Map Room Café

The only reason I gave them a 2 was because they got me in early. Food platter was brought. Waiter said, «Here you are.» (Plop). Never described what anything was. No one ever came back to see if I needed more tea. Tea sandwiches were bland.

This is one of my favorite places in Boston. I’m not entirely sure why, as the food is good but not the best ever, but I just love coming here. Just thinking about it makes me smile.
The food is café type food (think panera) but better than most cafes. I love their soups and I love that they change their soup selection fairly often but keep a few consistent options. Their sandwiches are also really great. My favorites are the portobello mushroom sandwich and the sirloin sandwich. Both are so SO good its sometimes hard to decide which to get. Oh, if my stomach were large enough I could eat both. Their turkey club is also pretty good, and it’s HUGE. You could feed 2 – 3 people with that thing.
But real food aside, their cookies and blondies are THE BEST THING EVER. Seriously, I’m a bit of a connoisseur of cookies, and their chocolate chip cookies are in my top three for cookies in Boston (is it bad that I have a list?). Also, their blondies are really good, but oh my god, their cookies! I swear my favorite thing to do is to come here in the spring/​summer/​fall, get a cup of coffee and a cookie and just sit in the courtyard. That to me is a perfect day.
Additionally, the map room is pretty cute and they added another room for café seating which is really great as it gets pretty busy in the café around lunch time. Plus, during the warmer months you can sit outside at one of the many tables in the courtyard and enjoy the view (it really is beautiful there and so peaceful).
And finally, the staff at the map room are super friendly and helpful.
It really is just such a great place that everyone in Boston should check out.

The Map Room Café makes you wonder why people go to Panera. Delicious soup and half a gourmet sandwich for $ 7? Count me in. Any day. Every day. Well, maybe not every day.
The tables fill up quickly around lunchtime and the staff are sometimes stretched a bit thin, but for this level of quality, there’re few places that beat this out. Their pastries are lacking, though, so if you want a good cookie to top it all off, maybe you should go to Panera (but don’t).

My favorite thing about the Map Room Café is the setting. I love the library building and enjoyed grabbing a bite while visiting. I had the lobster bisque and the Asian grilled chicken sandwich. The soup could have been served warmer, but both were pretty good. Overall a quite enjoyable experience.

I’ve been here numerous times to grab a bite and rest in a quiet spot. The Map Room Café is just that, with really tasty and very reasonably priced sandwiches — in a library! (I actually thought a couple of times that it might be nice to have a job here.) There’s a pricier restaurant adjacent to it that I haven’t tried, but in any case the café is an oasis, albeit not a fancy one. I brought a friend from out of town here when she visited, and we ended up (because we weren’t eating yet) sitting in the lovely open courtyard just down the hall, looking at her photo album and watching members of a wedding party having their pictures taken.
Some customers when I’ve been in the café have sat at tables using their laptops; others, reclining on the overstuffed sofas, read books or newspapers while drinking coffee. I always simply sit there devouring my lunch, thinking what a great place this would be in which to encounter a charming person of the opposite sex! Secluded, and very casual, and with all the quiet calm that being surrounded by book lovers implies.
It’s easy to forget this place exists when you’re in Copley Square. By the way, I went once to an exhibit of costume designs on an upper floor of the same library, which was also a delightful experience since I have a theatre background. And the exhibit was free. So many riches at the Boston Public Library!
Caveat: some of the reviews here on Unilocal are really about the more expensive restaurant in the adjoining room — high tea isn’t served in the Map Room Café. Those reviewers need to re-​post their reviews under «The Courtyard Restaurant» to avoid confusion.
I’ll end my review here for fear of gushing too much, but will just add that the BPL is on Dartmouth Street at Boylston in the Back Bay, not on Beacon Hill as Unilocal says.

What do you mean you didn’t know this place was there? I think I ask someone that question every week.
This café is a little gem I like to pretend like I only know about. They actually have really good food! I have had the feta sandwich and salads before but my new favorite is the quinoa salad and the vegetable soup.
Get it to go and go sit outside in the courtyard. I love to pretend like I am in a far away European city until I remember that I my lunch break is over and I have to go back to work.

The herb-​roasted lamb sandwich. Just trust me, and get it. Maybe my expectations were low, but I was completely blown away at how good this tasted from a CAFE IN A LIBRARY. Boylston, Newbury, Copley Square area is not short of amazing food. Hell, even restaurants on trucks have started invading the neighborhood. But despite all that, trust me on this one. The herb-​roasted lamb sandwich. $ 9.00, and some of the tastiest, most well-​marinated, mouth-​watering meat I’ve had in recent memory. Wow.

