The first time this Bostonist saw Joe Sent Me it was winter. It looked like just another bar from the outside, pubby and cave-like in the winter snow. At the time we were worried about being cold and were doing much of our drinking inside our own house to avoid having to interact too heavily with outside’s frigid temperatures and piles of snow. However, a couple of weeks ago Joe Sent Me located on Main Street in Waltham got another look. Always on the lookout for any restaurant with outdoor seating to take advantage of the brief months of lovely Boston weather, we noticed a chalk board outside of Joe Sent Me proclaiming in bright red letters Patio Open. Immediately intrigued we vowed to try it before the climate turned south again. Well, we did just that last week with a friend for a late lunch.
Results tagged “lunch”
This Bostonist hasn’t spent a lot of time in Needham. After the fantastic experience we had at a little restaurant there called Blue on Highland, though, this suburb is definitely on our map. We picked this restaurant on a whim, wanting something nice, nearby, and not too expensive. The menu at Blue on Highland is simple but contains a little bit of everything. From burgers and pizzas to filet mignon and chicken scaloppini, there is a delicious option for everyone.
Folks, let’s talk cupcakes. Previously, Stuff to Eat in the Suburbs has sung the praises of the baked goods at Susu in Wellesley. While Susu is still one of our favorite bakeries, this Bostonist has to admit that there is another superb suburb cupcake destination. Bread and Chocolate is located at 108 Madison Avenue in Newtonville right across the street from Taste coffee shop. They are a cute little shop with floor to ceiling windows that let in plenty of light, giving the place a bright and cheery atmosphere. Bread and Chocolate serves sweets galore as well as a range of coffees, regular beverages, pre-packed goodies and a smattering of lunch fare. For example, the pesto chicken salad served on a buttery croissant is a delightfully light sandwich with a perfectly subtle flavor.
While dinner options in Waltham are plentiful, sometimes a quick lunch can be a little harder to find. Though many of the local restaurants serve lunch, it is often a sit down affair, not conducive to the brief amount of time allotted to the typical lunch break. However Domenics Italian Bakery & Deli brings a little bit of the North End into Waltham for those of us seeking a delicious but more accessible lunch.
Last week this Bostonist had the pleasure of attending the grand re-opening for Spiga, a wonderful taste of the North End in Needham. Spiga really touts two separate menus: a lunch menu, filled with delightfully simple paninis and delicious wood-oven grilled pizzas; and a dinner menu featuring more complex fare, like the wonderfully rich spinach and ricotta ravioli in an intense duck ragu. Last week’s grand re-opening festivities featured items from both the lunch and dinner selections.
The glass cube that sits just inside Post Office Square has seen some turnover in the past few years: Milk Street Cafe moved out and was replaced by Z Square, which recently closed all of its locations. One has to wonder why these reasonably-priced, high quality restaurants struggled in this gorgeous location, with its patio access and view of the oasis that is Post Office Square. High rent? Low margins? We can't be sure (although in Z Square's case, executive mismanagement and license violations may be partly to blame). But it makes us want to root for Sip, which opened yesterday in this space.
Recently, Financial District stalwart Locke-Ober stopped serving lunch. This news impacted the neighborhood on a macro level: it's a landmark, a bastion of Brahmin culture, a pillar of the local restaurant industry. But on a micro level, it barely registered among regular Financial District work-bots: even in the best of times, many people working here were never able to afford their lunch in the first place.
Did you know that bringing lunch to work "used to be for the picky eaters and penny pinchers"? It says so in the Globe; it must be true. With the economic crisis looming large these days, though, "everybody's doing it" (bringing lunch, that is). Sadly, with the new lunch-bringing trend comes the end of the storied PBJ and potato chips duo. Nowadays, everybody's packin' quinoa, mesclun, (braised?) fennel cubes, carrot ribbons, crystallized ginger, quinoa—even rice cake sandwiches. And you certainly cannot haz any cheeseburgers, you food heathen you. Someone could hear the consequences!
Everyone has their own okay-to-start-drinking time. For some, it's not until game time (wouldn't want to be too drunk to miss the first pitch). For others, it's over their Cheerios (wouldn't want to be too sober for the break of day). We don't judge, we don't mock. However, we may poke gentle fun over our IPAs at lunch. And this is allowed, which brings us to the crux of today's beer lecture: How to Drink Beer at Lunch.
