STIX Restaurant & Lounge

If you're hungry, definitely do not come here. This is not a place to eat. The portions are so small you could fit the entire order in your mouth all at once. If you want to eat your fill here you will have to spend at least 80 dollars on yourself.

Pros: None

Cons: incredibly small portions for the price

Posted 09/21/09

We chose Stix due to its proximity to the Lyric Stage Theater. The decor was nice, but the food was a real disappointment. My 'szchechuan pork' was overcooked , dry, and inedible, the sticky rice was improperly cooked (some was sticky, some was mushy, as if they had topped off an old batch with a new batch). The poached pear dessert, while a nice concept, was so heavily flavored with cloves that this one spice overwhelmed the dish. In addition to the poor execution, I would have to say that the menu went beyond 'eclectic' and was well into 'schizophrenic' territory. Greek, japanese, chinese, thai, middle eastern, southwestern, and italian dishes do not all go harmoniously on a menu with fewer than 2 dozen items. Also, although the restaurant does not bill itself as a seafood restaurant, nearly every appetizer and entree featured fish or shellfish.

Posted 03/01/09

Walking into Stix I knew we were in for something different, with the cool combination of warm wood and changing light patterns. Wanting to get the full experience, we tried a Teriyaki STIX, Kobe Rosemary STIX, and a Salmon STIX. Each one had its own distinctive taste. I wanted to try a few more, but when we arrived we spotted the dessert menu, and felt we needed to save room! We decided to split the lollipop tree, which continued on the whole STIX idea, with four different desserts served on sticks and dipped in a chocolate glaze, the truffle one was my favorite.

Pros: cool atmosphere, fun food and drinks

Cons: none

Posted 12/09/08

I love the decor. Compared to 33 I think it's more hip. For the younger crowd. I adore the cocktails and the crazy things they do with them. They can make you a smokey drink (why didn't I stop by on halloween?). I've also tried the one that looks like tuna sashimi...tastes like raspberries Dawling! Ate them with chopsticks. So cool. Next time I will bring all my friends. It's the perfect place for drinks and random conversation.

Pros: Beautiful decor, cool drinks

Posted 11/06/08

Surprisingly busy restaurant even though it is in the alley. I have seen lots of restaurant come and go but this one have pretty good potential. On my first visit this Friday, the place was pretty packed . We wanted to sit at the patio but couldn't get the table, so we sat at the bar. The bar was cool with Led light and the bar top with some kind of fiber optics. The bartender was nice enough to tell us that it was sensor tile but whats cool about is that that you can play with your phone lights which emits light from one tile cube to another. We started with mohito infused with co2 then with frozen blackberry ice tea and finishing with jello rum drink . We had a couple of appetizer since we just went there for cocktail, which were good specially the chicken with indian mango and tofu.. yes did i mentioned tofu..yup one the best i had.
Over all great concept, good appetizer, moderate price, nice bar and creative cool bartender.

Pros: great app and cocktail

Cons: small patio

Posted 07/27/08

Best ice cream in South End and I also like their pizza. The staff is really friendly, and I go their for my lunch break once a week

Posted 07/13/08

Just needs more sitting area and to turn down the music. I really don't think it's the fact i'm getting old. A lot of my friends were also complaining that this place is playing their music way too loud for the size that it is. I went with a group of 8. We went in and got our drinks. Good quick service at the bar but we had to yell really loud for the waitresses to hear us over the loud music. Once we got our drinks we found there is really no where to sit. So we stood, drank and tried to have a convo but couldn't so we went outside. The bouncers are nice. We sat outside for a while, had a few drinks there. went back in had a good time but left with our ears bleeding (not literally)

Posted 06/29/08

but not in practice. I was excited to try Stix. I have a culinary background and loved the big bold flavor listed on the menu with all the different options. With a large party I was able to try every single stick option (excluding veggies). The problem with their practice is that the portions on each stick are small and although some have good flavor, they are cooked too long. All the meats are overcooked and dry, and the flavor just doesn't make up for the oversight. This might explain why the place was empty on a saturday night. Definitely overpriced for what you get, but not for a place that is trying to be trendy.

