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albertogonzalex t1_iy52jr4 wrote

Dave's Fresh Pasta in Davis Square has equally good sandwiches and the folks who work there are actually pleasant and seem happy that you want to spend money there!

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dangdoodlewang t1_iy5tsed wrote

The real question is if there's life after Russo's. I still wander the streets aimlessly in search of good produce. Maybe the turkeys will adopt me.

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ribi305 t1_iy82dxk wrote

Ha came here thinking exactly this. Darwin's has many substitutes, Russo's has none

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imustachelemeaning t1_iy584xk wrote

i know i’m going to regret this, but my secret place that no one knows makes amazing sandwiches is the wine and cheese cask.

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reveazure OP t1_iy5ahxo wrote

I forgot about this - I should pay them a visit during lunch time.

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Eagle7924 t1_iy4m1hn wrote

I totally hear you on being sad about the closure, but it's a pretty big stretch to say that they made decent sandwiches.

Go for the environment and the meeting place. But the coffee/food kinda sucked. An average deli makes significantly better sandwiches.

That being said, if you are looking for the place to go for incredible sandwiches in Cambridge look no further: https://www.yelp.com/biz/p-and-k-delicatessen-somerville

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vhalros t1_iy4mqa6 wrote

Wait is that place (P&K) actually good? I always ride by there, but I guess it doesn't look to inviting so I never thought about it much.

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Eagle7924 t1_iy4nee6 wrote

That's the secret! It's incredible. Check the reviews. Everything is made/sliced to order.

But, don't tell anyone else about it pls because Eater Boston already got the word out and now if I go during a busy time I have to wait :)

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Sheol t1_iy53e3c wrote

Really good subs, but they are only open like 9-6 on weekdays, so pretty much only a work from home lunch for me.

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Pale-Conversation184 t1_iy5ifb6 wrote

>Wait is that place (P&K) actually good? I always ride by there, but I guess it doesn't look to inviting so I never thought about it much.

Best italian sub in Somerville. I only lived there in 6 years so im sure i didnt try them ill, but its up there

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Reasonable_Move9518 t1_iy62tvd wrote

The PK is great!! But like the opposite of Darwin’s.

Darwin’s is a mid sized, high quality sandwich, with good speciality coffee and a hipster/I-forgot-it’s-not-1998-anymore vibe. At a high price.

PK is a gigantic, mid quality but tasty sandwich, not sure if they have coffee but if they do it’s dirty water, and a construction worker/I-forgot-it’s-not-1978-anymore vibe.

Excellent though and the PK dude deserves the business increase after Darwin’s.

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reveazure OP t1_iy66p4f wrote

This is basically my problem: why can’t it still be 1998?

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chongo_gedman t1_iy81t9v wrote

they make a good Dagwood sandwich with turkey + roast beef. Meatball sub is solid too.

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IamUnamused t1_iy4y1e3 wrote

it's ok at best. If you like to wait 30min for a sloppy sub on day old rolls made in a dirty convenience store that is.

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drkr731 t1_iy51eok wrote

Well they made very good vegetarian sandwiches/ breakfast sandwiches. A lot of places like delis have pretty shitty non-meat options so I'm pretty sad to see Darwins go.

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reveazure OP t1_iy5295u wrote

I think we may disagree on what constitutes a “good” sandwich. I guess you like American style subs which is fine. Darwin is more cafe sandwiches.

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Eagle7924 t1_iy5ixwn wrote

And they were underseasoned and bad....on significantly bad bread. But to each their own - that's the beauty of living here :)

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albertogonzalex t1_iy52nt6 wrote

This is the wrong take. Their space and service sucked. The only redeeming quality of Darwin's was the quality of the sandos.

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Moomoomoo1 t1_iy5edlw wrote

I mainly didn't like it because people would camp out on their laptops all day and it was always impossible to get a table.

