by lothari o.

Very casual little joint. I found the food to be bland and forgettable, which is too bad because this is a place I wanted to like. The people seem nice.

by Amanda M.

I didn't think this place was so bad. The hummus was actually pretty gross and eggy tasting, but the chicken teriyaki dinner was good. My boyfriend had the falafel and I tried a bite and we both agreed it was pretty delish. The decor is somewhat plain, but I'm not a snob.

by Donna T.

As soon as I sat down in this restaurant, I knew it was a mistake. It just looks shady. And empty! The people who work here move very slowly and do not smile. The olives and feta that I ordered was dropped onto the table unannounced with a measly four or five (inedible) neon purple olives, while the falafel sandwich was cold, gamey, and more of a roll-up. It arrived with some kind of unasked-for stew in a Wile E. Coyote mug which my husband tasted and realized had meat in it (we are both vegetarians). I'm still amazed that we didn't get food poisoning. You will get what you pay for here and you'll still be wasting your money. Save your stomach for Moody's Falafel Palace instead!

by Rekha M.

I ate here several times a few years ago because it was convenient. But the grime, the lackluster and possibly grimy food, and the sullen staff just turned me off. I went back again this week because my husband insisted on trying it. Our tap water came in styrofoam cups... mine was stained with dirt. The service was still sad and the space was still grimy. The falafel was fine but not made with love, and I'm actually just hoping it doesn't make me ill. I don't trust that place.

by Sam M.

I don't know.  I mean, I can't think of any reason I would ever want to go there again, but I never had an unpleasant experience.  I've been here probably 10 times, and I don't think there has ever been an occasion when my group was not the only group in the restaurant, no matter what time I go.  Which is probably good, because the employee has enough trouble handling orders for just two or three people at a time.  She definitely gives the place character, even if she's not the best at taking orders or preparing them in a timely fashion.The blackened chicken salad and cashew chicken salad are actually pretty tasty.  I mean, it's hard to mess up a salad.  The lentil soup is great, but not vegetarian, so watch out.  Also, it's usually served in a Wile E. Coyote mug.  This is additionally one of the only establishments in Boston where my Sam's Mom has ordered French toast for breakfast and not complained about it the entire way through the meal, which relaly says something.Seriously, though, it's got to be a front for something.  They probably serve 15 people a day, and they might make $2 profit per dish at their prices.  So go for the cashew chicken salad, and stay to figure out whatever they are actually running out of there.

by Jon R.

It's really not as bad as everyone makes it out to be.  I only get the falafel sandwich to go, and usually sometime after 1:30 or before noon, and I never have to wait more than 5 minutes or so.  I see how it could get busy at times, since there's only one person working there.  A husband-and-wife team own the place.  She cooks and serves at the restaurant and takes care of the kids in the back, and he drives the food truck (the big yellow one).  Like I said, I've only had the falafel sandwich, but it's good and cheap.I don't think the place is as dirty as everyone says.  The Cambridge Restaurant Inspections are online (http://www.cambridgema...), and they have fewer violations than most neighborhood pizza places.

by Vikram S.

It is nothing short of a miracle if this place is open.My girlfriend loved the lentil soup she once had at this place. So we tried to visit this place at various times, and irrespective of when we went (believe me, we tried going at all kinds of times) - it used to be closed.Maybe they were renovating or something then - I dont know, whatever it was, it did not make great business sense.Anyway this once when we managed to find it open (we were really excited to go in, I remember), we had the lentil soup again (this time it was ok, clearly there is not much consistency in the cook's recipes). But should say that the food was not too bad. I think we had some veggie soup as well, and that was also not bad.5/10 for the food, 0/10 for their hours.

by Crystal S.

I agree with everyone else, don't go here!!we tried the food for brunch and the fact that no one else was in the joint should have been a sign, but it was pretty early on sunday and none of the other places we wanted to go to were open yet so we thought we'd give it a chance. big mistake!!greasy food and there was that burnt pan stuff on my omelet. the only edible thing was the toast...

by Matthias T.

