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algiers is one of my favorite spots for having a nice convo over a hot cup of mint coffee (this is probably one of my top reasons to go back). the food's great, and i love the atmosphere. it's always filled with harvard students, but generally it's just a great spot you feel like you can have a decent conversation without shouting over crowds or music

Ellie L

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The Algiers Coffee House is perhaps the most beautifully-appointed cafe in all of Harvard Square, and one of the longest-continually-running as well (second, I think, only to the diminutive Cafe Pamplona). For years it was the favorite haunt of chain-smoking European Harvard students and professors, as it was one of the only places you could get a powerful Arabic coffee and sit back with a fag. But Cambridge is non-smoking now, and the clouds have long dissipated, leaving clean air for those of us asthmatics that enjoy a good cuppa. The delight here is in being able to sit for hours and admire the Moorish architecture while surreptitiously eavesdropping on study groups from across the academic disciplines. Food's tasty too, but don't be in a hurry. This place has the worst service I know of. Good thing that's not why I go. ;)

yam m