The Federal

My mom and I were staying in the area for the night and got in late - this seemed to be one of the only spots open and serving food past 8pm.We walked in and were surprised that it seemed like a nicer place, but they didn't even bat an eye at us in casual clothing. We sat at the bar and had fantastic service all night. Both bartenders tandem served and it made for a great experience.They have an amazing wine menu, if I wasn't driving, I would have stayed for a couple more glasses. The bartender seemed knowledgeable as well.We shared a cheese board and it was so much food, we were pleasantly surprised. It was super high quality cheese too.We also got a strawberry pistachio dessert and it was top notch. Their pastry chef is very well trained.We had such a great time, I would highly recommend it.

This place is truly amazing! They have got it all, the seafood dishes are fresh, flavorful, and plentiful. We started out with oyster rocafella, then seared salmon with mashed potatoes and asparagus , sword fish topped with jumbo shrimp and spinach , and grilled halibut with roasted carrots. We also got a coconut cream brûlée for dessert. The service was helpful and friendly. The place is a nice, casual elegance fell. I really look forward to go back again soon!

Wife and I were traveling through New England and happened on The Federal as a place to stay in the area. Unfortunately, the restaurant was closed, yet the hotel was our favorite stay on our 10 day trip. Very quiet, beautiful rooms, comfortable bed and the staff was very welcoming and provided great suggestions on where to eat on our overnight stay. I also thought it was a great touch to have coffee and tea available on every floor level, such a nice touch. Would definitely stay here again.

I was impressed by the variety in the menu. I ordered the salmon, which was delicious by the way. Crispy on the outside - retained its outer crispness to the last bite - and tender on the inside. And very tasty. I will come back for the rabbit next time (I grew up having my mom's excellent rabbit dish). The talk about rascally rabbits did not appeal to my spouse, so that needed to be postponed. The coconut crème brûlée was quite good. The espresso martini with the Bailey's went down well.

This is my second visit to The Federal and it will not be my last. Despite the impromptu decision and arriving close to closing time, the restaurant graciously accommodated me without making me feel rushed.The staff was friendly and efficient, creating a welcoming atmosphere even as the clock neared closing. The festive holiday decorations added a delightful touch to the overall ambiance.The food arrived in a timely manner. For starters, I ordered the shrimp, and it exceeded expectations. Perfectly seasoned and cooked, it set a promising tone for the rest of the meal.The main courses continued the excellence. The steak was prepared to perfection--juicy and bursting with flavor. The short rib was tender and delicious. I will definitely return!

