After a pleasant time sipping coffee and listening to Boston Public Radio live, we stopped in tot eh Map room for the first time. it was after 1 so no crowds, and the experience was great. fascinating room with great architecture, warm lighting and intriguing ancient Boston map renderings on the walls. we had a fine craft beer and a water, and then ordered a flatbread (fig and prosciutto, Yum!) and crispy Cauliflower - delicious! Service was excellent, prices reasonable, we'll be making this a regular stop ;)
Erin Weisgerber
Awesome little hidden gem. Food and atmosphere were great. Cocktails were mostly good. Service was a bit slow, but we were there not too long before closing. Highly recommend reserving ahead of time.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Flatbread
Brooke C.
The ambiance here is incredible. We sat at the bar because there was no wait for bar seating (but there would have been for a table). The tart were got from the bites menu was delicious! The tea was underwhelming though, the flavor was rather weak. I ordered the apple herbal tea and just wished it had tasted stronger. Still worth visiting for the vibes though
teresa parrotta
Stopped in while visiting the library. We got seated at the bar within 15 minutes. We had a round of drinks “The Stolen Moments and wine”, which were good. We shared the fig and prosciutto flatbread, fried cauliflower and bread pudding. The flatbread was my fav out of the three. Bread pudding is a bit thicker, doesn’t have any sauce to it and could use another scoop of ice cream. I prefer my bread pudding moist with sauce or ice cream though. We closed out with the Ras Chai, which was delightful.I definitely recommend stopping in.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
이예찬
Tea cocktails are really delicious.But it seems like a place where waitresses don't want to work.They didn't give us a menu and they weren't friendly.The atmosphere is nice, but the service is dissatisfying.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 2
Michele Brassard
Wonderful way to end our library tour. The drinks and fare were excellent along with the atmosphere. Treat yourself!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Else
The Map Room is easily one of the best bars in Boston for cocktails and light food, while being similarly priced to other Boston bars (cocktails around $15, dishes $10-20). It's a cool space too, buried in the depths of the public library, and absolutely worth your time even if you're not already there for some books.Vegetarian options: The cauliflower bites are to die for.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Mike Salter
Great spot for a cocktail and a bite to
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Bonnie A
My sister-in-law treated me to lunch in the Map Room Tea Lounge. It is a beautiful--albeit, rather dark--room. I had the Smoked Salmon Tartine, she had the pizza of the day--which was prosciutto and fig jam. For our tea, she had The Cozy Copley (an Earl Grey latte) and I had white peony.THE FOOD: Both our dishes were delicious. We were very happy with our selections.THE TEA: my white tea was fine. Her Earl Grey latte had too much milk--couldn't really taste the tea.THE SERVICE: This was "the fly in the ointment." The wait person wasn't very friendly and did not seem to know anything about tea. Upon placing my tea pot on the table, she immediately poured some into the cup. It had obviously only just had the hot water added and had not had any time to steep. I had to pour it back in to the pot to let it steep for awhile before re-pouring it for myself. She brought the wrong order to our table and was a little belligerent when we said that "no, no one had ordered that." Later, she never came back to check on us, never refilled our empty water glasses, and--in short--showed no graciousness or interest in how we were doing. Frankly, I would have liked some more hot water for a second round of tea but that was never offered. Her indifference left me feeling indifferent--I don't really care to go back.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 2
Sara Nagelberg
I bit expensive for what you get and the timing is tight- they chase you out after 1.5
The Cozy Copley tea latte is delicious, and the chocolate bread pudding was perfect, not too sweet. Would have been good with just the tea, doesn't even need ice cream tbh. The tables are not crowded and it's not too loud to talk even when it's busy. The library is gorgeous as well so the tea lounge was the perfect place to relax after wandering.
Justin Shaw
Great food (small plates for sharing or appetizer size for one) and really nice drinks. They've got tea and coffee and wine and beer too. Right in the library. It's a cozy spot for a quick bite.
Seth M
The atmosphere is top-notch. The cocktails are creative, innovative, and high quality. The matcha cocktail is unbelievable.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Moriah L.
I had a really good drink here and the layout is very cute. There was a weird amount of time between my drink being served and my friend's drink being served. The hostess wasn't the friendliest and the server spilled water across the table and never cleaned it up. Neither of those things are a huge deal, but for the price I'd like better service. My drink was great, my friend said hers was just ok.
Kevin C.
Who wants to mix alcohol and books?? ME!!! I never would have thought that a public library should have a bar, until I tried a cocktail in the library in Boston. Fantastic idea. Loved the bartender. The atmosphere. the mixology, It's a real bar! Forget Cheers!! Go to the library!! Check out the books and the booze!!
