When I call my lunch at Northeastern’s Faculty Club an elevated dining experience, I mean that on multiple levels.
First, there’s the location on the eighth floor of the EXP building, where sleekly styled restaurant tables and chairs fade into the foreground and allow sweeping views from floor-to-ceiling windows.
Once I’m seated, I’m served crusty, warm bread that pulls apart easily in my hands, releasing a yeasty, comforting aroma.
“It’s part-baked, so we warm and crisp it up every morning,” said Executive Chef Katie Barry. “It’s not fully cut through, so it promotes breaking bread at the table with your guests. We serve it with a nut-free pesto, because who doesn’t love pesto?”
Touches like this make lunch at the Faculty Club feel like a fine dining experience, minus the high prices.
Open to graduates, faculty and staff from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Friday, the Faculty Club’s menu offers soups, salads, entrees, handhelds and desserts from $13 to $25.
10/23/25 – BOSTON, MA. – Katie Barry, Northeastern Executive Chef, prepares lunch for members of the Northeastern community that visit the faculty club in the EXP complex on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University
10/23/25 – BOSTON, MA. – Katie Barry, Northeastern Executive Chef, prepares lunch for members of the Northeastern community that visit the faculty club in the EXP complex on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University
10/23/25 – BOSTON, MA. – Katie Barry, Northeastern Executive Chef, poses for a portrait outside the faculty club in the EXP complex on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University
Katie Barry, Northeastern executive chef, prepares fresh, seasonal food at the Faculty Club in the EXP building. The club offers an elevated dining experience at affordable prices. Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University
Barry rotates the selections based on the seasons, specials that have proved popular and what is available through distributors, including Boston seafood vendor Captain Marden’s and Baldor, which works with more than 1,000 farms and producers in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic to source local foods.
On this fall day, I am treated to Faroe Islands salmon with a cider miso glaze. Moist and tasty, it’s served with a shaved fennel and apple salad and warm farro salad with lightly spiced rings of roasted delicata squash on top of dried cherries and pistachios.
It’s a delicious and ample serving. If I had opted for a lighter lunch, there were many choices in the fall 2025 menu, including baby gem Caesar salad, a roasted turkey and fig sandwich, and oven-roasted tomato burrata tartine.
“I definitely tap into my background with Italian and French cuisine,” Barry said. “I love Eastern Mediterranean (dishes) as well,” with their base of garlic roasted hummus and fresh vegetables, she said.
The menu also includes vegan options, Barry said, adding that she gets excited about creating dishes that appeal to all tastes, such as cauliflower tossed in Korean barbecue sauce.
When it comes to dessert, if you must ask — and you do, because the options are ever-changing — think pumpkin trifle with whipped cream cheese and salted caramel in the fall, and wild berry sorbet for those who cannot tolerate or choose not to eat dairy.
As for myself, I selected the pumpkin cheesecake with a mixed berry compote and dollops of freshly whipped cream — a delicious concoction.
Reserving a table
Reserving a table for up to eight people at the 815 Columbus Ave. location is easy through Yelp. For larger parties, email Lauren Williams, director of Faculty Club dining and events at lauren.williams2@compass-usa-com.
10/23/25 – BOSTON, MA. – Katie Barry, Northeastern Executive Chef, prepares lunch for members of the Northeastern community that visit the faculty club in the EXP complex on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University
10/23/25 – BOSTON, MA. – Katie Barry, Northeastern Executive Chef, prepares lunch for members of the Northeastern community that visit the faculty club in the EXP complex on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University
The fall menu includes sweet potato fries and Faroe Islands salmon with a cider miso glaze, served with salad and lightly spice rings of roasted delicata squash. Photos by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University
As part of the reservation system, the Faculty Club will send your name to the security office located next to the elevators on the first floor of EXP. Check in and head on up to the eighth floor.
To increase your odds of getting a table, consider reserving a table at 11:30 a.m. or 1 p.m. since noon is the busiest time.
If there is available seating, walk-ins are also welcome. Just ask security to call the Faculty Club or email Williams.
“The restaurant is a true gem on campus,” Williams said. “It is a space where faculty and staff can meet with colleagues for a bite to eat, host team lunches, treat guests to lunch or enjoy a relaxing meal in good company.”
Takeout at 716 Columbus Outpost
If it’s one of those eat-at-your-desk days but you are hungering for a Faculty Club specialty, you are now in luck.
This fall, the Faculty Club started making meal pickup available at 11:30 a.m. at the new lobby-based Outpost at 716 Columbus Ave.
Use the Grubhub app to order before 10 a.m. for same-day service or later in the day for next-day service.
The Faculty Club will close for the season Dec. 19 and reopen Jan. 5 with a new winter menu.
Dining and Cooking