My husband just started working in the Fresh Pond area and I met him here for lunch... first time there for both of us. I haven't been before but we enjoyed the arugula salad and the ceasar salad, which had a nice strong anchovy taste in the dressing.

We shared a pizza, the Diavola, which was soggy in the middle but otherwise really excellent. Very quiet in there at lunch, only us and one other table.

That discussion is still marked as trending this morning, with one recommend on it. It may be that recommend was made in the last day, and there aren't many recommends being used on the SF board, and that was enough to bump it up into the top trending threads? Given that likely scenario, I don't think that using the amount of recommends a particular thread has gotten is a true barometer of what's currently of interest to board members.

Perhaps the algorithm needs to take into account when the thread was started (that one was started Aug 11, 2002) and whether there are any recent posts on the thread (that one has its most recent reply on Sep 26, 2002). If it's an older thread like this one, maybe there should be a minimum amount of new posts (3?) to indicate it truly is interesting to today's audience, and not just a zombie thread brought back from the dusty crypt by one person who just stumbled across it and didn't realize how old it was.

If a thread from 2002 on the Site Talk board is trending now on the San Francisco board, then it does sound like something is broken.

Betty Ann's is fabulous but don't try to go right now; they are closed due to family medical issues, according to their Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Betty-... Just looking at their cover photo makes me crave them so hopefully they will reopen soon.

So nice to hear good news. Keep plugging along Chino Wayne, we're rooting for you!

You must mean Farmland but I've never heard of them being much of a standout for produce. I've been in there a handful of times and they are more of a grocery store than a farmstand.

Oooh thanks very much for this info! We're planning a move to Lexington in the next few months and this is exciting news!

That's what I was wondering. Also I should amend my previous post.. upon reheating the leftover pork belly at home, there definitely is a nice amount of smoke flavor.

As a followup, went for lunch today and the prices on the website did match the menu, so I am not sure why there was a discrepancy when Spike went. The pork belly tray was billed at $13, the brisket sandwich $11, both matching up to what the online and printed menus said.

Loved the pork belly, biscuits, farm salad, and salt and pepper potatoes. I'm usually pretty salt-sensitive and didn't find anything too salty except the salt and pepper potatoes, but it is right there in the name so I didn't expect otherwise. I didn't find a lot of smoke flavor in the pork belly (but it's in my hair and clothes!) The butterscotch pudding was much thicker than a typical pudding, with some sort of syrup and crystals of salt on top and was swooningly good. After a full meal, it was too rich for one person to eat alone but perfect for two to share. I'd definitely go back.

The bill was $50 for all of the above (plus one sweet tea) which, while on the high side, didn't seem too unreasonable to me for the quality.

Yikes, thanks for the warning on prices. I was considering this for a lunch and would have been really mad to see prices so much higher than they are on the website!

Good to know, thanks!

Lunar Rice Sticks! That's what it was called. Oh it's a terrible thing to get old but thank goodness Google is there to help me look like I actually remember things. http://www.bamboogourmet.com/newyear.... shows the menu: "Sautéed Lunar Rice Stick
With Shitake Mushroom, Napa cabbage, Celery & Carrots choice of Chicken, Beef, Pork, Shrimp or Vegetable - $9.50" I was surprised because I was expecting the thin vermicelli type rice sticks and this was nothing like that.

Oh and we also tried Walnut Pineapple Shrimp
Fresh pineapple shell garnished with large crispy shrimps, Lathered in a delectable honey walnut glaze - $16.95 which was in a sort of creamy sweet mayonnaisey sauce. I liked it well enough but my husband was not a fan.

I was hoping to try the desert: "Layered Rice Cake Tempura Dessert - With Acorn Squash & Sweet Potato, served with Asian Red Bean" but we ran out of time and room.

They were about the size of a nickel and about that thick, flat and oval shaped and I thought they were sliced scallops or water chestnuts at first. They were served with vegetables and meat (we asked for chicken) which was stirfried with a light sauce. Sorry I can't be more specific, and I should be able to because we ordered them again the next time we were there, but it's been a crazy couple of months and my memory for details is swiss cheese. The name of the dish had "lunar" in it, I believe.

Really? I don't see pans in this thread here http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/885797 which more or less mirrors my experience. Is there another thread I am missing?

REALLY slow (although friendly) service, but the fish and chips was some of the best I've had around here, and I'd go back. Not sure I'd go there from a Burlington hotel but if I were in the Lexington area, I'd recommend it as long as you have some time to spare.

We've ended up at Mandarin Reading fairly frequently lately because of a confluence of factors and we've found that we consistently enjoy the more interesting options they offer on their specials menu. We especially loved the dish they had around Chinese New Year with chewy "moon" noodles.

I will third Blue Stove and add that I really enjoyed my one meal at Summer Winter in Burlington, and would recommend it on that basis.