Pros: Decor

Cons: Overcooked food and value

Posted 06/15/08

Recently visited Stix with a group of 4 for drinks and dinner- what a big disappointment. We arrived at the restaurant and it was empty (granted it was a Tuesday night, but for a dowtown restaurant to be empty, it was a surprise). We were seated and greeted by our server who promptly took our drink order. She brought back our drinks and disappeared. we had several questions about the menu and she was busy talking to the bartender. She did recommend a few items off the menu, but didn't tell us about the small portions. The food did not take long to come out, which was good since we waited so long to order. The food was mediocre at best. There were 4 of us and only 3 items on the plate- which we were not informed about. For the price, the food was nothing to write home about. For 4 of us to eat ( we each 2 cocktails) it was over 200 dollars- and we were all still hungry! Stix is a great place for cocktails and appetizers, but not for dinner!

Posted 04/15/08

Stix is a restaurant driven by gimmick, i.e. placing meats on flavored sticks. Sadly, for Stix, however, this gimmick is simply not enough to overcome its miniscule portions, mediocre tasting foods, and generic decor. At Stix, one feels as though the decision to become a restaurant was secondary to the decision to be a bar/lounge. With the plethora of new and innovative restaurants in this city, I did not see this restaurant "sticking" around for too long.

Pros: Quick service

Cons: There are too many to name!

Posted 03/29/08

I went to Stix recently during Restaurant Week. The food was great, everything tasted great just like everyone else had already mentioned. I ordered the Caesar Salad, really good, the Pasta with mushrooms and cream sauce... I don't remember the name, but I CAN say that it was one of the best pasta dishes that I had ever tasted in my life, and dessert which was chocolate truffles on sticks, four of them. For the most part, the portion of my appetizer and pasta was pretty good, but the dessert was extremely lacking. When I saw four tiny chocolate pieces on sticks, I was disappointed. The name of the dessert did not sound like that all. The reason why I give this an average rating is because the waitress was a bit slow. She took forever to take our orders and to give us our check, AND we were the only ones there. Getting her attention was extremely difficult.

Posted 03/27/08

I recently ate at Stix with my girlfriend and found the food to be good, but the portion sizes are a joke. We were told by our server that 3-4 sticks of various meats (at $9 each) would make a nice light dinner.

We ordered the quail,steak, mixed vegetables, and chicken satay. The food arrived and we were shocked by the tiny portions. Each order consisted of 3 skewers, each with one mouthful of meat. The food was flavorful and tender, the steak was probably our favorite, and the vegetables the weakest. We were done eating in a few minutes, which may have been for the best since the dinning room was cramped and uncomfortable.

We had a drink each so the bill came to about $60, which is quite allot considering we were still starving. We got take-out on the way home.

Stix also had entrees on the menu, but judging from the portions we got on the sticks, I would guess they are also tiny. I would recommend Stix only for a pre-dinner drink as they do not serve meals

Pros: food/service

Cons: value

Posted 03/24/08

The food here tasted pretty good; if i were voting food flavor only, I would give it 4 stars.

My main complaint? Everything took FOREVER. I mean literally 40 minutes for dinner to come out, and then since this place tries to be gourmet, the portions are very small. Tastes good, but honestly instead of giving me 3 baby carrots so that they splay out nicely on the plate, could you instead give me 5 or 6, since the primary purpose is, after all, to feed me?

And the squash mash was delicious, but they gave me about as much as fits in 4 or 5 packets of ketchup...no joke.

My boyfriend had potatoes with his meal, he got about 3oz of fish (maybe 4 regular bites, 3 man bites) and he had three pieces of potato, but each piece was about the size of a quarter and as thick as my finger. Sorry, but that just is NOT enough food. And that's it.

So if you want a place where you can have a great LUNCH, go here, the food was delicious, ask them for dinner portions though.

But I would pass on dinner, I weigh 129 lbs so it's not because I'm a big eater, just be aware that the meal is more like an appetizer and it takes about 40 minutes to get it.

Also, the place was a little pretentious...it had a small flatscreen tv in the bathroom above the toilet paper dispenser, playing a video of a fireplace... come on that's just trying too hard.

Although my server was very sweet, she was not attentive and seemed a little confused. We had to ask her to bring us some bread stix 20 minutes into our 40 minute wait for dinner.

but hey, it's an experience at least to go to a poshy gourmet place like this.

