True Love with a Purple Neon Glow, by Ron Della Chiesa, 2012

"[It was a] Friday night [at the Turtle Café,] and the place was booming. A bar full of boisterous patrons, a jam-packed dining room, and Dave already off and getting set up to play his set. A cutting edge restaurant (which became the East Coast Grill), the Turtle featured contemporary regional cuisine, changing its menu every three or four days not only for variety but to continually showcase whatever was in season, a relatively new concept for its time. On weekends they'd feature jazz greats: Teddy Wilson, Scott Hamilton, Sammy Price, and Gray Sargent, a guitarist who these days works with Tony Bennett. I quickly learned it was a great place to hang out and meet these legends, since they'd usually come in to eat before their gig."

Nightlife: Mike Turk at the Turtle, by Steve Morse, April 14, 1983

"Jazz lovers mourn the decreasing number of local jazz clubs, but they should be encouraged by Inman Square in Cambridge where no less than three nightspots feature quality jazz. This unheralded nightlife center, Inman Square, boasts Ryles, Springfield's and the newest jazz entry, the Turtle Cafe. The latter is an intimate restaurant which has recently begun booking some of the better solo and duo acts in town. "