On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
Categories: Barbeque, American (Traditional) [Edit]
650 Washington Ave
Loading...
So it has been a little while since I was there, but as I just reviewed floramo's tips, I noticed I never did review this place...just an editor's note to the following...
We tried the turkey tips, steak tips, and ribs. I was a fan of the sauce, good flavor, and the tastey little side-salad with the homemade dressing...delicious.
So why the 3 stars? I wasn't impressed with the tenderness of the meat. I wasn't then, and I definitely am not impressed with New Bridge after having Floramo's very very tender tips and ribs. I would however like to reserve the right to review again...I am in need of trying the huge antipasto plate, and I will always give steak tips another shot...the ribs I might not ever try again though, because I think Floramo's blew them out of the water in that category...
I came here seeking the "best steak tips", as other reviewers had mentioned. The steak tips were OK but definitely not worth the drive, in my opinion. For $13 the portion was large but they were not the tastiest and some were tough and cooked inconsistently. They also had a lot of char from the grill stuck to them.
The country style ribs on the other hand were fantastic. Tender and tasty. They had an red, almost Asian style sauce to them. I was expecting ribs on the bone but they were off the bone. For $11 the portion was huge!
Entrees came with your choice of sides. Basic stuff like salad, french fries, onion rings, mashed potatoes and veggies.
The bread was tough and the butter was cold..
Our waitress was efficient. Mixed drinks were poured strong and only around $5.
When we arrived on a Sunday night, the place looked packed and we had to wait in line, a hostess popped her head over and seated the people in front of us, then took another 10 minutes to check on the line. When we were finally seated, the whole section we were brought to was almost empty. What the heck was the long wait for? The atmosphere was very dated but the ribs were fantastic. This is 3 stars if you go for the ribs.
John Paul N. is out of his mind, or has eaten very few steak tips at very few places. We just went today, a long drive from Quincy, since a friend crowed about this place. The tips were wicked chewey, and not tasty. The Bride had to spit some gristle out into her napkin. The floor beneath my feet (upper level, overlooking bar, by the odd staircase the waitresses us, where the rolls hang) was slippery with grease. Both knives had been through the dishwasher I supposed, but needed to be hit with a soapy brush or some thing to be what I would call "clean"
This meat was not sirloin, no way. I can accept beef being called "tips" if they want to marinate something cheaper for a long time, as long as they are tender and tasty when they are done. What part of the cow it came from is not critical to me, but this here was what they call a "thrifty cut" from some lesser part of the animal.
Tips: C-
Parking: A
Ambience: C
Waitresses: B-
Draft beer choices: C (Bud, Sam's)
Fellow diners: Chelsea locals, a little seedy.
The other thing the friend raved about was the antipasto. That was in fact pretty good. The "personal" size for $7.95 is plenty enough for two people. The dressing was something homemade and sweet, also good. The prosciutto was not ultra grade, but not bad either.
If I was to go there agian, which I will not, order the "small" antipasto, which I saw a couple get, it is big enough to split as a meal, and tasty.
In terms of the Phantom Gourmet, something is way off in their recommndations. We drove way out to fFamingham to try a Chinese restaurant that they boasted of, and it sucked to. Something is wrong with their taste buds or objectivity (polite cough).
Went here for lunch with a friend of mine and I simply wasn't very impressed. The atmosphere wasn't great, the service was pretty lackluster, and the food didn't leave us wanting to come back. I tried a couple of my friend's steak tips and they were decent, but my cheeseburger especially was unsatisfying. I was hungry and I still didn't end up eating the whole thing. It just left a sort of "meh" taste in my mouth, which isn't what good food is supposed to do last time I checked. Glad I checked it out; it wasn't a horrible lunch, but I'm not going back.
