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Don’t let the grating Ivy League plaid at the Monday Club Bar turn you away…even if you’re allergic to green and pink in tandem. It’s a fun restaurant, which fills a niche and fills it well.

Part of the two-restaurant complex (with the Upstairs on the Square Soirée Room) that replaced long-time Harvard institution Grendel’s…and everyone’s the better for it…the Monday Club works in three ways: as a casual bar, as a bustling place for quick drop-in dining, and as a nice, sunny location for a bright small-group gathering or luncheon in the well-windowed Zebra Room. The menu uses regional ideas and seasonal ingredients to good effect, without overreaching or underperforming. And the wine list (shared with the fancier upstairs room) is long and offers a lot of nice by-the-glass options, plus – at last! – a decent selection of half-bottles.

(Based on dozens of visits, the most recent in June of 2006. See also: the Upstairs on the Square (Soirée Room).)