pita with one egg and a tomato, which barely fills the pita, so half of your bites will solely be of pita that doesn’t even have much flavor.
A review of the restaurant:
They’ve got the ordering system down. A dude uses an iPad away from the register to take people’s orders and it seems to work pretty well.
It’s always pretty crowded late night full of all the drunk folks. But the space is fairly big and open and fits people well. There are pinball machines left over from what it was before clover. I sucked at pinball but I guess I’ll try not to let that influence this review.

Dear Clover. I love you. I love your innovative sandwiches, your friendly faces, your Friday night whoopie pies! I was eating clover at least weekly — sometimes more. BUT — tonight, after an exhausting day at work where I didn’t have time to stop and eat, I came by this shop around 7. A sign was out saying «free goblin sticks (fries) for those in costume’. I thought — cool. I wore a costume to work today, I would love free fries with my Sweet potato sandwich. I walk in and the guy says «cool costume». I say «thanks — cool about the fries». Another guy behind the counter says «those are just for kids». Um. Seriously? Why have a sign that doesn’t mention that they are only for kids in an area where there are not many kids. Disappointed I look for my favorite seasonal sandwich. Crossed out. Other seasonal sandwich. Crossed out.
Now — I get that it is popular, and that this was evening. But this is the THIRD time in a week that I have gone — one day «oops, we didn’t get sweet potatoes in today», another early day «oh, we can make it, but we just don’t have Shoyu mayo. No big deal, right», and then tonight «yah, our line cook just didn’t prep enough».
I am kind of cranky about this because I was legitimately ravenous.
I have seen the quality of service go down at all but the Inman locations. At Inman, the manager is great, but when he is away on friday nights, it is a disaster. Last week, someone made my food with bare hands, made inedible whoopie pies, and gave me a ridiculously hard time about asking for a to-​go container. She actually smashed it in front of my face to prove a point and then packed up the whoopie pies in the crushed to go container so I could bike home with them.
I LOVE your food clover. PLEASE focus on quality and consistency. And Friday night whoopie pies.
Thanks — one of your biggest fans, but tonight, also one of the crankiest.

This 24 hour Clover location is not up to par.
Go to the Inman Sq or Kendall Sq locations, avoid this one.
Wait time says 5 minutes on an item, and it actually takes them 20. The operation processes team needs to restructure the late night team.
The way they have it now, they have 1 person on chickpea fritters and 1 person on the Sharan. When the Sharan person is short prepped ingredients, he/​she will prep it alone while the chickpea fritter person relaxes and stands in a corner. The inefficiencies are painful to watch. It shouldn’t take 20 minutes to put together 1 sandwich when the queue is 3 people.
Edited to add that it took them 20 minutes to scoop cheesy grits out of a bucket and put it in a cup. (Wait time was 5 min)

I’ve tried this chain before, and this location certainly did not disappoint. Their famous chick pea fritters are as delicious as I remember them, and their new sandwiches did not disappoint. The rosemary fries are just great — I love eating the fried rosemary leaves! Their sodas are great, because they aren’t too sweet, however, there is a tad too much ice. I love that everything they give you is compostable. There is plenty of seating, but it can get cold in here, especially since there is no where to hide from a gust of wind from the door! What I can’t wrap my head around is how they charge 3.25 for «hand-​pour drip» coffee. Do you have any idea how easy this is for me to do at home? It’s really not worth it, unless you really NEED the caffeine!
All in all, I enjoy my meals here.

I’ve only come here inebriated and well into the wee hours of the morning, so perhaps this doesn’t apply to the lunch rush people.
I am not really a huge fan of Clover in general — nothing against Clover, most of it is because I just really like me some savory animal fat all of the time.
So, when its way past normal business hours and Clover is the only place open, my grumbling stomach implored me to try it out again. The clientele of this place is a complete mess after 2am — but kudos to the staff for keeping it all together. You order from iPads or from iPad carrying staff, and your name will get called out once your food is ready.
Yes, at this lonely hour in my state I really really would like a steak burrito but their Rosemary fries do hit a nice spot. And their whoopie pies are good at any time of the day. I have seen friends drunk cry tears of joy when faced with their famous chickpea fritters. Their grits aren’t really cheesy enough for my taste but good for Clover for offering them this far north.
A beacon of light in those dark nights. Clover and I have a weird relationship.

