Clover Food Labs: Wherein I find (and enjoy) down to earth vegetarians and their food

Clover is the kind of place I should hate.  It should be one of those pretentious, overpriced, hipstery joints that make me feel badly about all my life choices as soon as I walk in.  It should be the kind of thing that gets lambasted on Portlandia.  Except I love it.  Trust me, no one was as surprised as me.

Clover is an all vegetarian restaurant that started off as a humble food truck.  A genuinely friendly person takes your order on a smartphone when you walk in.  The Harvard Square location has big windows, split level seating, and large planters.  You can cut your own piece of parchment paper to lay on your table to catch all your mess, and your doodles.  Every single thing is compostable.  The people milling about are the quintessential mix of Cambridge locals: old professory types, nerdy students, young families with small kids, someone in costume for no apparent reason, young professional/grad student couples.  The menu is small, but tasty and I highly recommend the falafel, or what clover calls "chickpea fritters."