Service was shoddy at best and one of our entrees included the most disappointing dish I’ve tasted in years.We stood at the front for a good three to five minutes before a woman came from the kitchen and called out “how many?” I replied that we had a 6pm reservation. She sat us, but at a table that still had the folder with the bill from the person before, and that was directly facing the setting sun. She didn’t put the shade down or offer, or even inform us if we could do it.We were lucky to see our waitress every half hour, including when she dropped off food. We began with two small rolls and an ice-cold pat of butter that was so solid getting some for the bread was more like carving stone than anything else. We weren’t ever offered more bread.Our appetizer was good. My husband’s food was good. My braised short rib was good. But the rib came with truffle mac and cheese topped with two (2) fried onion rings. Other than a large single strange spring of small leaves, the dish offered no vegetables or fruits.The truffle mac and cheese tasted like nothing, and a little truffle. The truffle wasn’t overwhelming; it was normal. The problem was that there were no other flavors at all. I don’t know how you can make macaroni and cheese flavorless except for the truffle oil, but they’ve done it.We may do carry out in the future, but will never be back to dine-in.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 2
FREDERICK D. SELLITTI
Went to Exchange Street Bistro on 3/20/24 Wed. with mom and friends I had the Bistro Burger with Tomatoes lettuce fries and pickles everything was excellent and everyone had a great time.
Frederick D S.
Went to Exchange Street Bistro on 3/20/24 Wednesday with mom and friends I Had the Bistro Burger with Tomatoes,Lettuce,fries and Pickles. I also had the Vanilla Ice Cream hot fudge and sprinkles.Everything was excellent everyone had a great time. I recommend this place.Location 67 EXCHANGE STREET BISTRO MALDEN MA 02148
John Savastano
Let me start with we will go back again. We went in just for a dinner that I didn't have to prepare (I am a working chef). We have been there before and all was great. There were four of us, the service and atmosphere were great. I had the surf and turf. I found the meat to extremely tough, the shrimp were cooked perfectly however the stuffing lacked flavor and had the texture of paste. This meal came with glazed carrots that were just not cooked (they were raw)! I did not have the time to talk to anyone as we needed to be somewhere. Please, whomever is controling back of house, look, smell, taste, and make sure you're proud of the product you are serving your guests. See you next time.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Kara K.
Perfect room and place for a family reception. Food and service was excellent. Family has decided to use Exchange Street Bistro for all reunions.
Ed F.
Good food albeit generic -- good variety but nothing signature there. Service was great -- very attentive and the food came out fast. Kind of a cool, maroon place with good tunes and a neighborhood vibe. Manager and waitress were very cool people. Front of the house guy had a very cool black and gold shirt.
Shana Kasparian
I want to apologies for the delay in this review—months ago, my fiance, son, and I went to lunch here after landing in Boston and I mistakingly left my purse, a few weeks went by and I got a call from your front desk associate letting me know they’ve had it and we’re trying to reach me! The honesty of the John and Victor is something to be noted, I truly appreciate you both so much. Thank you for your persistence in calling me and ensuring I received my items!!!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Nicole Mills
Last night a large group of us went for dinner and ordered off of the pre-fixe menu. Some of us got the Barbecue Steak Tips and some of us got the Chicken Marsala; everyone was very pleased with their meals. The drinks are also amazing! I had a Strawberry Shortcake martini and it was like a dessert in a glass. Loved it. Our waitress was fantastic too and she even allowed us to do separate checks, as long as we were patient. Definitely recommend and we'll be back!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Julia/Julie(I believe was her name) was FANTASTIC if we lived closer we'd make this a regular spot solely on her service. Food was the perfect portion, came out quickly and tasted wonderful.
Last night a large group of us went for dinner and ordered off of the pre-fixe menu. Some of us got the Barbecue Steak Tips and some of us got the Chicken Marsala; everyone was very pleased with their meals. The drinks are also amazing! I had a Strawberry Shortcake martini and it was like a dessert in a glass. Loved it. Our waitress was fantastic too and she even allowed us to do separate checks, as long as we were patient. Definitely recommend and we'll be back!
Guy Elsmore-Paddock
Fantastic place for Valentine's Day. We enjoyed the food and the ambiance.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Christine H.
Exceptional cocktails, a casual setting with a full bar that's bigger than your average bistro serving over 100 variations of your favorite martini . Their apps are yummy yum yums, not to mention scrumptious lunch and dinner tapas to sample a variety of tastes to excite your palate. I would recommend the steak salad, sooo good but, most of all i would recommend visiting the ESB for the incredible ambiance that I seem to enjoy no matter what time I arrive. The servers are friendly and on top of their game! This place is truly one of my favorites!
Mei B.
It was a 3.5/5 in our book, sadly from our last visit (but we always round up :) ). We've been coming here for a couple of years now, and this had become our lil spot. We went here for date nights, anniversary celebrations and recently for valentine's. The shirley temples were a solid 10/10 every time. But then we decided to get a lil fancy for vday and ordered calamari as an app but to our disappointment, calamari was not super fresh, and half of the dish was sliced pickled peppers (which the dish really didn't need). The baked haddock that I'm always excited to get did not live up to my expectations this time (risotto was crunchy and i was looking for the crab lumps and they were not in the room with us), the short rib my boyfriend got.. needed a lil more umph lil more seasoning u know what im saying. Our server was nice but you could tell they were a bit busy understandably so on vday. They have had better days
Acoustic were very loud, waiter seemed annoyed with my husband's questions, my daughter ordered another drink and the waiter never asked me or my husband if we wanted another one, food was average.
