afty698's Profile
Santa Clara/Sunnyvale/mountain view recs - good stuff at low prices
I'm also new to the area, but I've been to Country Gourmet in Sunnyvale twice now for brunch and I've been really impressed. The food is traditional brunch food, but often with an interesting twist. For example, the eggs benedict comes on top of buttermilk biscuits instead of English muffins, and the cheese omelet contains cream cheese along with two other cheeses. They even ask how you want your poached eggs done on the benedict (soft, medium, or well).
The service style is a little odd. You place your order at the front counter, and then you go pick a seat and they bring the food to you. You get your own coffee/drinks. I personally don't mind this, but I could see some people being turned off.
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Country Gourmet
1314 S Mary Ave, Sunnyvale, CA 94087
Why can't more of these places be like Highland Kitchen?
I agree re: Cambridge Common. Frankly I don't want yet another "gastropub" trying to sell me a $15 hamburger. IMO the food there is acceptable and reasonably priced. It's nothing especially interesting, but it's also not trying to be. And there's a place for that.
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Cambridge Common
1667 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02138
Formaggio Kitchen Weekend BBQ
I'm still dreaming about the beef ribs I had there last year. Also, the baked beans are delicious.
Boston Kitchen Nightmares... And the nominees are.....
They were the bar managers at Cambridge Common, I believe. They left to open Craft Beer Cellar.
CBC is fantastic, by the way. An incredible beer selection with top-notch service. I can't recommend it highly enough.
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Cambridge Common
1667 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02138
Where do you eat with your young kids?
I'll second Redbones and Flatbread in Davis. Both have been very accommodating when we've taken our 9 month old. Redbones in particular has been great; the servers take a special interest in making sure we are comfortable. Just avoid the busiest times and you'll be golden.
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Redbones
55 Chester St, Somerville, MA 02144
American Craft: Much improved
It's similar to the Publick House, maybe slightly more expensive. I haven't been there in a while, but I recall the sandwiches being in the $12-16 range (depending on toppings) and entrees in the low $20s.
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Publick House
1648 Beacon St, Brookline, MA
Dinner Tonight near the Garden....Go Celtics!
I second the Kinsale. Good pub food, good beer, good service.
Seeking brunch venue in Somerville, Medford, Cambridge
About two weeks ago, I went to the Blue Room for brunch with a large group (20 people). I really enjoyed it. It is a buffet and usually that's not a good thing, but in this case the food was very well prepared in small batches, and there was plenty of variety. I would warn that there's not that much breakfast food -- just pancakes, eggs, sausage, and bacon. There's a much larger selection of lunch foods.
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The Blue Room
Hampshire and Portland streets, Cambridge, MA 02139
Who is taking Ken Ramen's place?
I'm not a ramen expert, but I've enjoyed Sapporo Ramen much more since the new recipes. I like the thickness of the broth, though others may find it to be too much.
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Sapporo Ramen
1815 Massachusetts Ave Ste M5, Cambridge, MA 02140
Rod Dee Porter Square: Progress?
I've found Sugar and Spice to be inconsistent. Sometimes they are remarkably good, other times not so much. Their country-style pad thai can be quite good. At first, I was not terribly fond of them, but I had a string of very good meals there when my Thai mom was visiting last summer.
Micro-chain restaurants going viral
The Somerville Lyndell's is most definitely not defunct. I bike or drive by it every day and it's definitely open.
Guinness Foreign Extra Stout it's gotta be here somewhere.
It's a variety of Guinness that until recently was not available in the U.S. It's stronger than the normal Guinness (4.2% vs. 7.5% ABV) and much tastier IMO.
Formaggio BBQ
My wife and I also went for the first time this Saturday. I grew up in Memphis and have pretty high standards for BBQ. Formaggio was excellent, the best I've had in this area -- better than Blue Ribbon, way better than Redbones. I wouldn't call it authentic (it wasn't Memphis-style, nor did it claim to be), but it was delicious.
My wife had the pearl-in-the-hole (a huge homemade hot dog in a hollowed-out baguette), with baked beans and cornbread. I had a pulled pork sandwich and two beef ribs. The beef ribs in particularly blew me away -- they were just the right tenderness, with a pronounced smokiness. The sauces were unusually complex and very tasty.
Check it out before summer is over. Highly recommended.
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Redbones
55 Chester St, Somerville, MA 02144
Any recent Stoddard's experiences?
It's a "MA laws suck" thing. It's illegal to ship beer to MA.
