EVOO Restaurant

Based on the following four categories I would base evoo as a ³⁄₅ rating. Due the the undersized food portions. After eating here as wonderfully presented and full of flavor the portions was too small for a full meal.
⁵⁄₅ for presentation.
Food should arrive appeasing to the eyes prior to eating the first bite.
⁴⁄₅ for food quality
My quail was to my taste a bit over cooked but because of the complexity of flavors it was difficult to notice. Spinach was perfectly season and prepared. While carrots still had crunch to them.
²⁄₅ for food quantity
Portions are tiny! I was told this prior, so I only can rate it as a ²⁄₅ but when you label the items small medium and large and the large item you ordered requires you to go elsewhere after dinner to eat, there is an issue.
³⁄₅ for price
Based on what you get portion wise I’d say it’s a ²⁄₅ if not a ¹⁄₅. But I doubt you will find many places with as many complex flavors in each dish. For that I’d give them a ⁴⁄₅.

I’d only been to Evoo one other time since they moved from Somervlle for an ok Rest. Week meal. We had a very nice dinner there on Thurs. I like the room that Za is housed in better, the Evoo side is kind of nondescript. They brought us a good bread basket as we had drinks and figured out our plan of attack. Two of us got two apps for dinner, mine being the excellent duck confit salad and an all right mushroom flan. It was a different consistency than I expected altho I guess it was pretty flan like. It wasn’t overly flavorful and I wouldn’t get it again. Friend enjoyed her greens and pâté. Other diner had a soup to start and steak cooked rare as ordered. And they gave him the extra potatoes he requested. Two of us shared the excellent figgy toffee pudding, or whatever it was called. A very good dessert. Nice service, we had a good time.

The food was amazing, we didn’t have to wait for a table on a Saturday night. Our server George was amazing, super friendly and helpful! Overall great experience.

If you need to pick a place for lunch, try this one. Everyone will find something they like in the menu. Corn-​bread coleslaw is a must try!

The EVOO location was chosen for a private event. The food was outstanding. The service was friendly and very accommodating for diet sensitive customers. Really nice wine pairing. Mostly the food had depth without being overdone with flavors.

That place wasn’t terrible, but it really didn’t live up to the hype. Other than the fact that the food is locally sourced (yay!), there is not much going for this place. Our waiter appeared too arrogant for the atmosphere, and the price tags were heavy for the actual taste of our dishes. On paper, the dishes sound whimsical and unique. To the tastebud, the dishes were bland, boring, and uninspired. The chicken dish was simple and under seasoned, and the fettuccine did not live up to it’s description. The orange flavor on top was barely detectable, and the egg flavor was the most pronounced part of the dish. The chinese box was alright, the shrimp clearly being it’s star. The beef in it was overly acidic, and didn’t marry well with the other flavors. My favorite part of the meal was my drink, the sangria martini (which I had asked our waiter what his favorite drink on the menu was, he responded the «Sangria Margarita» — which to me sounded awesome, and was not the drink I got, but it was tasty and I was ok with it). We did not try the dessert, though some of them sounded quite appealing, we were too worried the description would again not match the food presented to us.

We decided to try this out on our date night since it’s quite close to us in Kendall; location is nice, very hidden but located near the up and coming area of Kendall’s beautiful new developments and condos. The restaurant itself is quite cute, very nicely decorated, staff at the door was very nice and proper. We were seated and out experience begun:
Our waiter was an older gentlemen, very on point and kind, I was a bit disappointed to be informed the farm didn’t deliver the Rabbit I wanted to try out; but alas it happens during the holiday season.
We got our drinks and started a round of smalls; the beef tartare was interesting and flavorful, but I felt the dish was overpowered by the jalapeño peppers in them. I would’ve liked to taste more of the raw beef than the spice. The smelts were surprisingly disappointing; though I love smelts fried, it should be crispy and crunchy! Ours were quite soggy, very unappetizing, the aioli sauce though was delicious. The turnips were very unique, I liked the texture and taste, though I felt the cauliflower were a bit strange; pickled? I would’ve gone with something bitter and sweet like cranberries to enhance the dish personally. Now onto our medium dishes, the butternut squash soup was amazing, great flavor and texture, fantastic presentation. The empanadas were interestingly flavored, bold and made well; though I can’t say it blew me away, seemed quite simple. The desert was chocolate truffle cake — too strong and heavy. It couldn’t even really be eaten!
All in all, it was an experimental experience, we liked some things and not so much others; I like what this place is trying to do, it’s separation from others is present though I’m not quite sure it’s there yet. Perhaps a bit more refining needed on the ingredient lists. Being bold and experimental in food is appreciated and needed in today’s age, though without proper execution it’s just ‘shrug’ worthy. As a business model, I do recommend Evoo redoing their website, given the location of business and pricing scale; a better website is DEFINITELY a must.

