Mass. Hidden Gems: Killer breakfast, secret hot dogs and a beer ‘playground’ at Wild Hare

Wild Hare is the sort of restaurant that I’ve always wished was right around the corner. But for now, heading over to Hudson will have to do.

If you go in the morning, you can start your day with a killer breakfast sandwich with a coffee — and throw in a freshly made cinnamon roll while you’re there.

In the afternoon, you can grab a second coffee (maybe a hazelnut latte if it’s a rough day) and get a decadent croque monsieur — or something healthy like the veggie grain bowl.

For dinner, you’re probably going to want reservations. Wild Hare offers a higher-end dinner menu that offers a gorgeous plate of gnocchi and a signature of — fittingly enough — braised rabbit. That’s before we even get to the selection of unique beers, which were barrel-aged just feet from where you’re seated.

Massachusetts Hidden Gems | Wild Hare Café, Kitchen and Brewery

Wild Hare is an oddball restaurant — in all of the best ways.

Co-founder Keith Sullivan describes the kitchen as “mischievous” and the beer operations as a “playground.” It’s fitting, considering every element of the business is a byproduct of passion and creativity.

Wild Hare is an offshoot of Medusa Brewing Company, located less than a half-mile down the road. Three years ago, Medusa was looking for some extra space they could use to play around with beer projects, like barrel-aging.

It was too risky to simply open a new taproom. But a cafe? That could work.

“We’re like, what if coffee paid the rent?” Sullivan says.

Initially, the plan was to have a chill cafe where they served coffee and partnered with local bakeries to dish out pastries.

Well, it just so happened that Medusa’s taproom manager was married to a former executive pastry chef who’d worked in Boston.

So that’s how they got a chef. Once they got a chef, they decided to make their pastries and bread from scratch. Once breakfast was nailed down, the next step was to add a sophisticated dinner menu.

It’s there that the team at Wild Hare flexes its culinary muscles while providing a barrel-aged twist to the beer offerings available at Medusa.

You won’t see Medusa’s big flagship beers, such as their Laser Cat IPA, at Wild Hare. Instead, you’ll see more of the brewery’s deep cuts, like their Standard Nerd ESB with Earl Grey Tea and Bad Omen Belgian ale with raspberries and cherries.

The real prizes come from Wild Hare’s beer cellar, like their Traveling at Night imperial stout. It’s a velvety smooth glass of midnight aged in bourbon barrels.

What do they have?

The menu at Wild Hare is eclectic. The environment unapologetically resembles a trendy cafe in Brooklyn. But the one thing you need to know is that the food is delicious and that everything on the menu came from someone saying, “Oh, we’ve got to have this on there.”

The cheese boards and mushroom toast may catch your eye as hipster-y options. But most of Wild Hare’s best offerings are their simplest.

They bake a bonkers cinnamon roll. The coffee selection consists of delightfully dainty European-style espresso drinks (we’re talking little macchiatos here). The Jersey Sammie is a knockout, made with fried pork roll ordered directly from the Garden State.

Wild Hare’s top-seller before noon is their Diner Style breakfast, which comes with eggs, bacon and house-made sourdough bread. Meanwhile, their cornbread is so popular that they can only put it on their dinner menu.

“We don’t serve it during the day because we can’t make enough of it, so it’s just for dinner,” Sullivan says.

Then there are the hot dogs. At lunch, you can get the Wild Hair of the Dog, which comes with tomato jam, cheese sauce and onion crisps.

But when nighttime dinner service hits, there’s a little bit of a hot dog speakeasy element.

“At night, we have an off-menu ‘Mad Dog.’ It’s like a secret hot dog,” Sullivan says.

The unlisted hot dog option changes every week. It’s been everything from a pizza hot dog to an “Elvis hot dog” with peanut butter and banana. Sullivan says the “Mad Dog” has been running for about two years, meaning Wild Hare has come up with about 100 different wacky ideas for dinnertime dogs.

At the same time, there’s always the option to keep it fancy. If you want a nice dinner, go for a cheese plate, some wine, a hanger steak, the gnocchi and baked chocolate ganache for dessert.

Oh, don’t forget the cornbread. It’s some of the best I’ve ever had.

Just hope they haven’t sold out yet.

More stuff you should know about Wild Hare

Wild Hare is literally a hidden gem. It’s located at the back of The Landing at Hudson Mills, making it easy to miss, especially if you’re looking for it off of Broad Street.

Fortunately, there’s plenty of parking behind The Landing. Wild Hare is open Tuesday-Sunday for chill cafe hours 7 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Dinner hours (3 p.m. – 10 p.m.) are restricted to Thursday-Sunday. Reservations are recommended for dinner after 5 p.m.

Check them out: Website | Facebook | Instagram

What’s the address? 43 Broad St # B102, Hudson, MA 01749

What’s the parking situation? There’s a full lot of free, off-street parking at the rear of The Landing at Hudson Mills. The entrance is on the opposite side of the main road.

When are they open? Here are the listed business hours at the time of writing.

• Monday: Closed
• Tuesday: 7 a.m. – 3 p.m.
• Wednesday: 7 a.m. – 3 p.m.
• Thursday: 7 a.m. – 10 p.m.
• Friday: 7 a.m. – 10 p.m.
• Saturday: 7 a.m. – 10 p.m.
• Sunday: 7 a.m. – 3 p.m.

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