Just imagine it... vegetables made out of real styrofoam, served to you after an authentic long wait.  This place scrapes the very bottom of how bad a restaurant can be before I won't even bother to write a review of it.  Their marketing slogan should be, "Hey, at least it won't kill you."

by Dragony F.

Me versus:an awful, soggy, bland grape leaf wrap that took a million years to make.Who wins? NO ONEI agree with the previous reviewers; this place is simply terrible.Grape leaf wrap = limp chewy grapeleaves stuffed with tasteless (watery?) rice that was subsequently placed into a stale wrap followed by microwaving which made the whole entire thing a soggy lukewarm mess.On top of all this, the bread was dried out and cold by the time (microwaving will do that) I bit into it but the rice was super hot inside (that damn microwaving again) which burned my tongue!Plus, it took them forever to even get around to microwaving my food even though the place was empty.I like to support local restaurant joints but they gotta at least have some yummy food

by Chris B.

Went for brunch this Sunday, and it was pretty horrible. The service was incredibly slow, the food was not terribly good, and the woman had some trouble distinguishing between hot chocolate and chocolate milk. One of us ended up running to Star Market a couple blocks away to grab a gallon of chocolate milk before our drinks came out, which is pretty sad.The one redeeming factor at this place was the price. My eggs, waffle and bacon cost something like 4.50, hence the two star rating instead of one.

by Allix T.

AWFUL!! Seriously, do not bother wasting your lunch break here--b/c that's what it will be, a waste.  I used to patronize the truck that Olive Tree (formerly Jerusalem) Cafe had out at the MIT lot.  After a few friends of mine got food poisoning from the food, I put my visits on hiatus.Rob C. and I met up for a quick lunch date today in celebration of the fact that we, once again, work near each other.  Miracle Of Science was packed so we wandered down the street and figured "hey, why not give this little place a shot."Forty minutes later we still didn't have our order of grape leaves, hummus and falafel.  (Note, there were no customers waiting to order when we arrived and only  a few trickled in after us).  We didn't even have time to enjoy our lunch together as our lunch hours were just about up. To add insult to injury, the one woman working didn't bother to ring us up, just rounded our orders to $10.  Cheap yes, but still more than what the prices on the menu listed.At this point we didn't bother to argue, just fled out the door to try to quickly eat our soggy grape leaves, oily hummus, and uncooked (yup after forty minuts), tough, and nasty falafel.  Forget you Olive tree--never again.And if the business owner ever reads this--please tell your employee--if they are the only person working during a lunch hour, it's bad practice to hide behind the counter talking on the phone all through lunch.

by mickey l.

My brother was served a "honey dijon chicken" dish that was the curry chicken dish I ordered but with yellow mustard squirted on top. Wow. Really?If only the food was decent, this place would be cool.

by Julia F.

This place is one of a kind, which makes me comfortable, because it can be easily avoided in the future. The food was seriously unimpressive. I had to do all I could not to think about how dirty the place was behind the counter. We wanted our food to go, but after over 10 minutes of waiting, we had sat down. This apparently meant that we wanted our kafta sandwiches to eat here. The lady was nice enough, but it took forever for us to get our food, the food wasn't even very good. The place should be shut down until they can figure out what cleanliness is.

by Corey P.

Well, it has become more than obvious the reason why the prices are so cheap here (and I MEAN CHEAP) is because they hire little to no staff to  man the dining room. The fact that that it is family owned and operated is charming, and the staff is very friendly and kind.  I journeyed into this establishment for lunch with a coworker. The falafel and chicken shawarma were not bad at all, but I still would prefer the shawarma at Falafel Palace up the street. If your looking for a cheap eat, and have a lot of extra time on your hands, it might just be worth the trip for lunch. Depending on how lenient  your boss is...

by Jennifer M.