Pros: Taste of the food

Cons: Barely any food given in an attempt to be artistic. 3 pinky size carrots as my side? how about a couple more?

Posted 03/22/08

I went there last night and loved it. We were looking for a new place in city for cocktails and appetizers and it was perfect. We loved their infused skewers, they were absolutely perfect for sharing and delicious, the Chef even came over and explained the food. We were really lucky to get seats at the bar. I?m definitely going to come back. Afterwards we headed next door to 33 ? the manager at STIX was so nice that he brought us over to 33 after for dancing.

Pros: Food, Drinks, Staff

Cons: None...

Posted 02/27/08

I took a date here for Valentines day. It was a wonderful experience all around. Upon showing up, were greeted very promptly by two valets. Once inside, service was polite and efficient. Right away our coats were checked and we were seated to a table at the front window. Our waiter was very knowledgeable and helpful with the menu items. The dinner was fantastic. The shrimp, crab cakes, and steak were as good as it gets. After finishing dinner, we were not rushed out. We ordered a couple of more drinks and were able to sit and talk without being pressured to leave. Overall, it was a great experience and I recommend Stix to anyone who wants to have an amazing date or even just a fun night out with friends.

Pros: Amazing food, great drinks, excellent service

Posted 02/15/08

OK.. first of all I have to say that my boyfriend and I got to sit at 1 of 2 tables in front of the window. I feel for the other couples who were lined up in 3 extremely crowded lines. It was like a cafeteria... no privacy at all... unless you like having a couple you don't know sit within arms reach of you and your date...

for 60 bucks, the prix fixe was just mediocre. the shrimp bisque was DELIGHTFUL and that's why im giving this place 2 stars. The shrimp bisque was in a shot glass so.. it wasn't much. The first course, goat cheese salad or crabcakes was very good. There's where the second star comes from. After that, it was just OK. The steak... apparently "sirloin"... looked like a piece of flank steak that was thin and boring. I don't know how you can give someone a piece of sirloin that is that thin and definity cooked in a frying pan to a nice...appetizing gray color. The last course, dessert, was WAY too rich. If you love a nice lump of thick chocolate after a meal and bottle of wine, then that would be good for you.

The service was incredibly slow. It took about 30 minutes just to get our bottle of wine. I wouldn't recommend taking a date here, especially on valentine's day. What's up with an 18% automatic tip for a table of 2, anyway?

The basement lounge looked nice. Too bad they didn't offer us a seat down there. The upstairs is WAY too crowded and not attractive at all. It's stiff... like... stix!

Pros: a couple of nice appetizers

Cons: bad service, overpriced, TERRIBLE steak

Posted 02/14/08

Went to Stix on a Friday night with a girlfriend. Definitely a change from its old inhabitant Bomboa, but change can be good. A little brighter with a modern flare, the hostess was incredibly pleasant as well as the bar staff. The drinks are a bit pricey, but the menu has some fun options, like a sparkling wine with pear vodka that was yummy. The food is small for what you get, but everything tasted great. LOVED the scallop stix and the tuna, as well as the mussels. All in all, we liked the food, the ambience, and the drinks. It was a little quiet for a Friday night, but maybe it just hasn't caught on yet. Would definitely recommend it over 33 next door, and say it's a worth a shot to check out.

Pros: yummy food concepts, fun drinks menu

Cons: hasn't caught on yet, a bit quiet

Posted 02/03/08

My 4 person group ordered three stix (appetizers?), entrees, and deserts, and we all left hungry. The proportions served are eye poppingly small at a decently expensive price. The stix ($9) basically consist of a skewer with three bite-sized (think smaller than sushi) chunk of food, generally meat, that might have been seasoned with something, but it's not clear what. It was plain and unsophisticated; I could cook meat on a stick too. The salad was a small ice cream scoop worth of greens, but some interesting vegetables and sauce were spread out on the plate, the salmon was plain, regimented starve-yourself-sized (and $20), and what we thought was a slightly larger proportion of edible substance on someone's plate was, misleadingly, a very large, useless onion. The decor, however, was attractive, the weight staff and hostess attentive; it was a nice place to spend an evening, just don?t come hungry.

Pros: Environment, decor, staff

Cons: Small portions

Posted 01/09/08