Sound proofing HSQ

March 6, 2011

Sound proofing HSQ

By Chris

This is Bill. You can’t see his face but he works for Harvard and he’s awesome. If we ever have any general maintenance problems with the building, he takes care of them for us.

At lunch time, we feed a lot of people and the combination of chatter from all the customers and us cooking can create a lot of noise. Apparently the noise was leaking into the office next to ours. Bill figured out that there was a thin strip of drywall between the glass and brick wall that was letting noise go through, so he came in early and installed some black foam that will help dampen the sound.

If you’re one of the folks in the office next door, let us know if we fixed the problem.

What do you love about the JSP?

By Lucia

It’s kinda sweet, it’s kinda funky, it’s kinda savory, and it’s only here this time of year. The Japanese Sweet Potato Sandwich has returned for the fall! What’s inside? Shoyu mayo, roasted-then-fried sweet potatoes, cabbage-green-onion-slaw, and tempura-fried sesame seeds that resemble a many-eyed sea monster. In the Clover museum, there likely exists a piece of paper from 12 years ago, when the first version of the JSP was first presented at Food Dev. Enzo was trying to do 2 things when he created this masterpiece…

September 14, 2026

The Buffalo Chicken Caesar is back!

By Kiernan

Our head chef Chris’s wife has a special menu hack whenever they head out to a bar or tavern for dinner: could the kitchen get her a Chicken Caesar salad and splash a bit of Buffalo Sauce (usually reserved for a wings appetizer) across the top, to give it a little heat? From that flavor insight, the Clover Buffalo Chicken Caesar was born. We drizzle housemade Caesar spread on a…

August 25, 2026

First day for the Heirloom Tomato Pesto Sandwich

By Lucia

If you swing by the restaurants starting tomorrow, you’ll notice we’re bringing back a seasonal favorite: the Heirloom Tomato! It’s super simple, designed to celebrate heirloom tomatoes in all their glory, and it’s one of the first seasonal sandwiches we ever made. Mayo, pesto, sharp cheddar, a thick slice of heirloom dusted with salt and pepper, all folded into our fluffy pita made with Maine flour.

August 3, 2026

Egg & Eggplant returns Aug 12

By Lucia

I used to eat Egg & Eggplant sandwiches while driving the food truck from MIT back to JP. Looking back on it, that was a somewhat messy choice of a sandwich to eat one-handed while driving a food truck that bounced every time it hit a pothole, but it was so worth it. Crisp circles of eggplant with a crust that’s so thin that it shatters in your mouth, revealing an almost fruity, mild, custardy center with that hint of…

August 2, 2026

How to make everything in the Zucchini Sandwich

By Lucia

We’ve been getting some requests from folks further afield who can’t get to Clover to try the Zucchini. So as promised, here’s a recipe sheet you can print out – it shows how to make the basil mayo, the glazed fried tofu, and the corn-zucchini-shiso salad. Enjoy!

July 31, 2026

The wait for blueberries is over!

By Lucia

It’s so fun to see seasonal drinks back on the menu. Right now blueberries are at their peak. We’re getting them from Harlow’s Sugarhouse in Vermont, a 100-year-old farm that taps maple in the spring and grows blueberries in the summer. We’re making them into blueberry lemonade, blueberry soda, and blueberry lemon rosemary spritzes. Here’s Kiernan’s son Charlie waiting…

July 17, 2026

Zucchini Sandwich returning on Weds 7/22

By Lucia

As we’ve continued our re-opening phase, we’re starting to bring more and more seasonal produce onto the menu. The Zucchini Sandwich is one of my favorites we do all year. There’s a thick slice of glazed tofu from Heiwa in Maine. Basil mayo. Fresh raw zucchini that we cut into half-moons. Snappingly fresh corn. And shiso, which is a Japanese herb that tastes like a cross between mint and basil, with slight licorice-y notes. It’s sweet/salty/fresh and super addictive. Fun fact: this is the first sandwich where…

July 15, 2026

Your pita supports Northeast grains

By Lucia

Matt, who leads up food sourcing, let us know that we got our first order of Coastal Queen flour last week. The packaging is cool – it shows how many acres of local grain you’re supporting by buying each bag. Coastal Queen is a new line from Ground Up Grain, which evolved from a really cool organization called Valley Malt. If you’ve been reading this blog for years, you might remember us going out to visit Andrea out in Western Mass. She was one of the early pioneers in…

June 30, 2026

Customers came in clapping

By Kiernan

We wanted to write a quick post updating you all on how our re-opening has been going. Our stores have been buzzing with customers and friends. During our first week back, every single restaurant has had customers coming in clapping! It was amazing to see. If you haven’t yet been by, we’re open normal hours at the following 6 locations:

June 3, 2026

Unbelievable news to share.

By Julia Wrin Piper

Last Tuesday when we announced we were closing after 17 years, we were not prepared for the response. We knew people would miss us, but we didn’t understand HOW MUCH they would miss us. People FLOODED our restaurants. A customer wrote a tribute song! Another drew art about the Zucchini Sandwich. A kid baked a cake with RIP Clover on it. A “Clover Memory Survey” that Kiernan and Lucia set up had over 450 responses, some of which went on the windows at HSQ. And then something happened. At a certain point, the amount of public outcry became so widespread that…

May 27, 2026

Closing our doors

By Julia Wrin Piper

We have some difficult news to share: Clover will be closing our doors this week. Thursday, May 28th will be our final day of restaurant service and meal box delivery. For 17 years, we have championed local farms and served tens of thousands across Greater Boston. We’re deeply saddened to share this news—for our employees, New England farmers, and you, our guests and supporters. From the very first day on the MIT food truck in…

May 13, 2026

Meet the Mushroom Popper

By Kiernan

Once designated the “Best Sandwich in Boston” by Boston Magazine, we’re bringing back one of our most popular seasonal specials. While long-time Cloverites will know it as The Bridgewater, it’s now going by The Mushroom Popper (or M-POP, as it’s designated on our internal systems.) Inspired by the unforgettable jalapeño poppers once served at The Charlie Horse Tavern*, The Mushroom Popper features crimini mushrooms from Rhode Island Mushroom Co, fried to perfection then glazed with our kicky honey-sriracha sauce. We lighten it up with ribbons of…