I really wanted to love this place but i just couldn't. It's family run and I mean majorly. One of the many kids were at an empty table doing homework. I like that feel of family run restaurants. I'd say that's one star and the fact that they sell hookahs is another. I had a simple breakfast, under 5 bucks and I just couldn't really stomach the food. It just wasn't good. The coffee was weak. The service was off. They are a nice family and have a good idea for a restaurant but are missing the bull's eye, you know?

by Jenn X.

Do not let there mismatched goodwill mugs, and strange 7-11 big gulp look a like cups throw you off, that is probably the best part of this place.Be sure you still have 1/2 a cup of coffee or water left before you ask for your refill, because by the time you get it, your cup will probably have been empty for a while already.   This place is not for a big group to attend for breakfast, and it is defiantly not some where you want to be if it is busy, they already have a hard enough time getting you your food before a  whole hour has elapsed even if you are the only customers they have.

by alec r.

People are right: the service is slow, the food is cheap, and the food tastes  great (their falafel and grape leaves are in particular fantastic).But you know what?  It's pretty awesome that the family works there, and that they're real, self-employed people.  They've always been cordial, and the atmosphere has always made up for whatever delays there are.

by Jamie M.

Average food made worse by sloooow service and dirty menus. Cheap? Yes, but small.The worst part: we asked for water when we ordered, it didn't come with our food so we asked again, she grumpily bought out luke warm water in red plastic cups like at keg parties, when we went to drink it we realized they were old and hadn't been cleaned properly (there was actual 'stuff' clinging to the insides. Which naturally makes you wonder about the state of the kitchen.

by Jessie S.

My stomach rumbled, grumbled, and spat at me in anger. I hadn't fed it in a very long time and it was clearly communicating to me that my time was up. I wandered around Central Square like a zombie.  My arms drooping, my legs like jelly, and a look of hunger pangs apparent on my face. A decision needed to made quickly. No time to consult Yelp. No means to consult Yelp. Olive Tree Cafe it is.The prices were cheap, and there were plenty of people inside. All good signs right? We sat down, looked around.  Finally we got our menu. The waitress was so disinterested in giving us our menu that she just plopped it down on the table with a thud. As we made our order, the table next to us was wrapping up their lunch. The waitress came up behind one of the patrons, tapped her on the shoulder roughly and shoved the check in her face. Ohhhhhhhhhhh-kkaaaaayyyyyy. I contemplated leaving at this points everything I had witnessed to this point was horrific customer service. The two ladies at the table reviewed their bill and realized that they had been overcharged.  A dispute was made with the waitress. It didn't go well, but they got their bill amended.As we waited for our food, I looked around. The soft Middle Eastern music was playing. Dirty hookah's in the window.  Lots of clutter and touristy items with "JORDAN" all over it. Maps of Jordan on the wall. I didn't notice as much of the dirtiness as other reviews mention, but we did notice that one of the spoons on our table still had food crusted on it.  Needless to say, they lack in atmosphere.  The food was okay. I actually didn't like the taste of my lentil dish and switched dishes with my husband.  He had a chicken curry dish. The first few bites were okay. I kinda like it. But as time went on it took on a weird bitter flavor. Some of the curry was still in powder form on the chicken. I feel like I can't complain too much because it cost $6, but it really wasn't all that good.We got our check in a timely fashion, but the waitress never came back to take our money. We waited. She walked past us and cleaned some table around us. We waited. Finally, we got up went to her and paid the bill. Never once did she crack a smile, look up or emote any sort of friendliness. It was painfully obvious she didn't want to be there and resented the fact that we were there. So horrific service mixed with icky food = stay away from Olive Tree Cafe.

by Liz D.

Went here for dinner last night with my boyfriend. He had dined here earlier last week with a friend and has not stopped talking about their Falafel. (we met at a falafel hut)...anyways, we walk in and we are the only people there other then the family who I guess runs it? We ordered hummus, babganoush, falafel, a lentil soup, a chicken kebab entree, a tabbouleh wrap and 2 bottled waters...AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!! Best part--$28!!!!!!! I understand peoples issues with the menu's, mismatching plates, and the decor but I thought it made it all the more authentic. Not sure about having to leave the place to use the bathroom (it is around back and through a gray door? I decided to hold it...) I would consider myself a Middle Eastern foodie/snob.  Being a vegetarian, it is very easy to eat.  I usually go for Steve's Greek but I think I have found a new contender.  Another perk?? Toscanni's is a short walk! :)

by Julie R.