YOU ARE MY 100th REVIEW! Congratulations!
sorry for being nerdy, i have been waiting for this day and it was my goal to reach 100 before my birthday -- achieved!
if you were here the weekend of march 6, a saturday, i apologize for being the loudest, italian mo'fockers ... all 12 of us that didnt have to wait around 6 p.m. prime time to eat. im sorry. i really am. except not really because although i wasnt eating much due to my almost-fail pho excursion, i was still excited for those potatoes i kept hearing about.
this was my first time at newbridges because i am unfortunately not in the boston area as much as id like. i looked at the menu, it isnt very extensive so if you dont do bbq-like dinners, i wouldnt go here.
the bread was completely boring, drab, loaf in a red plastic basket. i dont even know why they bother putting it out on the table, really. i ordered a small side salad and we ordered lots of the potato wedges to share ... i saw them on another table and my mouth started to water. i had a bite of my moms steak tips, they were okay, definitely above average but nothing to write home to mom and dad about. the salad was excellent, actually i believe the dressing was excellent, i wanted some to take home, but theres a liquids rule....now, the potato wedges were out of this world. seriously. we had so many that we ended up taking them home and making a frittata (omlete-like but different, italian egg dish). they were still excellent the next day.
we were walking distance and most of us walked there and were happy to walk home to relieve our tummies of yumful, very filling food.
THEY DO NOT TAKE CREDIT CARDS.
I didn't really notice the decor at all here. I did however bury my face in an antipasto plate that consisted of cold cuts on top of lettuce with oil and vinegar dressing that was just perfect. It was exactly what my tummy wanted.
And then I had the best steak tips I've ever had.
My mouth is watering.
Order the steak or the lamb tips and be sure to get the garlic-mint sauce.
Be forewarned: it's cash only.
The famous New Bridge Cafe in Chelsea. The famous steak tips. I was given a recipe for steak tips a couple of years ago and when I googled steak tips recipes to find out if it's common to use Coca Cola in the marinade I found out that this was the basis of the secret New Bridge Cafe recipe. So I tried it out and DAMN was it incredible on the steak tips. Driving home along Route 1 we decided to hit up the famous restaurant for dinner.
We arrive and this place is a dive on the outside and a dive on the inside. (Not that that is a bad thing...in fact we were hoping it would be a dive.) We parked on the street and walked in to a bar area that leads to the receptionist area. And the receptionist is one of those cool, old, angry, surly women that you see in older diners and cafes. Immediately a good sign. It took a while for her to get our name because she was running around getting bread and utensils to other tables, but once we got our name in (and by this time there were at least 5 other groups lined up behind us waiting to do the same) it only took about 5 minutes or so before our table was ready. Quick turn around means another good sign.
There was no question on what we were ordering. I got my steak tips with the salad and Abby got hers with the french fries. We also ordered the home made root beer. (Diet for Abby.) It did take a while for our food to arrive, but this gave us time to look around at the other diners and the cafe itself. Multiple TVs with the game on and tons of Pats, Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics memorabilia around. There was a table setup for 6 behind us with only 2 people sitting there waiting for their friends. As the veteran receptionist walked by to clean and setup other tables she kept giving them looks of pure evil. And I can understand why. I mean, you show up without your whole party and you take up a table that can be sat and cleared by the time your late friends even arrive is clearly a justifiable reason why the waiters and receptionist are giving you ice dagger looks every time they are near you. (We were done with our meal and were leaving right when their final friend showed up.)
Anyway, while we were waiting on our dinner, we picked at the bread. As you can tell, the bread is nothing special and no plates came out with the basket...and again, this was perfectly fine by us. We already know what type of place this is once we walked through those doors, no need for them to change and give us plates. The root beer was pretty good and sweet and we couldn't tell any noticeable difference between the diet and regular.
Our dinners arrive and Abby gets the biggest french fry wedges of all time. We get about 6 or 7 tips along with pretty big sides. I ordered mine medium rare and the wife goes for medium. However, after our first few bites, we noticed that it didn't really matter how we ordered them. Each tip we had were all different temperatures. Medium, rare, medium well. None were well done though, and all were still very juicy and nicely cooked with some good charred bits. I noticed this on the menu: "Not responsible for well done orders." And I love it! No one should ever order anything well done. Bourdain talks about how restaurants will give the scrap meat leftover from butchering the nicer cuts to the well done ordering customers since they are just going to fry/bake/broil the hell out of it into a disgusting brown/black piece of crap. Even the New Bridge Cafe adheres to this rule.
