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Tiny (3 seats), bare-bones counter serve fixing up fried chicken & other homey soul-food classics.
Address and Contact Information
Address: 233 River St, Cambridge, MA 02139
Phone: (617) 354-7644
Website: http://coastsoulcafe.com/
Menu Photos
Order and Reservations
Order: Order online
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The Coast Cafe (@coastsoulcafe) · Cambridge, MA – Instagram
Food From The Soul Open: Thursday: 3 PM-8 PM and Fri-Sat 12 PM-8 PM. Grading food from @coastsoulcafe located in Cambridge, MA. #bostonfoodies #Foodie # …
The Coast Cafe: Cambridge’s Home for Soul Food for More Than a …
Editor markup for Hermano Venue “The Coast Café – 233 River Street, Cambridge, MA 02139”. This is only visible in the story editor. The Coast …
Reviews
The Audacity
The food is so so. If you’re looking for BLACK black grandma’s soul food, unfortunately this place isn’t it. The fried chicken lacked seasoning and still had hairs on it!! I stopped eating it, folks burn those off in my community.
The catfish was also low on seaonsing. The Mac is okay but it’s not all that, the greens are good but basically taste more like water than greens. The sweet potato pie is also on the barely flavorful side, doesnt taste like cinnamon, nutmeg, or anything was added. This is a great soul food spot for a person from Cambridge, however you want to interpret that. It feels very church plate esque.
Cost wise, this place is expensive for generally ok food. $30 for barely seasoned catfish and two sides is a lot to me, but again, this is Cambridge.
Further this place has extremely unreliable hours. I do appreciate that the people are nice and generally fast, it is a small business. However, I don’t know how they’re staying above water only being open Wednesday/Thurs at 3pm (??) and Fri/Sat. They would benefit from having more consistent daily hrs, and potentially a new cook.
… moreThe catfish was also low on seaonsing. The Mac is okay but it’s not all that, the greens are good but basically taste more like water than greens. The sweet potato pie is also on the barely flavorful side, doesnt taste like cinnamon, nutmeg, or anything was added. This is a great soul food spot for a person from Cambridge, however you want to interpret that. It feels very church plate esque.
Cost wise, this place is expensive for generally ok food. $30 for barely seasoned catfish and two sides is a lot to me, but again, this is Cambridge.
Further this place has extremely unreliable hours. I do appreciate that the people are nice and generally fast, it is a small business. However, I don’t know how they’re staying above water only being open Wednesday/Thurs at 3pm (??) and Fri/Sat. They would benefit from having more consistent daily hrs, and potentially a new cook.
Melissa
I was looking forward to trying this place based on the reviews, but the food didn’t live up to my expectations. The chicken was over fried and lacked flavor, and it tasted like the oil may have been old. The mac and cheese was also on the dry side, collard greens were good, and best part of the plate was their cornbread. . Overall I give my plate 7/10..
… moreNehemie Delacruz
Coast cafe review
I paid $95.05 altogether for a total of 6 pieces of chicken 2 large sides or rice and peas, 2 large sides of Mac & cheese and one side order of collard greens. And a box of large chicken wings smaller ones with about 10 small pieces. The Mac and cheese now has a synthetic cheese taste to it the formula has definitely changed. The wonder bar was not on the menu which has been my go to treat. I waited over an hour for my food, and even if you order in advance you are still going to wait for your food. There is literally zero parking which adds to the wait time. I do not know what’s going on with The Coast Cafe but I am no longer recommending this restaurant. Whilst the chicken is still incredibly delicious everything else is too negative to rate my experience as positive.
… moreI paid $95.05 altogether for a total of 6 pieces of chicken 2 large sides or rice and peas, 2 large sides of Mac & cheese and one side order of collard greens. And a box of large chicken wings smaller ones with about 10 small pieces. The Mac and cheese now has a synthetic cheese taste to it the formula has definitely changed. The wonder bar was not on the menu which has been my go to treat. I waited over an hour for my food, and even if you order in advance you are still going to wait for your food. There is literally zero parking which adds to the wait time. I do not know what’s going on with The Coast Cafe but I am no longer recommending this restaurant. Whilst the chicken is still incredibly delicious everything else is too negative to rate my experience as positive.