I wish I read the reviews on this place before even considering it. I was looking for a place on New Years day for a late breakfast. I wanted to go to the Breakfast Club but the line was out the door. We decided to go to Cambridge cause I remembered I wanted to try Sunny's or there would be more options. So we see that Sunny's was closed and across the street we see a banner that reads "breakfast all day". We knew that was it after a couple hungry strikesWe enter a tiny little run down shop and there is no one around. Then a woman comes out with no smile and I asked for breakfast and she goes ok, sit wherever you want. The whole vibe was shady but we were starving and thought ok lets just do this. I decided to with the eggs, homefries, and toast. My bf gets the spinach and feta omlette. We were waiting to hear the breakfast being made, and its silent for like 10 minutes, then we notice she is back and an egg cracks. Okkkay. We sit sipping bad coffee and dusty hookahs sit in front of us. The food finally comes out. It was so thoughtlessly prepared, but I wasn't surprised. My "scrambled" eggs came out more like a crepe, flat and crispy.  Toast obviously burnt and homefries came with 5 potato pieces tasting like fish. Bf's omlette was tiny and just blah. Bacon was undercooked and we sent it back.When we went to pay at the register (prices were only a couple bucks and it was useless to complain since we would never return) we noticed the back was filthy. Just don't bother!

by Kelly K.

On 10-03-09 Three of us went there for breakfast. Never been there before just drove by and decided to check it out. The restaurant was seat yourself. When we walked in there was a small (maybe 2 years old) boy all by himself in the corner eating a backscratcher. The waitress came and took the small child out back. There were marker scribbling all over the filthy wall(most likely from the small child.) The floor has never been mopped. The menus were brought over. They were sticky, brown and very dirty. We all ordered omelets.I ordered the spinach feta omelet. It was more like a fried egg mess. The toast was half a burnt raisin bagle dowsed in butter. Non of us liked the food. There were mismatched dishes and mugs. All three of us ordered coffees and one water. We got two coffees and no water. Finally, we had to ask for the missing coffee and water. All the knick knacks, pictures, and hookas were all dusty and dirty, and all for sale. There was a small flea market in the corner with jewelry and some other odd items for sale. I got up to pay and there was used bottles of nail polish sitting with the food behind the counter where all the food was. I asked to use the bathroom. She said it was outside around the building in the back. It's a big grey door. We drove around the building found the bathroom. The bathroom was discusting and as dirty as the restaurant. There was toilet paper with feces all over the floor. Urine all over the floor and toilet. I went to go flush and it was broken! After leaving this trainwreck of a place i felt like i needed a shower and a hepatitus shot.

by John L.

I've had maybe one or two deliveries from here. The food there is okay, nothing remarkable.   However, this is more for their MIT Truck, as that has given me a food option that allows a quick and easy way to buy some cheap food.For $4, you can get a falafel, or a kebab, or something else with a pita, and a sodie pop.  Think about this.  A wrap filled with decent ingredients plus a soda for about half of what you will pay elsewhere in the Kendall area (and, with about a quarter of the line that Gooseberry's has, so when you need to get food quickly, it's usually quick and easy). Again, the food isn't the greatest, but it's definitely serviceable, and easy to get, in the Kendall/MIT area, and a much better deal than most.

by T F.

Major suckage here - stay away. The ambiance is trash - as in trash hung on the walls, trash on the floor (intentional? or poor sanitation?), etc. The menus were filthy - just gross, and the food was hardly edible. The charge an extra dollar to use a credit card. Only thing worth a star was the waitress, who was sweet.

by Irene F.