Clearly, this place has its acolytes. I mean, you read their page on Yelp, see the 4.3 star average at the time of writing this review, and think.."Yeah. This place looks like a high quality fine dining experience."While not all bad, I'm here to tell you that the fine dining tier here is.....complicated.We'll start with the service. Our waitress was...fine, overall. Like, she got us all our orders within a reasonable enough time, for the most part. There was just something....off...about her personality.There would be these brief periods of awkward silence where she would stare at one of us as if waiting for a signal to speak or something. I felt like Po in The Force Awakens when he goes, "So...who talks first? I talk first? You talk first?" But otherwise, the service was fine.To briefly discuss the atmosphere and decorum, let me issue a caveat: bring a flashlight. Because this place is dimly lit. And I'm not talking about the cleverly dim romantic lighting you see done well in other fine dining restaurants. I'm talking darker than your closet full of skeletons. You can actually see examples of this in the pics I took. Those all have the brightness cranked up to max after the fact, btw. Still dark as shit.I speak no hyperbole when I say literally every other customer had flashlights hovering over their dimly illuminated menus. I've had more lighting in caves. If they kick the lights up about 2 more notches, I think they'd have the perfect amount of lighting for what they're going for.Now, the part everyone cares about - the food.The apps here were....a roller coaster of dining, to say the least. First thing we tried was the chilled lobster tail. This thing was a train wreck. Not only was the lobster about as rubbery as an eraser, but also bland to boot. And no, the cocktail sauce didn't help it any either. Needless to say, we sent this one back. 1 out of 10, #stopovercookingyourlobster.Next, we had the shrimp skewers. These things were a total surprise to everyone at the table. Because they were phenomenal! The scampi sauce was especially delectable. 10 out of 10, this one's a must try!Naturally, I also had to try the clam chowder. This one was....okay. Which is frustrating because it *could* be great. From what I understand, this one doesn't always seem to come out consistently. I've seen other pics of the chowder on this page. Sometimes it's creamy. Sometimes it's watery. Tonight....mine was a bit thinner than I prefer. Combined with the fact that it was also under seasoned, I'm gonna give this one a 6 out of 10. At least they give you plenty of clams.Now, we gotta talk about the main courses and dessert. Because this is where it gets interesting..Wifey gets the duck whilst I get the halibut. I will tell you...I was actually somewhat impressed with the halibut. I say "somewhat" because whilst I appreciated the crispy sear on the top of the fish as well as the flavor from the lemon butter sauce, it still could have used more seasoning. Same goes with the fusilli. Luckily, this place actually keeps salt and pepper shakers on the table. So, after adding a little, this dish was a 7 out of 10 for me.I sampled the wifey's duck and....uh...okay. I need to preface this by saying I've never had duck breast until now. And I gotta say...far as first impressions go, this isn't a good one. At all.The duck was criminally under seasoned and chewy. Is duck supposed to be chewy? I dunno much about delicate poultry.....other than the fact that it shouldn't wear out your jaw. I must've spent 10 minutes trying to pick out the rubbery fat from my teeth. I guess they don't do crispy skin here. My bad! 3 out of 10 for the duck. They tried (I guess).Look, I know this must sound like a real downer of a review. But I'll end this on a surprising high note, then carefully explain my rating. The Tiramisu....is to DIE for! I have no words for how incredible this dessert tasted. Everything blended together perfectly and melted in your mouth with a silky finish. 10 out of 10, everyone needs to try this!Guys, I struggled between a 3 and a 4 star rating for this place. Ultimately, what it came down to was this: if your best dishes of the evening are an appetizer and a dessert, whilst your main courses range from slightly above mediocre to downright inedible, then I struggle to go past middle of the road. It's even tougher, considering I also need to rate them by fine dining standards. In that regard, The Federal in Waltham is worth 3 silky Tiramisus melting in your mouth out of 5.

The atmosphere is great. The staff was friendly and nice. The food was so delicious. We went there with friends and my husband. We started with Calamari, Steak Tartare, and Chowder. The serving of food looks great. For the main dish I had Pork Chop, my husband ordered Roasted Rabbit, and our friends had Vongole. The Pork Chop was good. I tried a rabbit and I could tell you that it was the best dish so far. All the rabbits I tried in other places were dry but this one was great, it was delicious, soft and it was not dry. i will order it next time for sure. We also had desserts, we ordered Tiramisu and Affogato. Tiramisu was great. But my #1 is Affogato. This is the best ice cream. It was seasonal gelato with biscotti and Espresso. I will go back for this one al well. It was so good. I had the best food experience in this place.

Quick service. Friendly. Efficient. Good atmosphere. Free parking. Clean. Food was ok. French onion soup was disappointing.

I enjoyed a delicious dinner outdoors at the Federal. The patio is attractive, although the noise from Route 128 can be overwhelming at times.My shrimp skewers, steak fries, and coconut creme brulee were delicious. Hubby liked his side of carrots followed by pasta Primavera.The service was adequate but not attentive.

I was there on a business dinner. A slow Wednesday for them and slooooooow service for us. Wow, almost two hrs for 2 salads and two steaks. The food was good but not outstanding. The wait staff were constantly moving but somewhat inattentive to empty drink glasses, water glasses, etc. The steaks were good but not great. If you want to impress someone, the look and feel are great, the food is just good, with a price tag of great.