For a «Farm to Table» restaurant I was severely disappointed. The food was nothing special at all. I ordered the fried green tomatoes as a small plate and they tasted slightly burnt and the sauces were just drizzled on top of them. I would prefer to dip mine in the sauces for better flavor.
Ordered the Chili Relleno for a large plate also and it was nothing great. It was just mashed potatoes inside of a habanero pepper. Surprisingly boring.
Butter cake for dessert was dry. Would not order any of the above again. Unfortunately would not recommend.

Great meal. Prompt service. Oddly they didn’t have any salad options on the menu but all in our group enjoyed our meals and found a choice they liked even with the limited daily menu. Would try again.

Love Evoo! I’m almost always there in a big group and they always do a wonderful job accommodating all of us and being attentive to us! The drinks are fun and inventive and all the food is fresh and creative. I always enjoy ordering their risotto!

I enjoyed lunch sitting at the bar, which is shared between Za and EVOO. I had a bacon & apple sandwich w/​fries. Good ingredients make a good sandwich. The scratch spicy ketchup was a pleasant surprise. The service was good as well.
I’ll be coming back.

I’m a big fan of «pig ears», except in this restaurant. I’m not saying the dish is not good in this restaurant. I’m saying it’s not my style. It’s too oily, and sort of over-​cooked, at least for me. I was expecting a delicious mixture of «soft and crispy». Didn’t find here.

Went here for a Sunday lunch. The atmosphere is eclectic, trendy and contemporary. It’s definitely a plus that they have local and organic ingredients, and offer many options for vegetarians (not just a salad or a veggie burger).

I enjoyed sitting at one of EVOO’s outside tables on a picture perfect evening. The food and service, however, were just meh. We ordered salmon dip and potato chips as an appetizer. Chips were good but the mediocre dip was too lumpy and almost impossible to scoop onto a chip. The. ‘Chinese box’ was just plain strange. A molded lump of food was presented beneath a takeout box. It tasted like leftovers from different restaurants. The shrimp was tasty but the stringy beef had an odd flavor, more like bland barbecue than Asian. Dessert was a berry crumble with sweet corn ice cream. It was ok but nothing special. After I ate half of it, I started wishing I could take back the calories.

Still got love for EVOO. Had a reservation for 12 people a little while back and the dinner went flawlessly. The staff timed our entrees just right as 2 members of our party were delayed due to traffic and we never felt rushed. I have always gotten great service at EVOO and the food is always on point. I usually see the owner when I go and he is always working hard and checking in on diners.
During the summer they have reggae music on the patio from 5−9pm on Wednesdays.

Wish I could give 3.5 stars…
Sitting outside on a summer night was perfect. No complaints about the atmosphere.
The food was pretty good– not great, just pretty good. I enjoyed my vegetarian fried eggplant entrée. I did not enjoy the bite of skinless, seasonless chicken I tried. The corn-​blueberry salad was delicious, as was the honey lavender panna cotta.
The service was unimpressive. We definitely waited a long time for drink refills and to order. At the beginning I found the server actively rude, but I think she just had kind of a sour personality and wasn’t trying to be mean.
I won’t be back unless I’m in the neighborhood.

The service was excellent, but the place was not very full. The presentation was impressive, but the food was just a-​ok.
The atmosphere reminded me of a hotel restaurant.