We had a big, hung over group after a wedding and we needed breakfast. Stat. A slightly confusing seating situation but we finally sorted it all out and got our orders in. Now, the service, is non existent. Our waitress was also probably about 13 years old, so I do have to cut her some slack. But food came out at strange pauses, so half our table of 6 had eaten most of their food before the rest of us got ours.Now here's the deal though...it's really cheap, and the food is pretty darn good. I enjoyed the babaghanoush appetizer like woah! And my omelette wasn't half bad either. So, it is what it is. You want some good cheap eats? Cool. Just deal with the strange seating, mismatched dishes, and bad service. You want fancy and nice? Go somewhere else.

by Nadaline J.

That place was horrible. I just had breakfast there. I got the breakfast special (3 pankcakes, ham, hash browns). Though the lady was very nice, they OVERdid the cinnamon powder. I asked for it to be removed. I was given another set of pancakes half the size, no hash browns, and the pancakes were VERRRYYY undercooked. I basically ate warm, brunt-tasting batter. This decor is as described. I wouldn't trust this place to even make my coffee. I understand the place is affordable but don't risk food poisoning for cheap food.

by Seth T.

exactly as bad as everyone says.

by liz b.

Ew. The stars are for the price (and the good bread -- even though they only gave me one piece) and not the food. If you're not in a rush and have an iron stomach you're set. Went this weekend for breakfast (ok, it was closer to lunch time but we were still in it for breakfast) When we got there there were only 2 other people in the place, pushing food around on their plates. Should have taken that as a bad sign. We were handed tattered and stained menus to look at and sat down. No mention of the fact that you have to order at the counter. Another group came in after we'd decided what we wanted but before we realized that sitting at a table in plain view of the sole employee did not mean that we were going to get any instruction. Once we finally did order it took about 20 minutes to get our two breakfast plates. I had two eggs over easy that came with potatoes and a piece of bread. Eggs were greasy but cooked ok. The home-fries were inedible and tasted a bit like Windex. My dining companion had one of their combo breakfasts -- there was some major confusion (on their end) when he ordered, with lots of snipping from the staff -- anyway it came out with 3 pieces of french toast with so much cinnamon on top that he could barely eat it... as he said "my mouth is burning!" The eggs looked ok but the bacon was hardly cooked -- I don't think he had more than a bite. While we escaped for under 10 bucks, I still don't think it was worth it. Sunny's around the corner is a much better bet.As a side note, I really have to agree with the other posters about the sanitation being rather lax.

by Giovanni G.

I ate here 3 days ago and I got this lamb kabob dinner for $6.50.I thought it tasted pretty decent on the whole, but the rice tasted kinda funky and I couldnt taste too much of the lamb. It felt like I was eating beef for the most part. I would give this 4 stars for prices, the main dish and somewhat the rice but moreso the lamb kabob dinner + its somewhat of a charming little hole in the wall. I wouldnt get their bbq stuff though since its most likely that theyd serve it with that white rice and not really be like authentic bbq though. Overall, Id say I wasnt disappointed like some people reviewing it clearly are. Cant complain and I may even come again.

by Giovanni G.liz b.Seth T.

I ate here 3 days ago and I got this lamb kabob dinner for $6.50.I thought it tasted pretty decent on the whole, but the rice tasted kinda funky and I couldnt taste too much of the lamb. It felt like I was eating beef for the most part. I would give this 4 stars for prices, the main dish and somewhat the rice but moreso the lamb kabob dinner + its somewhat of a charming little hole in the wall. I wouldnt get their bbq stuff though since its most likely that theyd serve it with that white rice and not really be like authentic bbq though. Overall, Id say I wasnt disappointed like some people reviewing it clearly are. Cant complain and I may even come again.Ew. The stars are for the price (and the good bread -- even though they only gave me one piece) and not the food. If you're not in a rush and have an iron stomach you're set. Went this weekend for breakfast (ok, it was closer to lunch time but we were still in it for breakfast) When we got there there were only 2 other people in the place, pushing food around on their plates. Should have taken that as a bad sign. We were handed tattered and stained menus to look at and sat down. No mention of the fact that you have to order at the counter. Another group came in after we'd decided what we wanted but before we realized that sitting at a table in plain view of the sole employee did not mean that we were going to get any instruction. Once we finally did order it took about 20 minutes to get our two breakfast plates. I had two eggs over easy that came with potatoes and a piece of bread. Eggs were greasy but cooked ok. The home-fries were inedible and tasted a bit like Windex. My dining companion had one of their combo breakfasts -- there was some major confusion (on their end) when he ordered, with lots of snipping from the staff -- anyway it came out with 3 pieces of french toast with so much cinnamon on top that he could barely eat it... as he said "my mouth is burning!" The eggs looked ok but the bacon was hardly cooked -- I don't think he had more than a bite. While we escaped for under 10 bucks, I still don't think it was worth it. Sunny's around the corner is a much better bet.As a side note, I really have to agree with the other posters about the sanitation being rather lax.exactly as bad as everyone says.