Mike of The Food Monkey has joined Bostonist to share his thoughts about cooking, food history, restaurant trends, and any other Epicurean issues. He promises to discuss what tastes good, but not always what is in good taste. For more on consuming the opponents and other food news, go to The Food Monkey website. To contact Mike, go to the Food Monkey's contact page.
Don Aucoin at the Globe landed an interview with Denise the Not-Quite-Lunch-Lady, the Survivor contestant from Douglas who said she had been demoted from lunch lady to janitor. Mark Burnett gave her $50,000 since she had it so rough, but the Douglas School Superintendent swiftly revealed that Denise had actually been promoted.
Unlike the Top 10 Most Commented stories, the top 10 favorites represented a selection of all the fun, the playful, and just plain odd that this city has to offer. You loved sex scandals at the local schools, Vendetta Gunn, and the local productions On Broadway and "BU Tonight." But we were really surprised at how much you loved … Barbie. Yeah, Barbie.
4. Feel It Calling in the Air Tonight. A Phil Collins fan in the South End was really feeling the music. He could feel it, "calling in the air," so to speak, and he played it loud. Even worse, his neighbors told the BPD that it was "like this every night." He was arrested because he wasn't going to turn down that Phil Collins without a fight. Even though weirder crimes exist in this countdown, the original Oddblotter post prompted a lively conversation about whether or not Phil Collins is the "worst thing to happen to modern society."
--Former Boston City Councilor, Albert "Dapper" O'Neil, who probably enjoyed the best nickname bestowed up on a councilor, passed away at age 87. The Globe used many adjectives to describe him, all of which can be freely interpreted, such as "irascible" and "colorful." He opposed desegregation and, in the words of the Globe, "railed against feminists, gays, and immigrants." [Boston Globe]
Is Denise Martin, fourth-place finisher in Survivor: China, a lunch lady? Is she a janitor? Is she a pawn of the "reality show" system? Or does the Massachusetts resident just have ladyballs as bold as her mullet?
Bostonist had the pleasure of attending a performance of (I Am) Nobody's Lunch at the A.R.T's Zero Arrow theatre last night. We weren't entirely certain of what to expect, as the show's subtitle ("a cabaret about how we know what we know when nobody knows if everyone else is lying and when someone or something wants to have you for lunch") is a bit opaque. We were a little bit afraid that we'd be seeing shades of Liza Minelli. Mercifully, nothing could have been further from the truth.
Restaurant Week, that wonderful time in late summer when Bostonist plans ahead so that we don’t break the bank eating $30 tasting menu dinners all week long. This year the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau has set up another Restaurant Week – Winter Restaurant Week 2006, March 5-10 (this URL was the one reported in multiple places including the press release but appears to be out of comission today) . Prices have gone up, but only for a penny to reflect the year. Lunch will be $20.06, dinner for $30.06. The three-course prix fixe menu is a quite a deal for dining in some spots around the Hub. Watch yourself not to go too reservation crazy, we’ve warned you before that the $12 Croma pizza may be great, but that means you’ve spent $18 on a start and finish to the meal.
After hearing the news that Harvard Square is in danger of losing yet another institution, Casablanca, Bostonist took to the streets to find out what’s taking the place of those things we knew and loved. Mr. and Mrs. Bartley’s Burger Cottage has long been the Square’s favorite burger destination. But recently b.good has opened up shop adding to the burger offerings already augmented by Lee’s Lunch, John Harvard, Charlie's Kitchen (home of the famous double), and Grendel’s Den among others. The owners of Filepe’s (known for their burrito and taco based fare) have opened up their own burger joint in the Garage: Flat Patties.
In a blink of the eye, the Nemo Showcase is upon us. We figure there's no better way to kick things off than with an interview. Bostonist caught up with Morning Theft, a NYC-based band with strong Boston roots. They join the Nemo Showcase, playing tonight at TT the Bear's as part of the Lunch Records line up.
Everyone has mornings, from time to time, when it is all we can do to line up the buttons on our shirt and get out the door. (This dreary morning was such an occasion in Bostonist's case, owing to Baby Bostonist's having been awake and crying all night with teething pains.) These are the mornings when breakfast and coffee are neglected at home and become imperative once we have reached the office. And it is at these times that Bostonist turns to the Hungry Traveler, a tiny beacon of low-brow breakfast salvation off Court Street downtown.