After a pleasant time sipping coffee and listening to Boston Public Radio live, we stopped in tot eh Map room for the first time. it was after 1 so no crowds, and the experience was great. fascinating room with great architecture, warm lighting and intriguing ancient Boston map renderings on the walls. we had a fine craft beer and a water, and then ordered a flatbread (fig and prosciutto, Yum!) and crispy Cauliflower - delicious! Service was excellent, prices reasonable, we'll be making this a regular stop ;)
Awesome little hidden gem. Food and atmosphere were great. Cocktails were mostly good. Service was a bit slow, but we were there not too long before closing. Highly recommend reserving ahead of time.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Flatbread
The ambiance here is incredible. We sat at the bar because there was no wait for bar seating (but there would have been for a table). The tart were got from the bites menu was delicious! The tea was underwhelming though, the flavor was rather weak. I ordered the apple herbal tea and just wished it had tasted stronger. Still worth visiting for the vibes though
Stopped in while visiting the library. We got seated at the bar within 15 minutes. We had a round of drinks “The Stolen Moments and wine”, which were good. We shared the fig and prosciutto flatbread, fried cauliflower and bread pudding. The flatbread was my fav out of the three. Bread pudding is a bit thicker, doesn’t have any sauce to it and could use another scoop of ice cream. I prefer my bread pudding moist with sauce or ice cream though. We closed out with the Ras Chai, which was delightful.I definitely recommend stopping in.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Tea cocktails are really delicious.But it seems like a place where waitresses don't want to work.They didn't give us a menu and they weren't friendly.The atmosphere is nice, but the service is dissatisfying.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 2
Wonderful way to end our library tour. The drinks and fare were excellent along with the atmosphere. Treat yourself!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The Map Room is easily one of the best bars in Boston for cocktails and light food, while being similarly priced to other Boston bars (cocktails around $15, dishes $10-20). It's a cool space too, buried in the depths of the public library, and absolutely worth your time even if you're not already there for some books.Vegetarian options: The cauliflower bites are to die for.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Great spot for a cocktail and a bite to
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
My sister-in-law treated me to lunch in the Map Room Tea Lounge. It is a beautiful--albeit, rather dark--room. I had the Smoked Salmon Tartine, she had the pizza of the day--which was prosciutto and fig jam. For our tea, she had The Cozy Copley (an Earl Grey latte) and I had white peony.THE FOOD: Both our dishes were delicious. We were very happy with our selections.THE TEA: my white tea was fine. Her Earl Grey latte had too much milk--couldn't really taste the tea.THE SERVICE: This was "the fly in the ointment." The wait person wasn't very friendly and did not seem to know anything about tea. Upon placing my tea pot on the table, she immediately poured some into the cup. It had obviously only just had the hot water added and had not had any time to steep. I had to pour it back in to the pot to let it steep for awhile before re-pouring it for myself. She brought the wrong order to our table and was a little belligerent when we said that "no, no one had ordered that." Later, she never came back to check on us, never refilled our empty water glasses, and--in short--showed no graciousness or interest in how we were doing. Frankly, I would have liked some more hot water for a second round of tea but that was never offered. Her indifference left me feeling indifferent--I don't really care to go back.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 2
I bit expensive for what you get and the timing is tight- they chase you out after 1.5
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 3
Restaurantji Recommends
The Cozy Copley tea latte is delicious, and the chocolate bread pudding was perfect, not too sweet. Would have been good with just the tea, doesn't even need ice cream tbh. The tables are not crowded and it's not too loud to talk even when it's busy. The library is gorgeous as well so the tea lounge was the perfect place to relax after wandering.
Great food (small plates for sharing or appetizer size for one) and really nice drinks. They've got tea and coffee and wine and beer too. Right in the library. It's a cozy spot for a quick bite.
The atmosphere is top-notch. The cocktails are creative, innovative, and high quality. The matcha cocktail is unbelievable.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
I had a really good drink here and the layout is very cute. There was a weird amount of time between my drink being served and my friend's drink being served. The hostess wasn't the friendliest and the server spilled water across the table and never cleaned it up. Neither of those things are a huge deal, but for the price I'd like better service. My drink was great, my friend said hers was just ok.
Who wants to mix alcohol and books?? ME!!! I never would have thought that a public library should have a bar, until I tried a cocktail in the library in Boston. Fantastic idea. Loved the bartender. The atmosphere. the mixology, It's a real bar! Forget Cheers!! Go to the library!! Check out the books and the booze!!