Overall the steak tips were very good. Juicy with fantastic flavors that were similar to my own steak tips but with that added "something" that makes it restaurant style more than home style. The salad was a typical salad, but large in portion with a very nice homemade dressing. I did get a couple of pieces of steak that were gristly, but that didn't stop me from devouring it. Other menu items include Italian favorites and chicken or lamb tips in the same marinade. And the portions are huge. A couple next to us received Italian entrees big enough to feed families.
New Bridge Cafe is a local favorite and well known throughout New England as the place to get steak tips. This is a very deserving title. I will be back here. I give New Bridge Cafe a 4 out of 5.
STEAK TIPS. GET THE STEAK TIPS.
Dropped in this place by recommendation from the Phantom Gourmet. It was an odd experience, but still pretty positive. I was surprised this little hole in the wall place was jam-packed when we walked in. A short 15 minute wait wasn't so bad.
Also, I'm pretty sure every person they sat down hadn't had their table cleaned yet, so they had to do it after they'd sat down. This included us. Awkward, but no biggie. This was kind of the theme when it came to cleanliness overall.
They didn't have any mayonnaise, though. Actually, they didn't have a lot of things on the menu, I heard them saying that to different customers throughout the course of our meal.
All that aside, I'm not high maintenance so as far as good food goes, I give it an A+. They have huge unique fries. You get about 4 of them with your meal, which basically makes up a whole potato.
And of course, the Steak Tips ($13) were awesome, I think that's what people go there for. They were a little on the tough side, but the flavor was all there.
I actually really liked their salad, maybe even moreso than the steaktips. I'm a sucker for a good oil & vinegar Italian dressing and they've got it.
My friend got the fried chicken sandwich ($7) and she really liked it as well.
Overall, food was good, the people who work there are super nice, and the prices are pretty darn decent.
Oh and they lose a star for the small things listed above, and also because they only take cash. Otherwise, this place is great.
I've been here a couple of times for dinner and also ordered takeout. All the times I've gone here I have ordered the Pork Ribs...they are country cut ribs (but more like pork chops) with Ah So sauce all over them. They grill them on the char grill. For the money, you get a lot of them too.
I would say the dining area is ok...pretty cozy and by that I mean somewhat small. Not much to look at but serviceable. The waitstaff know what they're doing and are pretty efficient. The food overall is decent. I haven't had a bad meal here but I have received slightly overcooked ribs in with perfectly cooked ones.
I love that they give you Piantedosi sub rolls for bread...they are awesome.
The prices are reasonable for what you get for food. I haven't tried their steak tips yet but everyone that I've talked to about this place says they are fabulous so that will be my next trip there.
Cant wait to eat there again!!
How could I forget about the marinated steak tips?!?!? Oh my god, they're fabulous, and oh SO delicious!
Small little restaurant, dining tables are separated from the small bar they have. Good bread, AWESOME steak tips!
My usual - Steak tip and baked potato! haha.. I'm a meat and potatoes kinda girl ;)
Visited the New Bridge yesterday for lunch.
This was my first visit and I was suprised how busy it was for lunch, this place was packing them in and people were waiting for tables, lucky for us we found a seat at the bar.
The Bartender (Kelly) did a phenomenal job, she was on the ball the entire time, dealing with a full bar, a large takeout business, and pouring drinkg for all the waitresses.
First we had the small anti-pasto which was huge and had a full complement of itallian cold cuts and cheeses. The house dressing is amazing and went great with the fresh baked rolls from Piantadosi.
The first thing I noticed about our meals were the Steak fries...these things were huge...where do they find these potatos? The steak tips were good, but didn't live up to the hype I have been hearing for years.