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Gildedcarafes t1_iy66ikz wrote

Can confirm! Plus they’re super nice! Hog of a Sammy for $12

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f0rtytw0 t1_iy6q8de wrote

Wait, its open? Every time I go by it is closed.

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traumasponge t1_iy51g5k wrote

Try Dave's Fresh Pasta in Somerville

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reveazure OP t1_iy524pp wrote

That looks good, though a bit out of the way.

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albertogonzalex t1_iy52xgh wrote

I mean, Darwin's is more out of the way relative to Boston than Dave's bc Dave's is much closer to the Davis t station than darwins is to the Harvard stop.

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Sheol t1_iy53uwd wrote

Are there many people who take the T just for lunch?

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albertogonzalex t1_iy55dt5 wrote

We're on a Boston subreddit. OP is about a Cambridge business. Just pointing out the oddity of asking for suggestions and then commenting that something is out of the way when it's comparably convenient relatively to Boston as the original location in the post.

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Sheol t1_iy56a9c wrote

Not sure if you are new here, but the subreddit is officially for the greater Boston area.

From the description:

>A reddit focused on the city of Boston, MA and the Greater Boston Area.

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albertogonzalex t1_iy57unk wrote

I'm not saying the post doesn't belong here. I'm saying, it's odd to ask for requests for a sandwich shop that is as easily accessible in the greater Boston region as the answers and then shoot down those answers for being out of the way. As my previous answer described.

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Sheol t1_iy5g2i8 wrote

I do not see the word Boston anywhere in OP. Even if this was in Boston, recommending somewhere in JP as a replacement for a lunch spot in the North End would be inappropriate.

I honestly don't think Dave's Fresh is a bad suggestion, but your reply that everything here must be viewed from the perspective of Boston proper is just wrong.

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DabSmokingFiend t1_iy5my3b wrote

THINK Sheol, THINK!

If Darwin’s is in Cambridge, and Dave’s is in Somerville isn’t it a little weird to consider one more “out of the way” than the other?

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PapaJack2008 t1_iy7xbga wrote

Depends on which Darwins the OP was referring to, and Somerville ain't all that far from Cambridge in fairness.

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reveazure OP t1_iy5aczp wrote

I mean out of the way for me. Not an overall criticism, just a personal comment which I should probably have kept to myself.

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Visible-Education-98 t1_iy7jrvm wrote

Sam LaGrassa's in Downtown Boston is your new "go to". You are gonna love it... little pricey but oh so worth it!

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Hribunos t1_iy57yzh wrote

Shitty politics, though. I personally can't support them anymore.

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Master_Dogs t1_iy5dm0i wrote

What kind of politics is/was Dave's involved in? I haven't heard anything about them, though Darwin's and others in the area have had some clear political slants based support for certain local officials.

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Hribunos t1_iy7mo8o wrote

I assume then you've never had the displeasure of actually talking to Dave? Dude is a huge dick. Who supported Billy T.

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Master_Dogs t1_iy85qg8 wrote

Ah, so like a few others in the Davis Sq area. I haven't personally met him or seen anything obvious from them, but kinda assumed when you said "shitty politics".

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[deleted] t1_iy795wd wrote

[deleted]

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Hribunos t1_iy7mg19 wrote

I'm talking Dave's politics (buddy buddy with Tauro, supporting R candidates in general) not Darwin's.

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coldsnap123 t1_iyapw8o wrote

Put the crack pipe down comrade. You’re confusing Dave’s Fresh Pasta for Deano’s Pasta. The closest food business to Dave’s that supported Tauro was Renee’s. I look forward to seeing what you pull out of your rear end.

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uberlaxx t1_iy5pena wrote

Flour is great

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michael_scarn_21 t1_iy4m62a wrote

The employees union can buy them out if they can pay what they were asking the owner for and still have a viable business.

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No-Garlic-2664 t1_iy4su8f wrote

You mean a cafe can’t afford to pay people who serve sandwiches 50k a year + 10k a year in health insurance premiums if they want to stay in business?