Just to follow up on my own post, I went with Kitchen Door, because it was easy for me to just purchase a gift certificate for them, and then let them work with Kitchen Door for specifics on what they wanted and when they wanted it delivered. Kitchen Door offers weekly fresh meal specials as well as frozen meals. They have a really nice variety of options every week. Their per-entree prices seemed very reasonable and provided an attractive level of flexibility.

My friends really enjoyed this gift. The chicken cordon bleu was called out as being particularly good. They also really enjoyed the cute little treats that were included along with the Easter-week meal they ordered. I hope this helps anyone looking for this info in the future!

I had dinner there a couple of months ago. It was a filet mignon special. The people who I was with and ordered it loved it but I didn't. My first one was totally overcooked and they replaced it as quickly as they could, but it came around the time everyone else was finishing up. It wasn't a cut I've previously encountered as filet mignon and the flavor just didn't work for me. Really nice people though, and I'd like to go back.

I always used to splurge for the handmade hollow chocolate bunnies from Truly Jorg. I don't know if they were the best tasting around but they were part of my subversive plan to get my children to value handmade and local over the crap chocolate you get at CVS. Plus they were damn cute. Now that they've closed, I don't think there's anyone around doing anything like that.

All you ever wanted to know is here: http://forum.volition.com

http://www.balticeuropeandeli.com/ might be what you're looking for. It's right in Andrew Square. It's been a while since I've been there and their focus is more Polish than German, but it's worth a try.

If you're willing to go out of Boston, Karl's Sausage Kitchen in Peabody has a variety of German breads http://www.karlssausage.com/market.php

I like to buy the filled chocolate eggs at Easter for the grownups in my life (ok, including me, don't judge) but they can be hard to find. I stopped into Russo's Candies in Saugus (Address: 329 Main St, Saugus, MA 01906 Phone:(781) 233-1737) to pick up some chocolate bunnies and was pleased to find that not only did they have milk, white and dark chocolate bunnies in assorted sizes, they also had a motherlode of filled eggs. I picked up walnut fudge, coconut and vanilla buttercream in the 4oz sizes, but they also had chocolate buttercream and peanut butter and larger sizes. They had other assorted Easter candies including some I haven't seen for years- they are a sugary hard brightly colored coating with a marshmallow filling. I used to get those when I was a kid and haven't seen them in years.

I do love Briemere's pies. Their fruit cream pies are absolutely heavenly- raspberry cream is my favorite.

I've gotten them in the past at Union Jack, 134 Newbury St Peabody, MA 01960 (978) 535-6256

I agree, I was disappointed to see that as soon as the button was rolled out, it was being used not to recommend good content, but to "like" posts on a discussion either here or on Home Cooking (can't remember where) about the "What's for dinner" thread. The use of the button seemed to be intended to be catty and cliquey and to send a not-so-subtle message to another poster. I was really disappointed to see that sort of use on what I think of as one of Chowhound's most helpful and friendly boards, from posters I generally respect.

Pretty late to the Gene's bandwagon but we finally got there and absolutely loved it. We had the hand pulled noodles, the lamb stew and the chicken skewers. The lamb skewers were on the menu but the chicken skewers were to keep my 6 year old happy. The noodles were too spicy for her and she doesn't always love cumin so I'm glad we got her the chicken, but I'm totally getting the lamb next time because there's nothing sadder than polishing off that dish and having nothing to sop up the garlicky chili bits of leftover cilantro. A spoon did the trick but it needed something else and it seems lamb is it.

We loved the lamb stew, the bread was like litte sinker matzoh balls and the soup, while not spicy, wasn't boring as I've seen it described by some. It had a nice savory richness. Breaking up the two pieces of stiff bread went pretty quickly among the three of us but would have gotten tiresome if it had just been one person. I would have liked more lamb but it seemed pretty balanced overall.

The noodles... well I can't say anything that hasn't been said, so I'll just say my husband said life is now sectioned into two parts; before those noodles and after. And yes... I'm still tasting garlic today but I wouldn't want it any other way.

It's a hike from us but a hike we'll gladly make again. We got there at about 5:15 on a Saturday and there were a number of tables open but they were all full by the time we left.

Amazon has them: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_nos...

Welcome to the area! You could take a look at Farm Direct Coop http://www.farmdirectcoop.org/ which sounds like the type you are looking for. Some items are "must takes" but most are "choose 2 from these 5 options" or the like. They have a wait list for the Melrose location, which is closest to you (pickups are Tuesdays or Thursdays), so you should contact them as soon as possible.

However, the Wakefield Farmer's Market is pretty good, so you may not need a CSA to get what you are looking for, as long as you can get there at market time on Saturday mornings. Melrose has a market as well, with fewer vendors but they do try to expand. That market is on Thursday afternoons.

Well, that's certainly your choice and prerogative not to do that, but it doesn't mean other people are crude if they do, when the policy is that they can.

Is it the actual return of the item that bothers you, or the concept of a customer asking for a refund of something they partly consumed? Would you find it crude if she just brought her receipt in, said she was unhappy with it and wanted a refund? Would a store credit be more acceptable than a refund?