I will definatley visit the New Bridge again as the food was good, the service was great, and the restaurant was very clean.
Excellent steak tips, nice neighborhood joint. The bread is really gross, I wish they would do something fun with it (sesame seeds? rosemary? garlic? something!)
I've not had a bad meal here. We used to live in Prattville so it was a nice walk with the dog, we'd grab our take out, and devour it at home.
You've heard it from everyone who's ever eaten here. the BEST steak tips I've ever sank my teeth into. OH.MY.GOD. with a salad and some rice, you have yourself the perfect meal.
it's old..it can get crowded...the servers aren't always pleasant (or so I've heard) but you will ALWAYS get great steak tips.
Believe it or not..don't order a regular sirloin. For some reason, it sucked! But their tips are always fabulous!
I was a huge fan for many years. its not as tender as before or the sauce flavor is not as flavorful.. so beat the meat and them them soak. keep the meat room temp,them cook.them. i know when its rushed ?is that the problem or a cheaper cut of meat??
Horrible.
The steak tips are supposed to be legendary, according to the Phantom Gourmet. They fail to mention one little detail: You get six or seven tips, if that. They were good, but nothing special. The place was built in 1975, and let's just say you can tell. What a frigging DIVE.
Now, I normally wouldn't make assumptions about a place just because it looked divey as hell, as the food is of the utmost importance in my book. I'd give you more info on the steak tips, and my boyfriend would give you more feedback on the baked fish, but the portions were so small compared to the ridiculously large steak fries(which were basically a gargantuan baked potato cut into fourths.) that I can't quite tell. It was as if the fries were the meal, and the tips were the side. Pathetic! We were unpleasantly surprised by the miniscule portions, because there was a review listed on the back of a take-out menu we saw inside stating that the portions were large.
Um, no. They aren't.
The service was horrific, with a waitress who was too busy eating her own take-out meal out of a styrofoam box, below us, on the lower landing, than to pay any attenton to us whatsoever. Ridiculous!
Really good steak tips but not the best. The boy, my visiting friend and I headed to New Bridge Cafe after hearing great reviews about this place's steak tips. So of course, that's what we had to get.
Well, it's almost like a Bubba Gump meat tip place. There's steak tips. There's pork tips. There's lamb tips. There's turkey tips. But as I said, we all stuck to the steak.
So the sauce was pretty good, it was charbroiled pretty decently but it wasn't that right texture of meat that steak tips are supposed to be. While they do have pretty good tips, if you're dying for great tips, I'd head to CF Donovans in Dorchester.
NUM NUM NUM NUM.
A little divey. The waitresses don't want you hanging around all night, hence the no coffee/no dessert thing.
My dad has been taking me there since I was a child, now 21 (still a child kthxxxxx) and I STILL have only eaten their ribs & house salad.
You can't go wrong with that combo. I have never had anything else on the menu..
Steak tips to die for? um, no. You get what you paid for YES.
Ancient waitresses and bar staff who are lifers and hold no apparent skills or personalities...not sure if I care to have my iceberg (ew) salad thrown in front of me. Sorry, ladies, I get it...you're busy. But COME ON! I only indulged in the chewy (a.k.a) fatty steak tips-I hope the lamb is really something to write home about. Put it this way-more of my plate ended up being gracefully spit into my napkin.. Although, should i have cared about my manors when a majority of the patrons did not seemingly attempt to change after rolling out of bed-much less brush their hair. Our waitress had dirty nails and me thinks some bugs in her beehive doo-oh, I shudder.
WHY so crowded-I ask you?
Ya, it's a joint, it's local (OBVIOUSLY) but where does all the praise come from-it even smells in there-I was rather skeeved. Can you say health department? Do yourself a favor, keep going down the street to Lone Star-similar prices but a tad better quality.
An old-school working class tavern that serves what might be the best steak tips in Greater Boston.