Took my client based on positive Unilocal reviews. We were lucky to find there was a guest chef with a special menu, and we ordered from that menu. Really special. I wish there were more than 2 scallops for $ 28 (!) but coming from NYC I am somewhat used to paying for presentation and great ingredients
Everyone was impressed with the meal.
Had 2 bottles of the Kabinett Reisling and this crisp bright wine complemented the turnip and lobster (special) soup and scallops perfectly
Would definitely go back

Hello. I am a human being and pay $$ to get served! Treated like an invisible by server and hostess.
Food is pretty good but left the restaurant feeling like I should have gone to Mickey D for better service.

El servicio bien, la comida regular ni muy rica ni muy fea. Yo pedí un salmón que para mi gusto tenia demasiado jengibre estaba rico pero muy picante. Mi amiga pidió una cajita china estaba rica con carne, arroz y vegetales.
Quisimos pedir burratina de entrada pero a pesar que estaba en el menú no estaba disponible en ese momento nos quedamos con las ganas. Me pareció un poco caro ya que solo tomamos agua y soda y salió 33 por persona sin postre ni vino ni entrada.
Puntuación final regular, no es malo pero tampoco deslumbrante.

EVOO (pronounced «ee-​voo», NOT said as individual letters, a la Rachael Ray) is a good option in the Kendall square area. I work nearby and am often visiting for lunch and occasionally an early dinner. The Chinese box was fantastic, I loved the flavors, and the size was great for a hearty lunch. I have also tried the chicken sausage sandwich with a side of delicious fries. It definitely was SPICY! Also, the habanero cornbread coleslaw was extremely weird, in the best way. The cornbread was really crunchy and not soggy as I had envisioned. The chips and dip starter was okay, as the chips weren’t all crunchy, and the crab dip lacked a little seasoning. The service has been mostly good, if not a tad pretentious on occasion. Overall, I’d recommend it for either lunch or dinner. It gets very busy, so a reservation will go a long way!

I was a bit confused by the small/​medium/​large categorization of food. Between Meryem and me, we got one small, one medium, and one large dishes. To be honest, we couldn’t really tell the difference between medium and large dishes.
Their food is certainly interesting. We got the burratini for small (cheese and pine nuts!), rabbit confit for medium, and veal cheek agnolotti for large. Interesting ingredients and taste. But nothing to be wow’ed, nothing I wanted to eat again in particular.
They give you bread and olive oil (plus garlic and soy sauce?) to munch on. But the bread was cold :(
The bill came out to be close to $ 70. Don’t think it was worth it.

Service was excellent and the atmosphere great! I would give this a 3.5 stars.
Appetizers were delicious — brussel sprouts had a delicious dip along with it, and the squash was well grilled too. Breadsticks and spiced walnuts were a nice dinner warm up.
The corn bisque was just the right portion size and was fragrant. I was also impressed by the bluefish fillet — fresh and cooked to the right texture. The risotto was a good complement.
I was extremely surprised that the warm chocolate cake was not warmed when I ate it? And I ate it immediately after getting it. The chocolate was rich, decadent, and the melted marshmellow a nice touch, but eating cold chocolate cake was really not that impressive.

I was incredibly impressed with this place and feel guilty I haven’t come here earlier! Kendall is becoming a hot spot in general and this place seems to be one of the leaders.
— Bread and breadsticks — these just come out with the meal but wanted to note that they seemed a bit too salty, although I was excited to have more than just bread.
— Seared foie gras — delicious and the accompaniments matched it well. The foie gras was extremely fresh and sweet, and had a smooth, consistent texture. You’re gonna need more bread for this!
— Salmon tartar — this was good, but the dill and crunchy bits took away from the original salmon’s flavor and texture, rather than complement it.
— Rabbit ravioli — amazing! I had a dream about this the following day. The texture and flavors were so great — even the texture of the ravioli pasta was dreamy. My date had never had rabbit, but he still enjoyed it.
— Pork belly sliders — these were good, though a little bit uninspired. (While I love pork belly, I feel like it’s also the safe way to be tasty these days). Basically, pretty standard yummy pork belly with some lettuce and sauce.
Overall, a very solid set of great dishes with complex flavors and exciting ingredients. It’ll definitely be on my list of top 5 in Kendall and you should try this place out.