-- Boston's Hidden Restaurants --

Family Restaurant

305 Washington Street, Brookline, MA 02445
(617) 277-4466 Find location!

Photo of Family Restaurant, Brookline, MA Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, and the rest of the Boston area have a multitude of top ethnic restaurants. You can find everything from African to Vietnamese cuisine in Greater Boston. But there are some types of cuisine that are not well-represented. For instance, few Polish or German restaurants exist in the area. There are only a handful of Russian dining spots in town. And, yes, there are very few Turkish restaurants anywhere in the Boston area. Hidden away on Washington Street in Brookline, however, just off Harvard Street in Brookline Village, is a warm, friendly neighborhood dining spot that serves outstanding Turkish cuisine. It is called Family Restaurant, and it is a gem of a place.

Family Restaurant is a humble little spot, with a simple storefront and an almost cafeteria-like interior, though the room is more charming than your typical cafeteria, with attractive lighting and Turkish artwork giving the place a nice feel. Every few minutes, the words "order is up" come from the kitchen, and waiters and waitresses pick up the meals and bring them over to the tables. The whole scene is charmingly old-fashioned, and gives this little-known Brookline restaurant the feel of a late-night Manhattan diner or cafe, such as Veselka in the East Village or EJ's Luncheonette in the Upper West Side.

The food at Family Restaurant may be familiar to those who enjoy Greek or Middle Eastern cuisine. The menu has entrees such as musakka, lamb and chicken shish kebab, falafel, grape leaves, lamb chops, and gyros. One item on the menu, the chicken adana kebab (chicken with red peppers and paprika), is particularly tasty, and the nightly specials, including the delicious karniyarik (eggplant stuffed with ground beef, onions, peppers, and a variety of spices), are well worth looking at.

There are few places in the Boston area quite like Family Restaurant; it is rare enough to find a good Turkish restaurant, and rarer still to find a laid-back, old-fashioned dining spot where patrons are treated almost like family. This place is a true winner, so if you like ethnic food and want to head somewhere unique, but also instantly familiar, Brookline's Family Restaurant may be for you.