• Contact Us
  • Events calendar
Entering Swellesley
Pinnacle, Wellesley

The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

  • Advertise
  • Contribute
  • Eat
  • Wellesley Square
  • School
  • Top 10 things to do
  • Embracing diversity
  • Charities/Community
  • Arts
  • Camp
  • Kids
  • Environment/Sustainability
  • Events
  • About us
  • Subscribe
  • Natick Report
  • COVID-19
  • Letters to the Editor
  • 2021 Town Election
  • Bulletin Board
Needham Bank, Wellesley
Boston Sports Institute, Wellesley

Review: Juniper restaurant a special new Wellesley Square dining spot

August 6, 2014 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

20140802-104018-38418642.jpgWe recently tried out Juniper, the Wellesley Square restaurant that has opened in the former Milestone location, to see what the newest eatery in town had to offer.  We figured an early evening Friday dinner in August would allow us to avoid the hassle of a typical weekend crowd and the possible wait time that might bring.   Since Juniper doesn’t  take reservations and is only open for dinner to start, that kind of planning is advised.

We showed up at 6:15pm and just squeaked in ahead of the rush, with diner wannabes who came in after us facing long wait times. We had a good view of the action from our 2-person table just inside the restaurant behind a curtain and window. An eclectic mix of music played in the background and the restaurant buzzed with “We’re in the hot new place” excitement.

The decor at Sweet Basil‘s sister restaurant is attractive, including a domed ceiling, orange chandeliers and handy coat hooks on the walls next to tables. An old radio console has been converted into host’s stand, and a riddling rack serves as a wall hanging, containing flowers rather than the wine bottles they’re designed to hold.

For starters we tried out the eggplant baba ghanoush served with pita bread.  Its creamy texture and smoky flavor, along with the homemade pita, made it a winner.  Next was the souvlaki, marinated and grilled chicken and pork skewers served on a bed of greens. Very tasty, and oh so Mediterranean.20140802-104015-38415969.jpg

From there I had the seafood couscous, made with mussels, swordfish, and octopus.  I ordered it with low hopes for the octopus part of the meal, figuring it would have the texture of rubber.  The whole briny-tasting dish was amazing and generously portioned. The octopus part of was just so beautifully presented in all its cephalopod glory, rather than skulking under the swordfish and mussels as if it knew it was just a folly ingredient, there only to allow a diner to say she’s eaten octopus.  That octopus was literally fork tender and left me thinking maybe octopus doesn’t have to be a supporting ingredient.  Maybe in the right hands, it could actually be the star someday.20140802-104017-38417344.jpg

My generally hard-to-please date went with the grilled and fork tender swordfish, served atop chickpea panisse and complemented with a harissa aioli sauce and beets/orange salad (he left the beets alone). Truly delicious.20140802-104016-38416677.jpg

My date, a sucker for coconut anything, steered us toward the Greek Revani cake for dessert. It was dense, but good. More than we really needed after gorging ourselves on the apps and entrees.20140802-104017-38417997.jpg

Eating at Juniper can be pricey, especially if you’re trying a lot of items like we did for the purpose of this review. Our entrees each neared $30, and our total bill topped $100 when apps, dessert and drinks (homemade lemonade and Jack’s Abby beer from Framingham) added up. But you can get away with a reasonably priced  night out there if you limit yourself to appetizers and drinks (our polite and friendly waitress said you can sit at the bar for a couple of drinks, but need to order food if you want to stick around, per town rules).

Our service was fantastic (more on Juniper’s hiring process here) and we were table tapped by the manager a few times, making us wonder if we’d blown our cover…

20140802-104019-38419277.jpg
RELATED: Boston Globe review of Juniper

print

Share

Filed Under: Business, Food, Restaurants

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Linden Square, Wellesley
Fran's Flowers
Clearhaven Recovery

Tip us off…

Please send tips, photos, ideas to [email protected]
Wellesley Square ad
Wellesley, Jesamondo
Admit Fit, Wellesley
Sexton test prep
Feldman Law
Fay School, Southborough
Wellesley Theatre Project
The Moving-Pictures Company
image of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
covid vaccine
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
Never miss a post with our free daily Swellesley Report email
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide

You can subscribe for free, though we appreciate any contribution that supports our independent journalism.