by Giovanni G.liz b.Seth T.Nadaline J.Irene F.

I ate here 3 days ago and I got this lamb kabob dinner for $6.50.I thought it tasted pretty decent on the whole, but the rice tasted kinda funky and I couldnt taste too much of the lamb. It felt like I was eating beef for the most part. I would give this 4 stars for prices, the main dish and somewhat the rice but moreso the lamb kabob dinner + its somewhat of a charming little hole in the wall. I wouldnt get their bbq stuff though since its most likely that theyd serve it with that white rice and not really be like authentic bbq though. Overall, Id say I wasnt disappointed like some people reviewing it clearly are. Cant complain and I may even come again.Ew. The stars are for the price (and the good bread -- even though they only gave me one piece) and not the food. If you're not in a rush and have an iron stomach you're set. Went this weekend for breakfast (ok, it was closer to lunch time but we were still in it for breakfast) When we got there there were only 2 other people in the place, pushing food around on their plates. Should have taken that as a bad sign. We were handed tattered and stained menus to look at and sat down. No mention of the fact that you have to order at the counter. Another group came in after we'd decided what we wanted but before we realized that sitting at a table in plain view of the sole employee did not mean that we were going to get any instruction. Once we finally did order it took about 20 minutes to get our two breakfast plates. I had two eggs over easy that came with potatoes and a piece of bread. Eggs were greasy but cooked ok. The home-fries were inedible and tasted a bit like Windex. My dining companion had one of their combo breakfasts -- there was some major confusion (on their end) when he ordered, with lots of snipping from the staff -- anyway it came out with 3 pieces of french toast with so much cinnamon on top that he could barely eat it... as he said "my mouth is burning!" The eggs looked ok but the bacon was hardly cooked -- I don't think he had more than a bite. While we escaped for under 10 bucks, I still don't think it was worth it. Sunny's around the corner is a much better bet.As a side note, I really have to agree with the other posters about the sanitation being rather lax.exactly as bad as everyone says.That place was horrible. I just had breakfast there. I got the breakfast special (3 pankcakes, ham, hash browns). Though the lady was very nice, they OVERdid the cinnamon powder. I asked for it to be removed. I was given another set of pancakes half the size, no hash browns, and the pancakes were VERRRYYY undercooked. I basically ate warm, brunt-tasting batter. This decor is as described. I wouldn't trust this place to even make my coffee. I understand the place is affordable but don't risk food poisoning for cheap food.We had a big, hung over group after a wedding and we needed breakfast. Stat. A slightly confusing seating situation but we finally sorted it all out and got our orders in. Now, the service, is non existent. Our waitress was also probably about 13 years old, so I do have to cut her some slack. But food came out at strange pauses, so half our table of 6 had eaten most of their food before the rest of us got ours.Now here's the deal though...it's really cheap, and the food is pretty darn good. I enjoyed the babaghanoush appetizer like woah! And my omelette wasn't half bad either. So, it is what it is. You want some good cheap eats? Cool. Just deal with the strange seating, mismatched dishes, and bad service. You want fancy and nice? Go somewhere else.