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North Station (Orange, Green)
Bowdoin (Blue)
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Thank god for Nebo. I can't speak to food, but this was the follow up locale to escaping the Harvard Gardens (see review).
At 11 pm it was delightfully abandoned. We didn't try food, but they had nice drinks and coffee type situation. They have an encompassing wine list, serve it from carafes, the red I had was lovely. Micante?
The people next to us looked like they got some really good food and enjoyed it, so there's that.
The chic sanity of the place was just comforting. Cool tunes; mostly oldies, not overwhelming; nice atmosphere; friendly bartender; fair prices; well designed place. It was a great place to go to escape the frenzy of 'the bar scene' to have a more private, audible bar scene of our own.
Definitely looking forward to going back; glad its close to my house.
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Went here for an engagement party Saturday night and ended up having a great time. Drinks were on the pricey side, but the pizza was great. We mostly stood around the bar area so we didn't get the full experience but I would definitely go there again.
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This place saved an awful night. I found myself with my girlfriend, on her bday, without a place to go. I had two reservations in the North End that ended up not being what I thought they were. We tried Mother Anna's and were yelled at and mistreated by the owner. So we were left between the North End and Gov't Ctr with nowhere to go.
I googled and found Nebo. They took us in from the cold and we had an incredible experience. The waiter we had was awesome. The food was even better. Try the meatballs and riceballs! They are both incredible.
This place is awesome!
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Driven past Nebo many a night on my way home, but never had a chance to stop in. A friend had a gathering there a few nights back and I checked Yelp to get a feel for the place. Well I think the "Meh" reviews are dead on. Food was ok. The pizzas are sub par. Very tough thin crusts with very little flavor. Certainly not worth the $15 they are charging. One person wrote that he thought the dough was frozen, but I did witness the cooks tossing the dough, so it is fresh. The meatballs were tasty as mentioned previously, but nothing earth shattering. The other appetizers we tried all fine. The worst part of the night was getting a drink. The restaurant was empty except for a few people at the bar and it took forever to get the bartenders to stop chatting and get a drink. Rather annoying.
I can see why people would bash this place, but I like it. The pizza is great. The jalepeno and sausage is unreal and the staff is pretty friendly. I recommend skipping a table and just grabbing a seat at the bar. They have two plasmas that will always have a game on.
Biggest Con: They don't serve pizza at lunch, which is absolutely retarded. How can you carve out a name known for upscale pizza if you don't serve pizza!
I loved Nebo, and I can't wait to go back! We ended up here after the Mother Anna's fiasco (see my review for that), thanks to my boyfriend's googlemaps on his computer-phone-thingee.
Our waiter was great - he gave us recommendations on wine and food (all of which were amazing), and was just generally very friendly, chatty but not annoyingly so.
The food was some of the best I've had - they do king of a new-Italian cuisine. The rice balls (aronicini, maybe? I can't remember the name), were spectacular. I plan on getting an order of those for myself next time! We also had the meatballs, which the waiter gave us free bread (it's a little weird you have to pay for the bread) to dip in the sauce. The pasta entrees we got were also great - new spins on Italian classics. Lastly, the pancotta was incredible! It had a light mango sauce, and was very creamy without being too heavy.
I must say, the place was very clean which for me is a MUST. I hate going into a place and being like "there's a health code violation, there's another..." Nebo was freakin' spotless!
I highly recommend this to anyone who is willing to try a new spin on something. The traditionalists probably won't like it. I think it's a place fans of "Top Chef" would like. :)
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This is a great place to go before an event at the Fleet Center/Garden. Pros: Very good meatballs, attentive staff, decent wine list. Cons: the pizza was mediocre. All of that being said, I prefer to go here when I am in a bit of a hurry because it's never packed (like every other restaurant in the North End on a Friday or Saturday night) and the food is served pretty quickly.
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Nebo has a fantastic, chic spot on the edge of the North End, near North Station. Unfortunately, on the Saturday night we chose to go, it was dead. It certainly deserves more attention. The wine list received a "thumbs up" from the one who knows, and I was pleased with my cocktail and beer. The pizza was classic and safe but executed well, which, in a city with more than its share of poor pizza places, I'll gladly take. The crust was substantial but not too thick, and they didn't skimp on the cheese. The atmosphere was cool and welcoming, and if more people showed on a Saturday night, it would gain the energy and enthusiasm that is the missing ingredient.