[Meant to post this back in June, but had problems with my app or internet connection at the time.]
Now that they’ve been open for a few months, I have found their service to steadily decline. If it keeps up, I’m not sure I would go back even if the food is good, which it is.
The top three sandwiches I would recommend are:
Egg and eggplant,
Panelle,
Chickpea fritter,
Rosemary Fries
I’ve already accepted the fact that they post wait times that are never accurate (4min for anything, everything, and at any time of day — even if there is a line out the door).
I received the worst service I have experienced at Clover today. It’s lunchtime and busy– I get it. However, after waiting about 10min after my coworker got his fries, I asked the woman in the chickpea fritter station if she could tell me how long the fries would take. She smirked and said I don’t know.
After waiting yet another 10minutes (with my sandwich getting cold), I saw other people getting their fries and I asked the woman if she had an order with my name on it. She says no but offers to grab me one quickly. The man that took my order told her to hold off and came over and told me that he didn’t hear me order fries. (Really? Then what did I pay over $ 10 for? Just my panelle? He even tried to suggest that I ordered a drink — which was no where to be seen if that were the case).
They resolved this and gave my a tiny portion of fries but not once did someone try to be proactive and certainly not the chickpea fritter woman who continued smirking through the whole conversation. I felt bad for making my coworkers wait so long.

Why don’t they have descriptions of the menu items, besides just the title of the sandwich?
There’s a secondary screen on an different wall with blog style updates of certain new or upcoming or recently missed specials. But why can’t I know what all the options are without quizzing my cashier about each item. I want to order lunch not read a blog or make a new friend.
This seems so basic, particularly with all the technology and fancy screens they have at Clover. Maybe they want to engage people in conversation about their food, but it slows things down, under informs customers on their meal choices, and also comes off as a bit patronizing… like you have to be ‘in the know’ to understand what you’re ordering.
More generally, it will be curious to see if a late night 24-​hour vegetarian food spot will maintain. When I think of late night after bar/​club food, even as a healthy eater, I don’t think of seitan or cold corn salad. Besides the fries nothing on that menu is something I’d would crave to eat late night.
I will say I appreciate their effort to incorporate local ingredients and to update their menu with new items, even though I can’t always tell what those new items contain.

Came at 4 am and staff was extremely energetic. Fries were great as always! The breakfast sandwich was a bit odd but that’s probably because I hate egg yolk so maybe it wasn’t a wise decision to get that.
Wish this location was closer to me because I am nocturnal and am always looking for 24 hour spots near Dorchester to do my work.
Would definitely be returning though!

Clover is obnoxiously corporate but it is also a good lunch option. Their standard sandwiches (chickpea fritter and egg & eggplant) are really delicious, and also pretty healthy for eating out. I also recommend their iced coffee as a worktime pick-​me-​up. Bonus: Come back for french fries at 2am after a night out.

Bright (lights).
Fresh (food & atmosphere).
Open (always. literally. yes, ²⁴⁄₇).
Clover is a bit of a departure from Hi Fi and I admit I was a little sad to see that junky late night pizza joint disappear… but I like Clover and they kind of blew my mind when I saw the entrance plastered with their daily hours:
Mon 24 hr
Tue 24 hr
Wed 24 hr
Thu 24 hr
Fri 24 hr
Sat 24 hr
Sun 24 hr
Bringing all the kids at the late night shows next door HEALTHY (and tasty) snacks or bottles of milk, jars of peanut butter, maple syrup, cheese, etc. Bringing local residents and the employed fresh and local food options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, including slow-​drip coffee (I’m sure there’s a different fancy name for this), comfortable seating, wi-​fi (soon), compostable everything, and a fresh water tap (yep, free and endless supply of water).
I wonder. while there is the 24 hours and the pin ball machines, will there be beer? That question is yours to answer! Go.

I went on one of their first nights and I wanted to DIE. Way to loud, way to crowded, and the staff were a bit scattered and overwhelmed. I’ve come back twice more, and the mob effect seems to have died down.
Wait times posted on the screen — and they seem to abide by it, for the most part.
Grocery store offerings — Milk, butter, pita, yogurt, George Howell Coffee, a few snacks. Of note– George Howell sells for $ 15 bucks a bag here, $ 3 cheaper than buying it from the actual George Howell store in Newton.
The addition of the pin ball games is a bit twee — but definitely caters to the «I am a drunk kid in Central» crowd.
The food is still good — nothing in lost in translation in terms of flavor and size. Pimento cheese is back — and as delicious as ever. The 3pm special, «Hadley Grass» — fresh cut local asparagus, garnished with lemon juice — is simple and refreshing — so get it if it’s offered.
In terms of order delivery — this Clover is like the rest — each individual item is called out. They are not delivered together, and you need to wait to hear your name called over the din. I’ve complained about this process before — but now I have a suggestion — instead of screaming people’s names — why doesn’t Clover assign us numbers, and then project the numbers on the huge LCD screens they have set up — or onto the white walls of the store. Or — perhaps — they could text people when the order is ready.
Staff are friendly and informative, per usual at a Clover location. Don’t come here on weekend evenings if you are noise/​crowd sensitive.

