"The basement Harvard Square room that turned a Twitter burger into an institution — go for an easy first date built on shared plates."
About Alden & Harlow
The Secret Burger is not on the menu. You order it by knowing it exists, and that small piece of theatre tells you most of what you need to know about Alden & Harlow. Michael Scelfo opened the room in 2014, down a staircase at 40 Brattle Street in Harvard Square, after the off-menu burger he ran at Russell House Tavern became a Cambridge cult object he decided to take with him.
What he built around it is a vegetable-forward New American kitchen of shared plates, set in a low brick cellar that fills nightly with Harvard faculty, students and the parents visiting them. It is unpretentious cooking done seriously, in a room designed for ordering a lot and talking over all of it.
The Kitchen
Michael Scelfo cooks the way a good home cook would if a home cook had a restaurant kitchen and a real point of view: produce first, technique in service of flavour, nothing fussed onto the plate for show. The off-menu Secret Burger is the calling card, an eight-ounce house Creekstone grind on a house-made roll, priced around 19 dollars and capped at a few dozen a day so it never crowds out the rest of the menu. He later opened Waypoint nearby, but Alden & Harlow remains his signature room.
The strength is the vegetable cooking and the small-plate format: charred and pickled and roasted things meant to be passed around, alongside a rotating handful of seafood dishes. Order broadly and the kitchen looks very good; order one main and you have missed the point. The bar program matches, leaning into well-made classics rather than novelty.
The Room
The space is a subterranean brick cellar, dim and warm, with exposed beams and a long bar that is the best seat in the house for a solo diner. It runs lively and a little loud once full, in the good college-town way, and tables are close enough to feel the energy without shouting. Dress is no-rules, smart-casual at most. The bar seats walk-ins; the dining room seats a busy mid-size crowd across the evening.
Best for a First Date
Book Alden & Harlow for a first date because the shared-plate format does the heavy lifting: you order together, you reach across the table, and the warm basement room keeps things easy rather than formal. There is no three-hour tasting menu locking you in, so the night can run long or short on your terms. Browse the wider Boston dining guide, or see more of the city's first-date tables.
Not for
Not for a quiet, white-tablecloth anniversary or a hushed business negotiation — the room is a loud brick cellar, the tables are close, and the format is built for sharing and noise rather than privacy.
Frequently Asked
Is Alden & Harlow worth it?
Yes, especially for a relaxed, vegetable-forward New American meal in Harvard Square. Chef Michael Scelfo's shared plates are inventive without being precious, and the off-menu Secret Burger remains one of the best burgers in Greater Boston. It is a room built for ordering widely and lingering, not for a hushed tasting-menu occasion.
How hard is it to book Alden & Harlow?
Weekend prime-time tables book several days to a week ahead through Resy or aldenharlow.com, and Harvard Square graduation weekends are the hardest of all. Weeknights and the bar are easier, and the bar is the best seat for solo diners and walk-ins. Booking a few days out covers most evenings comfortably.
What is the dress code at Alden & Harlow?
No rules, lean smart-casual. This is a basement Cambridge room with a college-town energy, so jeans and a good shirt are completely at home and nobody is checking for a jacket. The crowd is a mix of Harvard faculty, students and visiting parents, so anything from neat-casual upward fits.
What does dinner at Alden & Harlow cost?
Budget 45 to 75 dollars per person before drinks. The menu is built on shared small and medium plates in the mid-teens to high-twenties, so the bill depends on how widely you order. The Secret Burger is about 19 dollars; cocktails and a few extra plates push a generous table toward the top of that range.
What should I order at Alden & Harlow?
Start with the off-menu Secret Burger, an eight-ounce house Creekstone grind on a house-made roll, then build around the vegetable plates Scelfo is known for and one or two of the day's seafood dishes. The kitchen is strongest when you order broadly and share, so a table of three or four sampling widely is the way to eat here. See more group-friendly Boston tables.
Reserve a Table
Reserve at Alden & Harlow
Book via aldenharlow.com or Resy. Weekend prime time goes a few days to a week ahead.
Affiliate disclosure: Restaurants for Kings may earn a commission when you book through our reservation links, at no cost to you. Our scores are editorial and never paid for.
Practical Information
Address40 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
NeighbourhoodHarvard Square (below ground)
CuisineNew American, shared plates
Price$45–75 per person before drinks
Dress CodeNo-rules / smart-casual
BarWalk-in seats, best for solo
ReservationResy · a few days ahead