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BradDaddyStevens t1_iy5s9m8 wrote

Maybe the demands from the Darwin’s union were too high. But, yeah, Darwin’s might be the first of many cafe-type businesses to close down if they can’t pay their workers well.

It’s insanely expensive to live in Boston, and the public transportation is absolute dogshit, yet people just expect a servile class to somehow make it work with terrible wages.

Things are gunna go to shit unless something changes.

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dante662 t1_iy69s3h wrote

That something is demanding your city council/zoning board/ISD departments dramatically open up construction zoning.

​

No more historical districts, shadow studies, height restrictions, single-family only zoning, "tiny home" bans, density restrictions, bans on unmarried adults living together, parking minimums.

​

All these things make it far too expensive to build housing. We can have affordable housing, we just do literally everything possible to avoid it.

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NotSoSecretMissives t1_iy6nsnw wrote

Changing zoning laws is an important step, but this problem is decades in the making. The average worker needs rental assistance from the state until the ten of thousands of missing homes are finally built.

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PresidentBush2 t1_iy6q7co wrote

Unpopular opinion PSA for people who didn’t grow up in Massachusetts and/or try to influence public policy via Reddit social media comments: public transportation in Boston is probably 9.5/10 for an American city.

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some1saveusnow t1_iy79prv wrote

It’s hilarious being able to obviously pick out ppl not originally from the area who make the loudest row about how bad things are here with the obvious intention to change things cause they don’t know what it used to be like or they’re tired of being jerked around and want to call this place home. I get what the end game is, but their perspective is completely lacking

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BradDaddyStevens t1_iy7hr4u wrote

I did, in fact, grow up in the Boston area. And I lived in Boston proper for 8 years.

Who fucking cares if the T is good by American standards if it still doesn’t fulfill the needs of the people who live here?

Honestly, if your whole thought process on this topic is “well at least it’s better than Houston”, then my opinion is that it’s YOU who lacks proper perspective.

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BradDaddyStevens t1_iy7ip8s wrote

God this is such a dogshit comment.

I did grow up in the Boston area - not that it even matters.

But how dare you try to diminish the needs of people who live in Boston because they’re not from here, as if that fucking makes a difference. They pay taxes here. Their opinions matter just as much as yours.

But you go ahead and enjoy your participation trophy for the “least shit transit system out of the worlds shittiest transit systems” while people are getting priced out of the city and can’t get to their jobs effectively.

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some1saveusnow t1_iy79t0b wrote

When the only viable businesses are corporately owned, ppl BEST not be bitching about how this happened

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downthewell62 t1_iy8pnzl wrote

It wasn't 50k, it was 24$ an hour. Which... does not get you far in Cambridge.

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TheSausageKing t1_iy63zyp wrote

They don’t even have to buy him out. He’s closing the business, so they just need startup capital.

The problem is the numbers don’t work paying staff $65k / yr to work at a coffee shop. They would lose piles of money.

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Shapen361 t1_iy5lvmb wrote

If that were possible, Darwin's wouldn't have closed.

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Reasonable_Move9518 t1_iy647d6 wrote

I really really hope there’s some kind of 11th hour miracle and an employee buyout or other deus ex machina. If the employees or someone do try a buyout I think it’s highlight likely to work, since the locations are amazing but underserved (read: minimal competition) and there’s a solid business model already in place. If any employees have ideas on a CO-OP... I bet a Kickstarter would go a long way towards raising the capital.

3/4 of the locations formed a “strategic ring”, all located a 10 min walk FROM Harvard, but not actually IN Harvard Sq. Gonna be a real coffee/sando deadzone esp. on the Cambridge St side (Yes broadsheet/Barismo/1369 are great for coffee but they’re in the WRONG DIRECTION if you’re going in to Harvard and sandos… forget it).

Or at least… I’m hoping at least one of them becomes a Flour. God forbid another Tatte.

