Grendel’s Den Restaurant & Bar

Grendel’s Den is a Harvard Square restaurant and bar that has served casual, reasonably priced food in Cambridge since 1971. Founders Sue and Herbert Kuelzer set out to offer what they called casual gourmet cooking, and they named the place for the monster’s lair in Beowulf, a nod to the cave-like basement dining room and to Sue’s degree in English literature. The building had previously housed Harvard’s Pi Eta Club, which moved out in the 1960s.

The restaurant expanded to the main floor in 1974, adding a well-known salad bar, two fireplaces and a sunny, plant-filled dining room. Around the same time, the Kuelzers challenged a Massachusetts law that let churches veto liquor licenses. With help from Harvard Law School’s Laurence Tribe, the case reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which struck the law down, a precedent that changed similar laws in nine states and cleared the way for Grendel’s Bar to open downstairs in 1983.

What to Know

• The bar became known early on for micro-brewed beer from local breweries such as Sam Adams and Cambridge Brewing Company.
• Because state rules barred discounted drinks, Grendel’s offered discounted food to guests who bought a drink.
• The restaurant also works as a special event venue.
• It is a member of the Harvard Square Business Association.