“It’s impossible to fully express how wonderful PAGU is, both as a standalone restaurant and as a wedding venue. As Cambridge residents, we had eaten here with friends and family and knew the food, drinks, and service were excellent, and I hosted a work event with a partial buy out that everyone enjoyed, so it quickly came to the top of our list after we got engaged and were looking into wedding venues.
From the very beginning, the staff, especially event manager Amanda, were so easy to work with, and they were very flexible to make the space, menu, and overall wedding very personal to us. After a cocktail hour with both passed apps and stations, we opted to have a buffet style wedding so we could accommodate a variety of palettes (our families are from different cultures: Chinese/Indonesian and German/Italian), everyone could find something they liked, and we could show off a seafood paella in a large format paella pan. They even offered a Thai pesto dish that is not standard on their menu! They were also extremely conscientious about guests with food allergies, clearly marking them on menus, and even going to specific guests (especially those with celiac disease) and providing separate non-cross contaminated dishes. They also managed the flow of tables and buffet line efficiently and flawlessly, which can’t be overlooked, as we’ve been to weddings where this wasn’t the case. Our guests all told us it was the best wedding food and cocktails they’ve ever had, and we were so excited to share one of our favorite restaurants with them.
The space was perfect for our 110 person wedding. The outdoor patio was a nice space for a cocktail hour and provided a quiet place to hang out when the dance floor later opened. The main restaurant is much larger than it looks, so it manages to feel intimate while still fitting over 100 people without feeling cramped. We had the DJ upstairs in the mezzanine like a real DJ booth, which allowed him to have a great read on the dance floor and assure no one was sitting right in front of a speaker. Finally, they cleared the front two large tables for a dance floor that was plenty large enough for everyone to dance for over 2 hours.
Finally, we were thrilled to use our wedding to support a local business that not only has a mission to serve excellent food and drinks (they’ve received James Beard Award nominations!), but also to build community. Chef/owner Tracy Chang founded several nonprofits during COVID to provide economic relief to restaurant workers and donate meals to hospital workers, and she and PAGU have been hosting roundtable events to start conversations about sustainability, culture, and community. We first heard of PAGU after my sister went to a roundtable event about using invasive green crabs in cooking! We knew hosting a wedding was going to be an investment, and while we would have been so happy choosing PAGU for our wedding for the myriad of reasons above, we felt especially great about putting our investment into a place that cares about the world and community around it. We could not recommend PAGU enough for your wedding!”