Lovely evocative thumbnail description

Just wanted to add the steak frites at Brasserie Jo to the list. Not a place you think of for inexpensive perhaps but very tasty and excellent value for what you do pay and enjoyable overall experience.

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Brasserie Jo
120 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02116

Good to know. I've seen them on the menu of course but never tried them.

Got an email from Esperia Grill that they're closed for vacation July 4-18th

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Esperia Grill
344 Washington Street, Boston, MA

Not go out of your way fabulous but better than Greek Corner overall IMO anyway. Greek Corner decidedly underwhelmed. Try the zucchini with skordalia if you go to Desfina. I ended up having to learn to make it myself after having it there a few times.

Yeah, I live near enough that I'm very familiar with them. And you're right, not go out of your way great, but decent. But they took sausage subs off the menu a whole bunch of years ago after an ownership change. They have Turkish sausages on panini I tried once, but not the same and not what I'm after. For Italian I think they only have the loose sort you use as a pizza topping now and not really interested in a sandwich of that either, although they'd undoubtedly make one if I asked.

In House Cafe at Harvard and Comm. Definitely free wifi, just expanded so better chance of getting a table, good coffee and an admittedly small selection of baked goods and sandwiches but includes some good things (I particularly like the veggie wrap with hummus, srirachi et al). Immaculate, very nice owner and staff

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In House Cafe
194 Harvard Ave, Allston, MA 02134

Never think of him because I'm not that often right around there when I'm hungry and the few times I tried calling for delivery he was refusing to answer his phones (I'd heard this can be an issue). But yeah, you're right, he's a place I'd expect to have very good ones. And as it happens I have to be at Jackson Mann for a training class next week. Thanks for the suggestion.

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Alfredo's Restaurant
229 Brighton Ave, Allston, MA 02134

Is there anyone in the Allston area that has a particularly tasty Italian sausage sub (I'll take either sweet or spicy sausage and am fairly flexible about what comes with it, although standard onions and peppers on nice crusty bread would be preference)? Can't remember ever trying any that stood out, but been craving one lately so thought I'd ask first. TIA

Thanks to the people who suggested Kelly's. Never had theirs before and probably wuldn't have without the recs. Had it today at the new Allston location (which FWIW does work for people staying in town) and was very pleasantly surprised - exactly as advertised: thin style vs glop, FULL of clams to go with plenty of potatoes which had more taste than the ones in the fries usually do, with a nice thinnish broth tasting just of clams and a little buttery dairy.

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Kelly's Roast Beef
1227 Commonwealth Ave, Allston, MA 02134

More the result of a night of cross species passion between a crab rangoon and a springroll than a true crab rangoon, but have you ever tried the cheese rolls at Shanghai Gate? http://shanghaigateboston.com/Menu/ho... I'm not a huge crab rangoon fan but am quite fond of these. If you haven't, they're like crab rangoon filling in a cigar shaped crispy wrapper that's more like a spring roll than the usual wonton wrapper

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Shanghai Gate
204 Harvard Ave, Allston, MA 02134

I can't personally (Chang and Meyer in the South End is the nearest I think of) but I just wanted to offer a suggestion if you don't get a specific recommendation - I have a friend with Celiacs and we find that targeting Middle Eastern places works well because while there is the obvious problem with pita and some pasta dishest, it's all stuff that's easy to pick out and avoid eating. What she doesn't have to worry about are a lot of the hidden gluten issues there can be with condiments, seasoning, thickeners, coatings, etc etc elsewhere.

What do you especially like / recommend at Saray? About time I gave it a try.
Thanks

Oh, and my own list is a lot like everyone else's
Shanghai Gate
Super 88 Food court - Banh mi et al
S&I Thai
Soul Fire (not Blue Ribbon, but love the collards and some other good stuff)
Garlic and Lemons

Dunno what you mean by festive but Esperia Grill is bright, sunny, open and delicious, with a nice staff. Not remotely fancy though, if that's what you're after.

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Esperia Grill
344 Washington St, Brighton, MA 02135

Ditto. Went there on board recommendation and really enjoyed it.

The ones at Big Daddy's on Western Ave have been good when I've had them, in a similar string vs big batter way.