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Nebo has so much potential. We went for dinner and shared a number of appetizers and a salad. The arancini were gorgeous but the mozz inside didn't seem fully, um, fried. . . the mozz wasn't that gooey and barely warm. But the chestnut honey drizzled on top of the arancini. . . yum. Our waiter recommended the calamari fritti. I'm a sucker for fried calamari. Their's is light and crisp, but under salted (surprising given the most chefs have a heavy hand when it comes to the salt). The grilled veggies in the antipasti vedure are nice. I really enjoyed the delicate slices of eggplant & zucchini. The rucola salad was lacking on the dressing and could have used several more shaves of cheese. I'd go back again just for the ricotta pie- made in house.
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"I've never heard of Nebo"
is what you're probably thinking, and you're probably right, you haven't
This restaurant near the North End is struggling to get its sea legs.
Not IN the North End and thus in the way of Salem and Hanover pedestrian traffic, it is actually on the outskirts near North Station. Because of this lack in foot traffic, and marketing, it makes it difficult for this eatery to make headway in the city because half the time people drive by 30mph, see the sign, and say "what is that place?" and continue on.
Hopefully my little slice of yelp will raise some sort of attention for the restaurant.
Here's the scoop-
The place, derives its main business from Celtics season, lots of crowds, lots of people looking to grub. In the off season, it is DESOLATE. 1 soul in the place? 2 souls? It makes for a really awkward, quiet space in those situations. However, maybe this would be good to take note of if you had a party of 30, etc because they DO have a massive table in the back, and would be a good space to rent out if you wanted to clear away some of the seating.
The restaurant, started by two sisters, has a REALLY excellent atmosphere, the whole vibe of the place is well thought out with exposed brick and lighting which just seems to illuminate in all the right spots.
This is more of what one would consider an upscale pizza place. They have pizza, pasta, and real traditional Italian fare prepared in a gourmet way. Their offerings are really unique and expertly prepared.
I prefer the pizza con patate(pancetta, golden potato, gorgonzola, rosemary, mozzarella ~16).
Also I was able to try the arancini(porcini mushroom, mozzarella stuffed rice balls~10) which was delicious as well.
My drink of choice would have to be "Sex Kitten" which involved chambord and other girlie accents. And yeah, it had the best name on the menu. I'm lured in by that sort of thing like at Flash's with their Liquid Vanity cocktail.
Nebo was also apparently rated one of the most women friendly bars in the city? Maybe this is because there are no men present to grab their breasts. just a thought.
In conclusion: Really great food, but if you are the only entity in the entire place(which is HONESTLY because of the bizarre location), I would consider an alternate venue.
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A note at the beginning, this is just a review of the new lunch thing they've got goin' on...
So I went to this place Nebo for lunch. It's not even a block away from where I work -- it's kind of like at the opposite end of the North End from where Hanover is... it always looked empty and the idea of a fancied up pizza restaurant in the North End just seemed bad and none too smart when there's so many places you can go around there to get some good authentic pizza for less than 15 bucks and with none of Nebo's pretension.
Anyway, last week, or the week before, they bombed the whole neighborhood with these flyer's saying that they're now doing sandwiches and salads for lunch. And between noon and 2:30 all the sandwiches are 5 bucks. I didn't want to go, but I decided to try it today and well, it's not bad.
But it ain't that great either. The thing was a whole lot oilier than it needed to be and the bread was pretty blah -- very enriched tasting, a tiny step above those yellow bulkie rolls. But the ingredients seemed to have a bit of life in them which barely saved the thing from mediocrity. I'll probably go there again some day, seems like you might be able to comfortably hang out there with your book.
Another problem is that within a few blocks radius of Nebo's you have Dino's and Volle Nolle -- so for a couple more dollars (equal to the normal price of a Nebo sandwich) you can get one of the best sandwiches in town. But I think this new lunch deal has saved this place from going under in a heavily competitive neighborhood.
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I have been a "foodie" for some time but was completely blown away by this place. The highest quality Italian style tapas and an extensive wine list. One of the few places in Boston that serves until 2:00AM in a relaxed and beautiful atmosphere!
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We went to Nebo back in April and enjoyed a mid-week meal with attentive service and no major snafus. The arancini sounded great but wasn't as hot as they should have been. I contemplated ordering them last night, but thankfully the hubby reminded me that they were disappointing the first time around. This time I ordered the rucola salad (a nice helping of arugula, shaved parm, lemon vinaigrette. Our friends ordered the mussels (chintzy serving for $12. c'mon. Mussels are CHEAP!). And we waited and waited for our entrees. To be fair, our server said that the kitchen was overwhelmed (slammed with a half full restaurant? ok). We asked for some bread- $2 for bruchetta. hmm. Since we had the sauce leftover from the measly mussel app, we forked over the 2 for it. We also ordered 3 pizzas for the table- the vongole, an assorted mushroom, and the pizza con patate (with pancetta, golden potato, gorgonzola, rosemary, mozzarella). The vongole is one of the best I've ever tasted (counting Figs and Upper Crust in the mix). The patate pizza was just amazing and would have been even more so if it was brought directly to the table from the oven, all melted and yummy. Oh well. . . My main complaint is that bread has to be paid for & service needs a tweaking (though we got plenty of H2O). Still, I'd like to see them do well. The previous space was a Thai place that obviously couldn't make it.
