Service is good, although Natalie's has gained a strong following that can make entry difficult at times--try to avoid the dinner rush.
What it all comes down to is that you can get any type of meal you'd like at Natalie's, costing anywhere from $1.75 to $7.50 per person. And what the Square may lack in quantity in Italian food spots, Natalie's more than makes up for in quality.
India Sweet House
243 Hampshire St.
India Sweet House tends to get lost in the massive shuffle created by Legal Sea Foods, right next door in Inman Square. But don't pass the Sweet House by too quickly; it's the best Indian restaurant in Cambridge.
The standard fare is curry, as it is in all Indian restaurants, with some degree of choice as to how hot you want it, and it's quite good. But aside from the food, what really makes the Sweet House is its atmosphere, which, for Cambridge, is amazingly pleasant. It's almost an oasis--calm, uncrowded, everything done with a minimum of fuss and bother. The Sweet House is no bargain, with dinner for two costing upwards of $10, but it's a good place to go to get away from it all.
Grist Mill
In Harvard Sq.
Grist Mill opened earlier this month, and like most new places it is having its birth pains. One recent day found the restaurant attempting to serve a lunch crowd of about 200 with seven harried waiters and waitresses, the manager at the grill, and nobody with enough time to buy a few heads of lettuce, of which they had just run out. But assuming Grist Mill gets its personnel and its ordering under control, it should turn out to be a good place to grab a bite to eat.
It's hard to avoid a comparison with Pewter Pot; the inside of the old Hungry Charley's has been redone in colonial decor. Large murals of the old-time Harvard Square cover the walls, electric gas-lights flicker above, and a waterwheel turns in the wall. But thankfully, the feeling that it was all meticulously planned in the back room of a plastic shop is not so pervasive.
The menu is interesting and broader than that of the people across the street. The dinner specials appear to be a good buy, and food items that a Harvard Square regular would expect to be greasy--french fries, grilled cheese sandwiches, omelettes--aren't at all, which is a delightful surprise. The coffee is similarly excellent.
On the other hand, the sandwich board seems to be a little out of range despite inflation, and frappes (known elsewhere as milkshakes)--a staple of many Square meals--are conspicuously absent from Grist Mill's menu.
Our advice is to wait a week or two to give Grist Mill a chance to settle in, then try it. And be sure to catch the electronic cash register on the way out. It's right in front of the water-wheel.
These reviews were written by Crimson staffers: Chris Daly, Sydney Freedberg, Geoff Garin, Dave Harf, Nick Lemann, Jeff Leonard, Rich Meislin, Jenny Netzer, Walter Rothschild, Liz Samuels, Rick Sia, Scott Smith, Efthimios Vidalis, Phil Weiss, and Natalie Wexler. Photos by Bob Ely.