I didn't ask directly for suggestions but I used the board to help me figure out where to take some out of town friends, based on a bunch of factors, and came up with Brasserie Jo, which was a huge success and perfect for what we wanted. Big thanks for the board's role in helping me settle on it. Food was exactly what you want from a brasserie -basic dishes done very well. We had onion soup, the steak frites, roasted half chicken, and charcouterie, with lemon tart, profiteroles and chocolate mousse for desserts. Flavorfilled with generous portions and a particularly lovely combination of crisp skin and juicy meat on the chicken. Useful range of options for beer and wine and after dinner drinks (lovely, smooth armagnac). Staff who contributed to this being an enjoyable experience, from the chatty, friendly hostess to waitstaff who were friendly and attentive enough without hovering. Including that they let us take our time and chat as we ate vs trying to hurry us in and out ASAP, which was exactly what we were looking for.

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Brasserie Jo
120 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02116

Big thanks! In the regular dried fruits and nuts section, I assume. It's so congested I just didn't want to drive myself crazy looking if I wasn't going to find them anyway.

Just saw this as one of the top 100 things in the most recent Saveur and they sounded like something I might like but I don't ever remember seeing them when shopping. Has anyone seen them in the Boston area TJs, especially the Coolidge Corner one?
Thanks

Yeah, same here about the food. We've noticed that it certainly seems brighter and fresher passing by but haven't really looked carefully.

Let me know what you think if you do get there, if you would please. I may finally get there myself this weekend. Grecian Yearning certainly wasn't a go out of your way for it place, but I've missed having that sort of option around the corner Sunday mornings.

This is the place that took over the Grecian Yearning spot at 174 Harvard Ave after the post-fire removations.

Has anyone eaten there and what do you think? Couldn't find anything on a search of the site and they don't seem to have a website to even check out the menu. I don't expect it to be legitimately chowish, just since it's convenient wondering if it's worth trying for lbreakfast one weekend - at least no worse than Grecian Yearning - or makes the McDonalds a few doors away look good. Also if there's anything else worthwhile to eat there too, but breakfast is mainly what I'm interested in.

Thanks.

Thanks. Didn't ask for chinatown because of issues getting to places there but I'll definitely keep New Shanghai in mind after all the recommendations. Had both Thai dishes already, which I like, although I'll still opt for S&I's pad ga pow moo krob, which I adore, over either. And which I have fairly regularly, which is why it's the Chinese I have the unsatisfied jones for. And thanks silver queen for the Jo Jo's addition to my list.

Thanks. I've been meaning to head over to try the Brookline Sichuan Garden and you've just provided a good reason to do it. And thanks as well for the alternate names to look for MC Slim. I've had it with pork belly even though it didn't actually say so, and it definitely IS much better, with the peppers and richer belly playing off / counterbalancing each other in a way that the leaner, lighter loin can't manage.

Maybe it's the chilly evenings, but I've been craving twice cooked pork. Interested in options for both eat-in and delivery. Anyone have a place in the Allston area or within short T trip that makes a really good version?
Thanks

Dim Sum Chef in the Allston Super 88 has the shrimp with taro - I'm very fond of them myself and get them there quite often. I think they're good but haven't had them a ton of other places to compare.

I know it isn't the main topic of the thread, but... Wow, the KFC in Union Square? New management or something? Because any time I tried it (I finally just gave up), it was the most disgusting one (foodwise - cleanliness was fairly OK) I'd ever eaten in. Limp, super greasy chicken, etc. If you really like fastfood vs more restaurant style fried chicken, head down to Kenmore and try Popeyes on Brookline Ave, which i think is much better. Doesn't hurt that I also prefer red beans and rice with extra hot sauce to any KFC side ; )

Well I don't exactly dream of it because I miss it so much, but Rileys was better than any place that's been there since. Mainly because they didn't think their entire audience was drunk students, incapable of caring about the quality of the food or the price or the cleanliness or if they got exact change or...

Oh good, I've actually been hearing that rumor for months, almost since Marty's closed, but never saw anything concrete. Thanks for the update.

Has anyone actually been there yet to say what it's like (or seen a menu online?) Today's breakfast is taken care of but wondering if it's worth trying next Sunday (I really miss Grecian - really convenient location for me and nice staff, with a relaxed atmosphere and breakfast food that was satisfying and edible if not GOTTA go there great)

Not for sure, but they have a find a store locator on their site
http://www.oxo.com/OA_HTML/where_to_b... then you could make a few calls.
I'd bet Gadgets over in JP is a likely option or Williams Sonoma. They didn't come up on my search of Oxo's site, but I'd probably try China Fair too. I know they carry some Oxo products and the one I've been to over in Newton was loaded with gadgetry.