They have French press to go cups for their loose leaf tea! That’s just amazing!
I didn’t have any food so this review is more on the atmosphere and feel of the place. The tables were super cool with old maps as the table top. There were old maps on the wall and the lighting gave it a very old feeling. The ceiling was just beautiful, similar to the original library building so I loved sitting there. The employees were very nice and helpful. It was not expensive but it was a small space so try and go in the off hours so that you can sit there for a while. I would have given 5 if I had any food but the food looked fantastic and smelled wonderful.
**This place is not in beacon hill like it says on the address. It is on Boylston in the Boston Public Library.

Not a bad spot for lunch. There is the library café (the map room) and then an adjacent fancier dining room. We were dressed for the former and had sandwiches and soup.
Clam chowder hit the spot. The hot chicken sandwich with bacon was the best sandwich of the two we got. We also had the portobello sandwich which was adequate. Asked them to heat it up — not sure why they don’t do this anyway!
The room itself is neat. Cool architecture. If you’re at the library anyway this is a easy and decent place to head for a quick bite.

A bit expensive, but a hidden gem in the area. Went there on a Thursday at noon & there was no line at lunch, basically unheard of in Copley Square. The service was fast — in & out in less than 5 minutes. They mostly have sandwiches & a few salads. I had a horseradish & caramelized onion & sirloin sandwich which wasn’t too bad. The price came out to $ 9 something.

I would definitely give more stars to this place if Unilocal had the option! This is a hidden gem indeed! Half turkey sandwich (excellent portion) with fresh tomatoes, lettuce, avocado in garlic/​herbs bread plus a tomato soup and they even give you a slice of wheat bread for your soup? YES please! Cozy, small, organized and the service is good. Love the fact that it is inside the Public Library! I’m still seating here typing this review lol. I have yet to take a look at the beautiful courtyard/​garden right next door from the café.
Everyone visiting Boston: this is a MUST if you’re looking to grab a quick lunch to continue with your touring day. Forget about Panera, you find that everywhere. Now, when was the last time you had lunch at a public library?

What a hidden gem! Small but cosy. Tidy had the choice of 6 soups, that again in sandwiches and salads. Had delicious tomato & basil soup and half sandwich combination. Great place as an alternate to the Pru or Copley or overpriced café on Newbury.

* Nice setting — could improve the product though *
Hidden away in the library behind a beautiful courtyard in a high arched room, this café provides a welcome respite in the heart of Boston.
If they only could improve the quality of their product though. They are using an automated coffee machine to serve! I skipped that — couldn’t bring myself to pay for that.
I did have a bagel with cream cheese — which was fine for what it was. Photo:
They really could do a lot more with this space if they put in a decent espresso machine and got some nicer baked goods. What a wonderful space waiting for a wonderful product to match it!

A turkey club sandwich on amazing focaccia bread with some tasty herbed mayo AND with avocado ~ YES, PLEASE! When you’re eating this sandwich, it’s quite possible to reach enlightenment. I’ve done it. Just don’t do what I did and get dessert after, because your stomach might explode. I love this place for a quick, great lunch.
They have other great sandwiches and other stuff too, but I’ve only tried the turkey club because I love it so much. Oh, and they give you a big crisp dill pickle with it too!

I went here for afternoon tea (or high tea) with my sister and I will review it in reference to its tea time qualities.
I have had tea time in London (next to the Canadian embassy) and in Cambridge — upstairs on the square and I would say the classiness of the tea and the accompanying food was on par in terms of taste and quality. Clearly selection was in comparison not nearly as great. Now the location and the setting wasn’t as «fancy» as it was in London or Upstairs on the Square but I honestly liked this one better because it had the sense of being classy without the stuffiness (very American) + there it was much bigger room with plusher furniture.
I will say that a high tea snob might note how the food items aren’t decorated up to the ornate standards of «proper high tea», but as you can see from the photos, for me that would be rubbish.
A few weird things to note are
1. It is quite unique to get reservations — you have to go to the Boston Public Library website — hit the link to the catering company, and shoot them a e-​mail. They will respond within 48 hours and the customer service when we were there was nothing short of spectacular.
2. If you are sitting next the windows facing the courtyard be warned, library users/​tourists will look inside the tea room with amazement thinking that you are the Boston elite in a secret room and occasionally take pictures.
Oh and the price is really good! $ 22 dollars per person for a high tea of this quality is INSANE!!!
The fact that is is a nifty place like the Boston Public library just adds to the charm

I usually grab a soup here, to eat while reading in the courtyard. Soups are good, and the rest of the food looks solid.
Keep in mind that this is a library. You don’t come here for mind-​blowing food. You come here so you don’t become hypoglycemic during 2 hours of reading Dostoyevsky. Also, the actual «map room» is pretty cool.