To date, the NewBridge Café is the lone reason I've uncovered to visit Chelsea for dinner. It's a venerable old tavern of the sort that attracts successive generations of diners. ("Your grandpa brought me here, son, and I expect you'll bring your kids here someday. Now run down the spa and get me some scratchies.") Further, I've only ever ordered one thing from its menu: steak tips ($14). That's twice what it cost me on my first trip, four presidents ago. The 12-ounce portion is no longer a spectacular deal, but it does come with a sizable, overdressed iceberg salad or side of ziti.
These are inarguably great tips, long-bathed in a secret marinade, the recipe for which inspires much speculation. (One rumor claims it includes ketchup, Coca-Cola, and bottled Italian dressing.) The NewBridge describes its tips as "sirloin," but that strikes me as too costly for this rickety neighborhood joint. I suspect instead that it's flap steak, an extension of the T-bone and Porterhouse cuts from the short loin. Flap has the virtue of being cheap and very tasty, but it's also tough, and so benefits from long marinating followed by high-heat dry grilling, as is expertly done here. The NewBridge remains a bit of a dive, though the statewide smoking ban immeasurably improved its air quality (everyone smoked here back in the day, right through dinner -- even the 12 year olds). If you do one thing really well (and by all accounts, straying from the tips menu here is a gamble), a bit of grittiness can be a welcome part of the experience. Add the NewBridge to your list of frozen-in-amber working-class saloons -- like East Boston's Santarpio's -- that you really should visit before they vanish and take their simple, satisfying specialties with them. If you're a steak lover on a budget, this one's worth venturing into the wilds of Chelsea.
OK, so I'm not going to lie, you're getting this review from a vegetarian's point of view. This place is known for their steak tips, and when you look around that's hat everyone was eating.
I went for the eggplant parmesan sandwich. It was horrible. The eggplant was chewy, the sauce was mediocre, and the price was high considering it came with nothing.
My boyfriend got something meaty, and I don't think he was that excited by it. He did not get the steak tips though.
Some of the meals come with these steak fries that are bigger than any fries I have ever seen. They were cool, but they weren't cooked properly.
Oh, and the atmosphere is lacking as was the service. I would give it one star, but since I'm a biased veggie I'll go with two since I have actually heard good things.
Consistently good.. Turkey tips I think are better than the steak tips
Yes, this place is known for the tips and salad. In the dozens of times eating there, I've never once strayed from that order. If they do something right, I stick to it. Juicy steak, zesty salad, cheap eats. It's a dive, and it's in Chelsea so there's that living on the edge of danger atmosphere, too.
The true king of family restaurants when it comes to steak tips and country style ribs. This is no high end steak house but as the Phantom Gourmet once said this is the place for the BEST steak tips in New England. Thirty two years of experience gets you the customer the best product at the best prices. Friday and Saturday evenings it gets busy but it is worth the wait. The Newbridge has two parking lots and plenty of street parking. The waitstaff is top of the line when it comes to taking your orders and getting the food on the table. I strongly advise first time visitors to go for the barbeque dishes. The steak tips, lamb, turkey tips, chicken and sauage are of the best quality. The appetizers are very good and my favorite are the fresh cherrystones. Italian specialties, pasta and sandwiches complete the menu. I can say with no exceptions that the Newbridge Cafe is without a doubt one of the best deals in the greater Boston area when you compare quality, quantity, service and prices.
probably still about the best steak/lamb tips around Boston. i take off a star because they probably haven't really cleaned the place since Regan was president.
Midnight Madness Buffet!
Neighborhood: Allston/Brighton
Why Cook? Wednesday Dinner…
Neighborhood: North End
Chelsea, MA
Category: Donuts
Chelsea, MA
Category: Pizza
Chelsea, MA
Category: Public Services & Government
Chelsea, MA
Category: Italian
Revere, MA
Category: Sandwiches
Some places are good, some not so good. Here's a…
Some of my favorite dining destinations in the…
My local dry cleaner, watering hole, deli, cafe,…
Got a hankering for some meat & potatoes? Need…
