By Sharon Oliver, Contributing Writer
Photo/Wikimedia Commons
CAMBRIDGE – It may have been a hole-in-wall with its 300 square feet and 14-seat capacity, but the Tasty Sandwich Shop (or The Tasty) stood tall in the hearts and minds of those who frequented Harvard Square. Housed in the Read Block building until 1997, the greasy spoon was a place where people of all stripes gathered to chat and chew. Open 24 hours a day, customers could count on quick orders like burgers and fries or two eggs, fries, and white toast for just $2.75. Despite its confined space, the diner was known for charging prices far lower than most other restaurants in Harvard Square. It’s said that it was perhaps the only place where you could find yourself seated at the counter with a homeless person next to you on one side and a Harvard professor on the other side.
Packing them in
Bar stools lined around an old-fashioned yellow linoleum counter which faced a tiny kitchen manned by a short order cook. The back wall was covered by a large map filled with pins which pinpointed origins of postcards from various customers. The cooks earned a reputation of being compared to bartenders due to their willingness to chat it up with customers. Students habitually visited the diner during late nights in search of something filling to tame a growling stomach.
The Tasty operated from 1916 to 1997 near the intersection of JFK and Brattle Streets. For a business that was no more than seven feet wide and thirty feet deep, the diner could be crammed with around 70 customers on a busy night and it was also not unusual to see 300 to 400 burgers being served between the hours of midnight and 4 a.m. to hungry night owls.
In pop culture
Like many iconic places of interest in Massachusetts, The Tasty made its way into pop culture. In the 1997 film, “Good Will Hunting,” Cambridge native and actor Matt Damon took costar Minnie Driver to The Tasty and in an April 2023 interview with Harvard’s student newspaper The Crimson, the movie’s producer Chris Moore shared that there was a push for The Tasty to be immortalized as a backdrop in the hit film. He explained, “It literally was the worst place ever to shoot because it’s tiny.” Describing the cramped seating arrangement, he added that the scene was shot during the day when it was less hectic.
The tiny eatery was also used for a scene in the 1970 blockbuster movie “Love Story,” the Erich Segal tale about a privileged Harvard Law School student Oliver Barrett IV (Ryan O’Neal) and his working-class girlfriend Jennifer “Jenny” Cavilleri, played by Ali MacGraw.
Closure was controversial
A victim of expensive renovation projects instigated by Cambridge Savings Bank, and its prime location, The Tasty was forced to close. Owner Peter Haddad placed a sign in the window during move-out highlighting its lifespan: “81 years. 29,565 days. 5,913,000 people. 422,357 per stool.”
The controversy surrounding its closure was the subject of Frederico Muchnik’s 2005 documentary “Touching History, Harvard Square, The Bank and The Tasty Diner.” The short film features interviews with Peter Haddad, chef Charlie Coney, who died in 2009, and others. There are also archival materials and it reminds viewers of the longstanding relationships that existed between the public and private sector.
Weeks before The Tasty’s closing, Muchnik would order a couple of hot dogs, sit in the corner of the room, and train his camera on the diner’s lively atmosphere of cooks teasing customers, ongoing conversations, and the constant clatter of silverware.
The Tasty became a cause célèbre and poster child for the unwanted transition in the popular neighborhood from unique local businesses to national chain stores. Opposition was also voiced by a number of groups, including the Harvard Square Defense Fund, and the weekly NPR radio talk show, Car Talk, hosted brothers Tom and Ray Magliozzi, where they were known as Click and Clack.
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