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reveazure OP t1_iy67146 wrote

Good to see someone shares my concerns. I’m hoping someone takes over the business.

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kagrenak t1_iy8k30m wrote

>1369 great for coffee

lol

Broadsheet slaps and Barismo doesn't slouch but 1369 is terrible. Their training and consistency is essentially zero.

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coldsnap123 t1_iyaou1z wrote

A co-op would face the same dilemma of not enough profit to be made, but at a scale much greater than what was experienced by the owners. No one is going to touch that business with a 10 foot pole, they’ll just wait for the spaces to go empty.

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Reasonable_Move9518 t1_iyaqkom wrote

Hmm… the business managed to last 30 years and each location has nearly constant traffic at the highest price point in the area. I never got the specifics, but the employees involved in negotiations as well as the owner in a YouTube video all indicated high profit margins for a cafe.

Probably not profitable enough to pay $24/hr like the “Socialist Alternative” faction wanted, but that was deeply unrealistic. But profitable enough to stay afloat as a CO-OP… I’d bet yes. I agree no sane entrepreneur would buy them out due to the union, but it the union itself just buys the equipment and rents the space and largely keeps the supply chain (with some trimming of unprofitable items) I bet it could work very very well.

Whatever replacement goes in also faces the same economics and I’d bet you a Tempeh Tantrum that the locations get snatched up very quickly.

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coldsnap123 t1_iyb1kp5 wrote

The Harvard location already has a tenant lined up, but that was before any of this went down. I bet the video you are referencing was filmed before the pandemic. The first year of lockdown and the 2nd year of clawing back most likely did enough damage to wipe any profit out. The massive increase in cost of goods compared to pre pandemic levels isn’t going to lead to high profit margins anywhere. This isn’t a good environment to start a food retail business from scratch. No way a co-op survives.

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Shapen361 t1_iy5l5z8 wrote

I liked Darwin's, but they were so expensive I could rarely justify going there as opposed to recreating the same sandwich at home.

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Biotechwhore t1_iy5shpc wrote

I miss their Cubano and Buffalo Chicken specials from back in the day.

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omnishant t1_iy5gxdi wrote

Are they closing all locations or just the one in Harvard square?

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BeanTownSpurs t1_iy5vfsw wrote

Honestly never cared for their sandwiches. Feel bad saying it here.

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BostonBopper t1_iy7rmf5 wrote

I think the question is where can you get an excellent sandwich near Harvard Sq.

And I am not sure there is a proper answer, although to be fair, the food scene around Harvard Sq. has seriously deteriorated for some time.

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Kingpine42069 t1_iy4odlr wrote

what kind of sandwich are you looking to replicate?

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reveazure OP t1_iy52kde wrote

Well, the Sherman would be the ultimate test, but for example the Soldiers Field or Somerville would be good.

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mtmsm t1_iy5f8wy wrote

I know it’s not as convenient as a buying a sandwich, but you could try making them yourself. I’ve recreated the Rindge at home with great success.

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Ricks-Cafe t1_iy71zy6 wrote

Honestly, good riddance. Their sandwiches are incredibly overpriced and with measly portion sizes.. sorry

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some1saveusnow t1_iy79wtk wrote

What do you think is going to open in its place?

Also you’re wrong about the portion sizes, and I’m not even a huge fan of their sandwiches, but it’s an inaccurate take. Have you sandwiches at flour or tatte?????

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gibson486 t1_iy80zva wrote

They made good breakfast sandwiches, but everything else was just ok.

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shiistain468 t1_iy87k6m wrote

Mariposa in Central Sq has decent coffee/pastries/sandwiches!

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devious_cruising t1_iy5p9z3 wrote

Is it so hard for you people to buy a few things, some good bread, and put them together?

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some1saveusnow t1_iy7a04b wrote

Come inside before it’s too cold and you fall asleep on the rocking chair

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