Alex B
Totally delicious! The fried chicken is WOW, crispy, fresh, and juicy. The collard greens are perfect, and the mac and cheese is pure perfection. The crispy catfish is spot-on, and the sweet potato pie is the best I’ve ever had. On top of that, the owners and staff are exceptionally kind. Tiny cute spot probably best for take out then planning to dine in!!
… moreSean Evans
This is a solid soul food restaurant! Their fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, and vanilla cake are very good. The collard greens and cornbread are ok. Small restaurant dining room so probably best to take out.
… moreJea Kim
Solid spot for Soul food/Fried chicken cravings.
First heard about this spot a year ago from my friends dubbing it the best soul food restaurant in the GBA. With limited opening hours, it took me some time to finally make it here, but this week, I managed to visit for lunch
The restaurant was quite small, with just seven seats squeezed into its modest space. Most people seemed to know the drill, grabbing their orders to go, but with a menu learning heavily on fried options, we decided to dine in while everything was still hot and crispy.
We opted for the Fried Chicken Thighs and Fried Catfish combo plates, and both delivered on flavor. The chicken thighs were our favorite—perfectly seasoned, not overly greasy, and juicy. The catfish was also nice with its tender and flaky meat. However, the portions felt a bit small for the price, and while we dove in as soon as the plates hit the table, everything was lukewarm.
Among the sides, the Mac N Cheese was our favorite. The other offerings—Candied Yams, Collard Greens, and Rice & Beans—were solid but fairly basic. From the hot oven display, we tried the Beef Patty. The flavors were there, but it was a tad dry. It really could have benefited from a good dipping sauce.
Not entirely sold on my friends’ claim that this is the best soul food spot in the area. Yet, with limited options for Southern soul food in Cambridge/GBA, I would probably come back if I’m craving for good fried chicken and Southern comfort food.
… moreFirst heard about this spot a year ago from my friends dubbing it the best soul food restaurant in the GBA. With limited opening hours, it took me some time to finally make it here, but this week, I managed to visit for lunch
The restaurant was quite small, with just seven seats squeezed into its modest space. Most people seemed to know the drill, grabbing their orders to go, but with a menu learning heavily on fried options, we decided to dine in while everything was still hot and crispy.
We opted for the Fried Chicken Thighs and Fried Catfish combo plates, and both delivered on flavor. The chicken thighs were our favorite—perfectly seasoned, not overly greasy, and juicy. The catfish was also nice with its tender and flaky meat. However, the portions felt a bit small for the price, and while we dove in as soon as the plates hit the table, everything was lukewarm.
Among the sides, the Mac N Cheese was our favorite. The other offerings—Candied Yams, Collard Greens, and Rice & Beans—were solid but fairly basic. From the hot oven display, we tried the Beef Patty. The flavors were there, but it was a tad dry. It really could have benefited from a good dipping sauce.
Not entirely sold on my friends’ claim that this is the best soul food spot in the area. Yet, with limited options for Southern soul food in Cambridge/GBA, I would probably come back if I’m craving for good fried chicken and Southern comfort food.
Geralyn Evans
This place is AMAZING! We ordered the ribs, fried chicken, candied yams, mac and cheese, and vanilla cake. Everything, and I do mean everything, was a 10/10! The place is super cozy and cute. They have a wide variety of dishes to pick from on their menu which I really appreciated. I will be back soon! (I placed my order over the phone and it was all ready for me when I arrived about 15 min after I called) 🙂
… moreAlex DeMartino
If you are wanting soul food and in the area you would be hard pressed to find better. We got the coast wings and the fried breast meals with a slice of sweet potato pie. The meals come with 2 sides so we got the green beans, rice and beans, candied yams and the mac and cheese. The wings do not have breading and that changes the texture but not the flavor. The seasoning of the chicken is a good classic chicken without trying to be the Nashville hot style. All of the sides were good. But the best side is the corn bread that comes with the meals. The sweet potato pie is the version that is very close to pumpkin pie.
… moreBoston Irish2009
I wanted CRISPY fried chicken and bot tenders. This place delivers. I loved seeing the giant pot of collard greens ! And the Mac and cheese is so thick I needed strength to pry it open ! So cheap so fresh so good
… moreTheodore Sutherland
Gotten take out from here a few times and its consistently good southern food – fried chicken, mac n cheese, corn bread and greens is my go to now. Enjoy!
… more