The Tea in the Map Room had its pleasant moments but was flawed by numerous lapses in customer service. For starters, reservations are only accepted by voicemail. We made them for a Friday while my inlaws were in town from California, but received no call back with confirmation. We could not reach anyone to confirm and had to physically go to the Tea Room but, sure enough, they had the reservation. Doesn’t quite make sense, considering that the manager is always has time to joke around with his Catered Affair Staff.
We arrived early, were seated late. We watched while three different tablecloths were unfolded and discarded due to stains as our table was set. The Tea Room was mostly empty, but we tried to be patient with our wait. They offered us seating on soft lounge chairs which apparently had wheels. I sat down and went flying across the room. The manager said it happens all the time. If it does, why don’t they get different chairs so that people do not slide across the marble?
Once seated we waited another fifteen minutes for our tea order to be taken, and another five minutes for our tea to be served. My mother-​in-​law and I received only one pot but promised it would be refreshed regularly. None of our pots were refreshed. Not ever.
Everything was tasty, but the portions were extremely small: four tiny sandwiches, three tiny custard tarts, one miniature petit-​four, and one tiny scone, per person. We were all still hungry after finishing. Good thing we had early dinner reservations
My fiancé then had to physically hunt down the maitre-​d’ to get us the bill. Even though there were four of us, they had already included gratuity, which seemed appalling given the slow service and the inattentive staff.
While the room is lovely, the china and furnishings elegant, and the building is beautiful — well worth a visit, I suggest peeking in rather than wasting time and money on a difficult dining experience. If you are looking for tea, go to the Taj.

The description for a three star Unilocal review describes how I feel about the Map Room Café perfectly: it’s «A-​OK».
Let’s be honest, I come here out of convenience and necessity. I’m not a big coffee drinker, so when I do it’s because I’m about to gauge my eyes out if I look at another math problem (far more frequent than I’d like to admit). Their coffee does it for me and I usually find myself well focused afterward.
The food is just «A-​OK» and with so many other options around, I see zero reason to eat it unless it’s really cruddy weather. But this is New England people; just wait 15 minutes and the weather will be fine again. On warm days go get takeout, sneak it in a bag, and enjoy the courtyard. It’s worth the extra time to go get something else. However, there is ONE exception. Their blondies are delicious. I wish I had never discovered them. My Saturday study hours of 9 — 5 now almost always include a 1pm break for coffee and a blondie. It’s a bad habit that I have zero intention of breaking.
Staff has always been friendly enough to me asnd I admit my new-​found dependence on afternoon coffee. I’ll be there again tomorrow with zero guilt on my face as I drink my A-​OK coffee and eat my blondie. MMMMMMMMMM

they should split this entry to: map room and the court yard restaurant.
map room = lunchy café
courtyard restaurant = classy food
i went to map room for a quick study break/​lunch break. i got their lunch special, which had a choice of soup and half of a chicken sandwich. both of them were mediocre. the sandwich was pre-​made and warmed up. but it’s only half warmed up because it’s still cold inside… and i got clam chowder for soup. and it was okay. not a bad deal for $ 7 though.

Screw working. You don’t need to finish that paper this afternoon. The reading you need to do for that project can be done another time. The library isn’t for studying, reading or even for gadging the free internet. Think again. The library is for afternoon tea.
Put your pen down and pick up a fancy cup of Boston Public Library’s signature blend and a handful of sandwiches, scones and cakes. It may not be the best afternoon tea in town (plug:
) but it’s definitely one of the best locations.
Location, location, location.
Can you spot which painting is by Singer Sargent? We couldn’t. But our afternoon tea was lovely and if we ever got bored of chatting about Unilocal,the universe and everything we could have helped ourselves to Proust or Satre on the bookshelf by our beautiful table.
Lovely tea, lovely time. We should bring a big group here and party — tea party.