Was it related at all to the great Bruin Terry O’Reilly? I’d seen it come up in searches once in a while and was interested if there was any cool B’s memorabilia which would be enough to bring me in.
He was a great Bruin, my favorite at the time. Used to cut his action shot pictures out of the Globe and put them up on my bulletin board. He couldn’t skate for beans though. 
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I asked the first time I went in there (and the only time I had food there), and was told there was no relation to the ex-Bruins great. Ah, hockey in the 70’s, where there would be a fight, and all of a sudden a hockey game would break out.
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That sounds like something straight outta Slap Shot (one of the greatest movies of all time).
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The deli portion of Moody’s in Waltham has now reopened, reports Boston Magazine.
The Backroom is not open because its liquor license has not yet been reinstated. Taco bar likewise remains shuttered and is apparently getting a new concept.
I appreciate the greater transparency reflected in this coverage, which unpacks the lack of foresight that compelled Waltham officials to abruptly shut the business down in April.
Moody’s management had not seen to it that the common victualler’s license and the liquor license were held by anyone still with the business after their ties ended with founding chef Joshua Smith. These licensing issues forced the temporary closure.
Hoping that the business recovers well.
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JH and I have a long and rocky relationship. My wife and I first moved to Cambridge in 1991, my wife fully and I partially (true to this day), and to the Harvard end of town in 1993. Around then we “discovered” JH and started taking out-of-towners there. It always had its limitations, but the occasional brew was quite good (at the time they made their own), the burgers acceptable, and the chicken pot pie surprisingly good. It was a decent, hopping place to take visiting extended family that at the time included several kids. But, don’t you know it, kids grow up and restaurants grown down, and as that happened we went less and less. Last summer we had occasion to entertain some of these “kids” again, or rather the grown-up versions of these kids, who now had young kids of their own and wanted to go back to JH. We hadn’t been in five years. We were shocked at how awful it was – the food, the drink, and (worst) the depressing emptiness of the space.
I’m not surprised they’re closing, but slightly saddened from nostalgia, and semi-amused that a place named as it is is closing the H^2 branch but keeping open the one in NYC.
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What a lyrical reminiscence! Thank you for that!
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Back in the day John Harvard’s was a go-to spot in Harvard Square for us too. Fresh beer. Decent food. And that room felt like a cozy oasis from the hubbub outside.
We would take out-of-town family and friends for a bite and a brew there, too. John Harvard’s aimed to please back then and it did.
Now it’s been many years since our last visit. Since then, Craft Beer 2.0 exploded onto the scene and tasting rooms have become a thing. From what you write, I gather that John Harvard’s became less than it was and that is not enough.
Let’s raise a virtual pint to the experiences we remember (also because it’s before 8 a.m. on a weekday as I write this, sheesh). Because the doors never close on that.
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I guess I’ll expose myself as being wicked old when I say that my friends and I thought of John Harvard’s as “the new place” and actually have more memories of its previous incarnation, 33 Dunster St. I definitely feel my age when I think of the old local places we enjoyed, way back when the drinking age was 18.
For example: The Blue Parrot, Simeone’s, Father’s Fore, Bova’s, the original Joyce Chen on Mem Drive, Elsie’s, Newbury Steak House, the English Room…
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LOL, I was trying to remember the name of the predecessor to John Harvard’s earlier today.
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Thanks, that’s interesting. We’d thought of John Harvard’s as “always having been there”, because as far as we were concerned it had, but the recent story made us realize that it had opened only a year before we moved to the Harvard area. We’d been at the MIT end for two years before that, and although we made trips to the Square, we don’t have clear memories of the restaurants there (I do remember, though, that at the time the Square had several used book stores).
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Well, I can’t claim quite the far reach of some you with John Harvard’s, but it will always hold a special place for me. In 2006 after our wedding reception in the cafeteria of the Episcopal Divinity School, about 2/3 of our guests walked through a misty night to arrive at John Harvard’s where they allowed us to stay past closing, made no fuss whatsoever about my underage cousins having a few pints, and generally provided the equivalent of a private party for us. Did we eat? Who knows. I very much doubt it. Since I can’t return in my wedding dress on a regular basis, I’ll say goodbye from afar.
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What a lovely story.
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Wasn’t it something like “Spaghetti Emporium” between 33 Dunster and John Harvard?
Ah, the Blue Parrot. I remember during the bizzard of '78 when nearly everything was shut down (all traffic was banned - only the National Guard was permitted on the streets), Blue Parrot was open - and serving fresh salads. They had a cross-country ski afficianado on staff who trekked over to the Chelsea produce market and hauled stuff back in his backpack.
An Ha’ Penny downstairs - you coud get the daily special from upstairs at Blue Parrot for less, and a cheap pint.
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Thai Noodle Cafe opened in what used to be Tong G’s BBQ in Belmont. Tony G’s took over Gustazo’s Cuban cafe that now has two locations. Looking at the menu for Thai Noodle Cafe I see nothing really exciting.
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Yes, I was wracking my brain and you nailed it. 33 Dunster Street is where I had my first underage Tequila Sunrise (dating myself as old).
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The turn this discussion has taken brings a smile to my face. Places and experiences from years past are part of lives well-lived.
I’m all for that.
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Elsie’s, oh how I loved Elsie’s! The best sandwiches.
Enjoyed,
CocoDan
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I enjoyed my share of roast beef specials but I always wondered about the pile of bacon behind the grill that seemed to be from another day, if not week 
I asked the people at M.F. Dulock about their move. They said it will be at some point this fall.
(I got some lovely chunks of chuck from them which I very slowly cooked just under “simmer” – 6 hours – with cumin, bay leaf, cloves, a cinnamon stick, and some cayenne, then stirred in some sauteed ramps before serving. The meat was meltingly tender and aromatic, and the ramps gave it a nice garlicky kick.)
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