Nebo is a beautiful restaurant, with a great ambiance, and seemingly good waitstaff. Then the rest sets in. We started with drinks. I ordered a dirty martini and the ladies had a Cosmo, G&T, and another martini. I was handed a glass of vodka with a very little bit of olive juice, the G&T and almost no gin in it, and the two other martinis were made with pucker. For the first time in my life, I sent my drink back, not for more booze, but for some olive juice. I got the same drink back. It looked the same and tasted the same - like straight vodka. Shamefully, I sent it back again and said, "Tell the bartender he doesn't need to be shy with the olive juice." It came back pretty salty but palatable. For the ladies, two just pushed theirs to the side and went with beer, while the other ordered another and requested more gin - which she got. The waiter was great during all this, and the bartender didn't come over to call us names.
The food was not as impressive as the drinks. My salad was really iceberg lettuce over three strips of steak that cost me 19 dollars. It was fresh though and the steak was pretty good. The ladies ordered pizzas. One didn't have sauce, but not by design, and the other didn't have much cheese. It was weird. Most disappointing was that the pizza crusts were frozen, and even if they told me they were fresh, I wouldn't believe them. Ive been a chef and I used to make pizzas in college, and I know what fresh crust looks like. The crusts were flaky, like a Pillsbury dough pastry. It was very dry and, not good, and for 15 bucks a pie, you should get something more.
My formulation is that Nebo, if they improved their menu and made things more homemade and a little more affordable, it would boom. Like I said, the atmosphere is what I look for in a restaurant, but I couldn't have been more underwhelmed with the food & drinks. Final bill - 6 drinks + 1 beer, 2 pizzas, one salad - $112.00. That money could go a long way someplace else in the North End.
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my boyfriend works across the street from this place, so when i visited him for lunch i cajoled him into going there because i wanted something healthier (and with a cleaner kitchen) than his standby, sal's.
the lunch setup is kind of awkward. when you walk in there's a hostess stand (presumably for dinner diners?) and no sign on it that you should just have a seat or anything so you stand around awkwardly until you figure out that you have to walk over to the bar, order and pay, and then sit down, and then they call out your order. meanwhile there's just one overworked woman taking the orders and pouring glasses of wine, etc for people who want them.
the food was great though. the eggplant parm sandwich was delicious but had way too much bread. the salad was ginormous. fucking ridiculous sandwich prices though, on par with high rise, like eight dollars for some of them. crazy.
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I cannot begin to divulge how underwhelmed I was with Nebo. The location is fine, along the outskirts of the North End, except that anywhere else this trendy wannabe would simply whisper mediocrity rather than scream unacceptable. Nebo is overpriced, the bar is decent at best, and the food barely cracked the barrier of restaurant quality. The bar may have been fine, had my friend not ordered cocktail onions in his martini- Nebo apparently did not get the memo that cocktail onions are pretty standard trendy bar fare. My martini, three olives adorning, came not-so-cold. OK, not a problem, moving on.
For appetizers, baby back ribs and calamari: the spectrum. The calamari was alright, but only alright. Alright is never good enough in the North End, especially with a dish like calamari, about which most Italian restaurants worth their salt pride themselves. The ribs were flat-out bad. You're speaking with a man that plays the banjo and makes his own BBQ sauce- these ribs were bad. The meat smelled about a day from turning, the sauce was forgettable, and the ribs were overcooked to rubber.
The undersized pizzas comprise excellent cheese and fresh ingredients baked over a surprisingly cardboard-esque crust. Want much better pizza? Upper Crust, Regina's, and Santarpios come to mind. None is trendy, but Upper Crust you can do at home with the lights dimmed and a bottle of wine, Santarpios is worth the drive for a great experience of an East Boston dive bar, and you haven't been to Boston until you've dined in at Regina's. Nebo, not so much.
To cap it off, the wait staff was rude, inefficient, and unhelpful. The only good advice they gave was to order more pizzas- elsewise we would have starved.
There are not many Boston restaurants of this supposed quality that are genuinely not worth trying, but Nebo is one. One can do so much better for that price.
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We went here for a friends birthday. Decent wine list - the pizza was just ok - i love thin crust pizza but this is too thin - we left feeling hungry. Way too expensive for what it offers. The decor is really cool but the bar/waitstaff are a bit rude and unfriendly...
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