Click here to read our Natick Report

Natick Report

Most Read Posts

  • Newton-Wellesley Orthopedic Walk-In—no appointment needed
  • Wellesley summer camp listings 2021 — find the experience of a lifetime
  • Wellesley Business Buzz: Poppin In at Linden Square; Chase Bank site becomes sign central; Women-owned businesses; Forklift enters Wellesley meal-delivery scene
  • Wellesley Give & Take update
  • Wellesley's Lee Delaney, CEO of BJ's Wholesale, passes away at age 49

Events Calendar

« April 2021 » loading...
S M T W T F S
28
29
30
31
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
1
Wed 21

Wellesley Select Board online office hours

April 21 @ 8:30 am - 10:00 am
Thu 22

Ben Franklin, The Early Years: Wellesley Historical Society online lecture

April 22 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Sat 24

WellesleyRocks concert: Shira Doron & Patrick Hayden; Bigfoot acoustic

April 24 @ 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Mon 26

Virtual lab tour, pooled COVID testing

April 26 @ 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Wed 28

Fay School virtual information session

April 28 @ 10:00 am - 11:00 am

Pages

  • Guidelines for Letters to the Editor
  • How to submit your flyer for the Community Bulletin Board page
  • Wellesley Community Bulletin Board
  • Wellesley coronavirus (COVID-19) updates
  • Wellesley’s 7 official scenic roads
  • Wellesley, Mass., fishing spots
  • Wellesley Choral Society
  • Wellesley College Notable Alumnae
  • Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mass.
  • Wellesley outdoor art gallery
  • Wellesley restaurants offering take-out and delivery
  • Wellesley, Massachusetts restaurant — Amarin of Thailand

Recent Comments

  • Abby on Beyond Wellesley: Swellesley goes to Eastie
  • CH on Beyond Wellesley: Swellesley goes to Eastie
  • Donna on Wellesley weathers April snow
  • Maria T on Wellesley Give & Take update
  • Haihong Li on Wellesley Give & Take update

Links we like

  • Great Runs
  • Jack Sanford: Wellesley's Major League Baseball Star
  • Taquitos.net
  • Tech-Tamer
  • The Wellesley Wine Press
  • Universal Hub
  • Wellesley Sports Discussion Facebook Group

Categories

  • 2021 Town Election (21)
  • Animals (387)
  • Antiques (48)
  • Art (544)
  • Beyond Wellesley (31)
  • Books (345)
  • Business (1,382)
  • Camp (2)
  • Careers/jobs (46)
  • Churches (73)
  • Clubs (211)
  • Construction (282)
  • Dump (114)
  • Education (2,921)
    • Babson College (244)
    • Bates Elementary School (14)
    • Dana Hall School (29)
    • Fiske Elementary School (6)
    • Hardy Elementary School (33)
    • Hunnewell Elementary School (34)
    • MassBay (49)
    • Schofield Elementary School (20)
    • Sprague Elementary School (19)
    • St. John School (1)
    • Tenacre Country Day School (9)
    • Upham Elementary School (30)
    • Wellesley College (600)
    • Wellesley High School (895)
    • Wellesley Middle School (195)
  • Embracing diversity (52)
  • Entertainment (729)
  • Environment (680)
  • Fashion (134)
  • Finance (13)
  • Fire (144)
  • Food (328)
  • Fundraising (565)
  • Gardens (137)
  • Government (425)
    • 2020 Town Election (47)
  • Health (760)
    • COVID-19 (152)
  • History (361)
  • Holidays (367)
  • Houses (121)
  • Humor (45)
  • Kids (820)
  • Law (3)
  • Letters to the Editor (12)
  • Media (63)
  • METCO (4)
  • Military (3)
  • Morses Pond (97)
  • Music (545)
  • Natick Report (28)
  • Neighbors (252)
  • Obituaries (62)
  • Outdoors (589)
  • Parenting (60)
  • Police (704)
    • Crime (358)
  • Politics (545)
  • Real estate (294)
  • Religion (127)
  • Restaurants (306)
  • Safety (143)
  • Scouts (1)
  • Senior citizens (111)
  • Shopping (123)
  • Sports (907)
  • STEM (107)
  • Technology (158)
  • Theatre (383)
  • Town Meeting (22)
  • Transportation (212)
  • Travel (12)
  • Uncategorized (1,212)
  • Volunteering (319)
  • Weather (169)
  • Wellesley Election 2019 (21)
  • Wellesley Free Library (259)
  • Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend (5)
RSS Feed Icon Subscribe to RSS Feed

© 2021 The Swellesley Report
Site by Tech-Tamer · Login