TGIFriday's, Applebee's, or Chili's?
Every time I eat at Chili's, I'm surprised at how decent the food is. Just a couple weeks ago, I ate at a Chili's in the Orlando airport, and my burger was surprisingly good.
I have the opposite experience at Applebee's. From previous visits, I expect it to be bad, but then I go and it's even worse than I remembered.
Phantom Gourmet gift card. Gone bust?
I saw a similar sign at Not Your Average Joe's in Arlington maybe 2 weeks ago. It certainly looks like there is something going on with these gift cards.
favorite Pumpkin beer
Smuttynose and Cambridge Brewing Company do the two best pumpkin beers I've had. I like them better than Dogfish Head, Post Road, Southern Tier, etc. Shipyard Pumpkinhead is especially foul; avoid it at all costs.
Flatbread Company Moving into Sacco's Bowl Haven
American Flatbread in Burlington, VT, is part of a different chain than the Flatbread Company that will be going into Sacco's. FWIW, I love American Flatbread, both the pizza and the fantastic beers.
Report on the FOOD at Roadhouse, post-smoker, night 1
They say on the beer list that beers over 8% will be served in 11 oz. glasses. It is kind of small, but it's there. They have the same policy at the Publick House.
Report on the FOOD at Roadhouse, post-smoker, night 1
My wife and I went to the Roadhouse tonight for the first time. I had the bison hot dogs, and my wife had the fork and knife torta. I enjoyed my hot dogs; they were a bit spicier than your normal hot dog, and the chili was of good quality. My wife was unimpressed with her torta. The sides were OK. I thought the mac and cheese was very good, though the portion was small for $4, and the fries were cold but would have been good hot.
The beer selection was fantastic, possibly the best in Boston. They had beers that I didn't even know were distributed in MA, such as Duck-Rabbit, and others that I've never seen here. We spend a lot of time in various craft-beer-focused restaurants around town, but Roadhouse is definitely on another level.
Short version: mediocre food, fantastic beer.
Let's talk Cambridge
I've never been that impressed with the Tex-Mex at Border Cafe, but I do like the Cajun items there, specifically the various catfish dishes. The prices are very reasonable as well.
Is there a Flank Steak conspiracy?
It was $5/lb at Market Basket last time I bought it, maybe 3 weeks ago.
Will the New Parking Rules Make People Think Twice About Dining in Somerville?
If they could make it interact with the T's CharlieCard, that would be fantastic.
Po' Boys?
Beware the poboys at Redbones. They are not at all what you'd expect when you order a poboy. They're served on a New England-style hot dog bun, for crying out loud!
J. Kenji Alt's Boston Burger Battle
Christopher's in Porter Square also does a burger with Andouille sausage mixed with the ground beef. It's very tasty.
Sonic to Open in Peabody MA!!
Yeah, that's the trick to Sonic. The burgers are nothing special, but the other stuff is pretty good. I'm a big fan of the chili dogs and onion rings. The tater tots with cheese are also tasty.
Disappointing meal at Redbones
I am usually one of those complaining about the food at Redbones; as someone who grew up in Memphis, I expect my BBQ to taste a certain way, and it usually doesn't taste that way at Redbones. But recently I've been pretty impressed with the food there. The last few times I've ordered ribs, they've been tender and flavorful. Same with some of the other items, like the chicken wings. I've been pleasantly surprised by my recent visits.
Pampas is Delicious, Props to Itaunas, Wicked Bargain
I took a group of friends to Pampas last night based on the positive reviews here at Chowhound. I have to say, I was very impressed. AYCE rodizio was only $10.95, and both the selection and quality of the food was excellent. Even the items on the buffet were quite good, unlike at Midwest Grill. There was also a wider selection of meats, and since it was not crowded, you could just walk to the counter where the meats were cooking and ask for whatever you wanted. I definitely preferred it to both Midwest Grill and Oasis.
It was very quiet for a Friday night; there were only 3 or 4 other diners there at 7-8 pm. Hopefully they have enough business to stay open and keep offering that wide array of foods.
Which Brewpubs Have Good Food?
I have only been to Triumph once, but I agree. I was underwhelmed with both the food and the beer.
Do You Give Brewpubs a Pass On Their Food?
The one time I went to the Stone World Bistro, everything was fantastic. The food, beer, service, everything. I am eagerly looking forward to going there the next time I'm in San Diego.
I would also recommend the Five Seasons Brewing Company in Atlanta as a brewpub with excellent food.
