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| - I was so excited when I read about this place - it was something I never thought I'd find. Backstory - when I was a teenager and would hang out weekends in Harvard Square my favorite place to eat was Warburtons - anyone remember it? It all connected with the Susan Howatch novels (Penmarric) I was reading at the time - anyway I digress. Suffice it to say that the whole pasty concept was intriguing and this place was terrific. It closed down years ago but I kept hoping I'd find something similar ... someday.
To present day, newly come to the area. We finally made it to the Mesa location. I was glad there wasn't a wait, but walking in was a strange experience. It was dark, loud with no one at the entrance to seat us. Figured it wasn't that kind of place. The decor was a definite turnoff for me - cold, weird seating that felt like a black and white railroad car. I hate to be nit-picky but the first thing I saw when I sat down was a spider going up the wall next to me.
Ok, enough on atmosphere. The food ... huge menu that's a lot of fun to look at with lots of choices. I had the Greek salad and Greek chicken pasty. The salad was great - enough for 2. MH had the Mexican, which was actually quite spicy, and he's very used to spice. Overall our opinion on the pasties was ... ok. Quite filling - we only had half each. However, we thought they'd be a bit bigger to justify the cost, or a dollar or two cheaper since they don't come with anything else. The dough was sturdy, well formed for holding the fillings but it was definitely hard.
Re: the service - it was good - she was friendly ... but it was hard to find anyone when we wanted anything, especially when we wanted to pay and leave.
I hesitated writing this since everyone seems to love it so much, but this was my experience ... not bad, but not somewhere I want to spend my precious restaurant dollars for a so-so experience. The atmosphere was kind of off-putting. Given everything, I don't think we'll be back. And I had such hopes! Sorry Cornish Pasty!
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