Love Clover! So glad there’s a 24-​hour place in Central Square :)
Before I wax poetically about the many reasons I’m enamored by this place, I’d like to address a few comments from other reviewers:
1) Why post food wait times if they’re inaccurate: The wait times weren’t live the first few days Clover was opened– they had them posted as a place holder. (You may have noticed it was odd that every single thing on the menu was listed as 4 minutes?) Seems like they will be a helpful feature when they’re live.
2) Tiny screens: If you’ve been to the other super-​busy Clover locations (such as Kendall Sq at lunch), you’ll notice the people taking orders are very fast on the phones. Since this place literally opened less than two weeks ago, I think it’s fair to say you need to give their new hires a chance to learn the system. Sheesh.
3) Is it vegetarian? There is no fish or meat on the menu, but there are eggs. I’d call that «vegetarian,» but that may not be the case for everyone.
4) Crowds: Yeah, it’s crowded almost anytime you go. (Which I’m not too upset about, because it means their business will be around for awhile and I’m thrilled to hear it.) If you need a super speedy lunch option, peek in the window, but be prepared to go elsewhere.
5) Blue bottle :(They don’t have Blue Bottle coffee right now. They had it last week, but I think they rotate their coffee regularly. Booooo. Hopefully it will be back soon.
6) Ping pong enthusiasts will be forced to look elsewhere… no ping pong here. There are pinball machines, which are loud. In my experience, people are generally using them later at night, when the crowd is rowdier than the mid-​day patrons.
7) Running out of food: They had limited menus their first few days open, which meant not everything was available and they sometimes ran out. Again, I think this is a trial and error process of a place that has been open *less than two weeks.* Once they know what kind of crowds to expect at 2am, I don’t foresee them regularly running out of menu items like fries. (I hope not, anyway.)
Phew. So many comments for just five other reviews!
Now, for my take: I love Clover. I love the passion behind the guy who started the business, who truly believes he can build a healthy, locally sourced empire offering «fast food» at reasonable prices. So far, he’s succeeding in his mission. This (Clover HFI) is one of many Clover locations, in addition to their brick and mortar outposts in East Cambridge, Harvard Sq, Kendall Sq, plus the trucks.
I appreciate that they’re doing their best to bring more fresh food options to the neighborhood, and supporting as many local producers as possible while doing it. Their mission is also advanced by the farm shares they offer through the summer (and winter)!
Their kitchens are amazingly transparent. Fun fact, there are NO FREEZERS in any clover location, anywhere. There is no «back of store.» What you see is literally what you get.
The Central Sq location has introduced quite a few jobs, and they offer well above minimum wage (they were starting prep cooks around $ 12/​hr).
In addition to all that stuff, the food is delicious and inexpensive. It’s about $ 6/​sandwich. My favorite go-​to is the chickpea fritter. They also rotate other seasonal sandwiches through the menu. I loved this winter’s plantain and blackbean sandwich, and the brussel sprouts and hazelnut sandwich from the fall was killer. Oh, and the rosemary fries are AMAZING.
They also introduced new foods just for this location’s late night menu. Go after midnight and try the cheesy grits (with an egg!).
Importantly: they have great coffee. Each cup is pour over, made to order, and fantastic. While you’re grabbing morning coffee, you can also get a breakfast sandwich, made with perfectly ripe tomatoes year-​round :) Or a popover! Somehow amazingly crispy and doughy at the same time! Or… a popover sandwich, with fried leeks. I can’t even.
I heart Clover.

I really like the food at Clover, but man do they have kinks to work out.
Why post prep times for food if you can’t stick to that AT ALL. If my sandwich has a posted time of 4 minutes, and I get it in 6, or even 8, that is ok. If it takes 30 minutes, that is a problem, and that is what happened on Saturday. Mind you, the staff (I believe) is all brand new, so some are going to take a little while to get up to speed, but then don’t post times on the wall!
The other thing that bugged me is that when the person I was with asked about pork, I said, oh no worries, all the food is vegetarian, and the man taking my order said, «no, it is meat free.» So does that mean it could have fish or poultry? I’m confused.
Also, technology overload. It seemed that some people preparing food were struggling to read the orders on the tiny phone screens… which is understandable. The problem is that some guy couldn’t read my name and tried to give my food to someone else who was really really pissed off about how long he had been waiting.
Blue Bottle coffee!!!