Nice place but the service is just too slow.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 2
Service was shoddy at best and one of our entrees included the most disappointing dish I’ve tasted in years.We stood at the front for a good three to five minutes before a woman came from the kitchen and called out “how many?” I replied that we had a 6pm reservation. She sat us, but at a table that still had the folder with the bill from the person before, and that was directly facing the setting sun. She didn’t put the shade down or offer, or even inform us if we could do it.We were lucky to see our waitress every half hour, including when she dropped off food. We began with two small rolls and an ice-cold pat of butter that was so solid getting some for the bread was more like carving stone than anything else. We weren’t ever offered more bread.Our appetizer was good. My husband’s food was good. My braised short rib was good. But the rib came with truffle mac and cheese topped with two (2) fried onion rings. Other than a large single strange spring of small leaves, the dish offered no vegetables or fruits.The truffle mac and cheese tasted like nothing, and a little truffle. The truffle wasn’t overwhelming; it was normal. The problem was that there were no other flavors at all. I don’t know how you can make macaroni and cheese flavorless except for the truffle oil, but they’ve done it.We may do carry out in the future, but will never be back to dine-in.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 2
Went to Exchange Street Bistro on 3/20/24 Wed. with mom and friends I had the Bistro Burger with Tomatoes lettuce fries and pickles everything was excellent and everyone had a great time.
Went to Exchange Street Bistro on 3/20/24 Wednesday with mom and friends I Had the Bistro Burger with Tomatoes,Lettuce,fries and Pickles. I also had the Vanilla Ice Cream hot fudge and sprinkles.Everything was excellent everyone had a great time. I recommend this place.Location 67 EXCHANGE STREET BISTRO MALDEN MA 02148
Let me start with we will go back again. We went in just for a dinner that I didn't have to prepare (I am a working chef). We have been there before and all was great. There were four of us, the service and atmosphere were great. I had the surf and turf. I found the meat to extremely tough, the shrimp were cooked perfectly however the stuffing lacked flavor and had the texture of paste. This meal came with glazed carrots that were just not cooked (they were raw)! I did not have the time to talk to anyone as we needed to be somewhere. Please, whomever is controling back of house, look, smell, taste, and make sure you're proud of the product you are serving your guests. See you next time.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Perfect room and place for a family reception. Food and service was excellent. Family has decided to use Exchange Street Bistro for all reunions.
Good food albeit generic -- good variety but nothing signature there. Service was great -- very attentive and the food came out fast. Kind of a cool, maroon place with good tunes and a neighborhood vibe. Manager and waitress were very cool people. Front of the house guy had a very cool black and gold shirt.
I want to apologies for the delay in this review—months ago, my fiance, son, and I went to lunch here after landing in Boston and I mistakingly left my purse, a few weeks went by and I got a call from your front desk associate letting me know they’ve had it and we’re trying to reach me! The honesty of the John and Victor is something to be noted, I truly appreciate you both so much. Thank you for your persistence in calling me and ensuring I received my items!!!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Last night a large group of us went for dinner and ordered off of the pre-fixe menu. Some of us got the Barbecue Steak Tips and some of us got the Chicken Marsala; everyone was very pleased with their meals. The drinks are also amazing! I had a Strawberry Shortcake martini and it was like a dessert in a glass. Loved it. Our waitress was fantastic too and she even allowed us to do separate checks, as long as we were patient. Definitely recommend and we'll be back!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Julia/Julie(I believe was her name) was FANTASTIC if we lived closer we'd make this a regular spot solely on her service. Food was the perfect portion, came out quickly and tasted wonderful.
Restaurantji Recommends
Last night a large group of us went for dinner and ordered off of the pre-fixe menu. Some of us got the Barbecue Steak Tips and some of us got the Chicken Marsala; everyone was very pleased with their meals. The drinks are also amazing! I had a Strawberry Shortcake martini and it was like a dessert in a glass. Loved it. Our waitress was fantastic too and she even allowed us to do separate checks, as long as we were patient. Definitely recommend and we'll be back!
Fantastic place for Valentine's Day. We enjoyed the food and the ambiance.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Exceptional cocktails, a casual setting with a full bar that's bigger than your average bistro serving over 100 variations of your favorite martini . Their apps are yummy yum yums, not to mention scrumptious lunch and dinner tapas to sample a variety of tastes to excite your palate. I would recommend the steak salad, sooo good but, most of all i would recommend visiting the ESB for the incredible ambiance that I seem to enjoy no matter what time I arrive. The servers are friendly and on top of their game! This place is truly one of my favorites!
It was a 3.5/5 in our book, sadly from our last visit (but we always round up :) ). We've been coming here for a couple of years now, and this had become our lil spot. We went here for date nights, anniversary celebrations and recently for valentine's. The shirley temples were a solid 10/10 every time. But then we decided to get a lil fancy for vday and ordered calamari as an app but to our disappointment, calamari was not super fresh, and half of the dish was sliced pickled peppers (which the dish really didn't need). The baked haddock that I'm always excited to get did not live up to my expectations this time (risotto was crunchy and i was looking for the crab lumps and they were not in the room with us), the short rib my boyfriend got.. needed a lil more umph lil more seasoning u know what im saying. Our server was nice but you could tell they were a bit busy understandably so on vday. They have had better days
Acoustic were very loud, waiter seemed annoyed with my husband's questions, my daughter ordered another drink and the waiter never asked me or my husband if we wanted another one, food was average.