Harvard Food Services cuisine has never exactly excited anybody's palate, and with food prices eliminating some of what you like and soy substitutes replacing the rest, Harvard Square restaurants may be visited by more summer students than they have in the past.

This list of restaurants does not pretend to be comprehensive--it almost totally excludes the more expensive restaurants around Harvard, and it misses more than one good Harvard snack spot. We've included a brief guide to some of the Square's watering holes on page 6.

Ice Cream

Ice cream is a staple in summertime Cambridge, and there are three well-established places to find it: Baskin-Robbins (1230 Mass Ave.), Brigham's (1702 Mass Ave.) and Bailey's (21 Brattle St.).

Among the three, it's largely a matter of personal taste. Baskin-Robbins has the most flavors and often has good, offbeat treats like Pralines and Cream. Brigham's, with its screaming red, white and blue decor, is a little over-packaged; it has a good selection but is usually the most crowded of the three. Its ice cream is a little softer than the ice cream at Baskin-Robbins or Bailey's. Bailey's has by far the most charm of the three--marble floors and highquality ice cream--but its selection is limited and its prices high. A Bailey's single scoop cone is 40 cents, as opposed to 30 cents at Brigham's and Baskin-Robbins.

This summer there is a new challenger to the traditional troika. It's called Sticky Fingers (52 Boylston St.) and its major selling point is its prices; for a little less dazzling efficiency you can get a chocolate or coffee cone for ten cents and other flavors for a quarter.

Pizza

When the late-night munchies strike, Harvard students usually flock to the fast-food places around the Square. Besides Elsie's, Tommy's and others of that genre, a variety of pizza and sub shops cash in on the nocturnal hunger pangs.

A Crimson review of pizza last year touched off a "debate," as the pizza gourmets came out of the woodwork to defend their favorites. Joe's Pizza at 1 Linden St., and its sister shop on Plympton St., feature a thin crust. Pinocchio's at 74 Winthrop St. sells subs and pizza; most people who like a thicker crust frequent Pinocchio's.

The 24, at 24 Holyoke St., serves Greek food, but offers a small pizza that boasts nice cheese. The 24 also features grinders. Other pizza parlors exist farther away from the Square--check the Yellow Pages for the ones which deliver.

Feeding Spots

The Harvard greasy spoon is a well-established institution impervious to almost anything short of a full-scale nuclear attack. Elsie's and Tommy's have been feeding Harvard students since Christ was a corporal, and at 24 Holyoke St., where the 24 Restaurant recently replaced Hazen's, the greasy spoon will endure until the resurrection. Each eatery has its adherents, but they all serve about the same kind of food. Prices are highest at Tommy's. Bartley's Burger Cottage at 1246 Mass Ave has the best hamburger on the Square, far and away the best.

As You Like It

1326 Mass Ave

To each his own. That is how we feel about this eatery, which can--if vitally necessary--be found on the corner of Mass Ave and Holyoke St. The fare is motley, ranging from some moderately expensive dinners to some overpriced delights. The menu, filled with cheesy Shakespearean quotes, nicely complements the fake-brick wallpaper.