Early dinner Norton/Mansfield/Foxboro, MA?

[TrishUntrapped]

Hi all,

I am looking for a place to have early dinner (Italian preferred but not necessary) this Friday. It needs to be somewhere where we can be out in about an hour and a half. We will be there around 5 p.m.

There will be six of us (which includes two college girls).

It's Wheaton College's homecoming weekend and the girls are going to be in a performance that night and need to get back. We just thought it would be nice to grab a quick bite with them off campus.

Has anyone been to the Cape Cod Cafe in Raynham? I'm assuming it is not too far a drive from Norton, but I haven't been there yet..only the one in Brockton and that is too far.

Any and all suggestions are welcome.

[cla6665]

Just went to Mangia Bene the other night. Food is great, I had gnocchi with meat sauce and my lady lobster ravioli. For apetizer we had caprese with the home made mozzarella and fresh basil, it was umbelivable. Service was very good and also you can bring your own wine and beer.
We love that place and will go back

[CapeCodGuy]

Having gone to Waltham High as a kid, I LOVE the Chateau and was pleasantly surprised at the new location in Mansfield. I stumbled onto it last month and had a fabulous lunch. Yes, its a typical red sauce joint but has a HUGE menu with everything from lasagna to fried clams and all was done very well. The bread is homemade and delicious, well worth bringing a loaf home. In fact, we enjoyed it so much we placed a huge to-go order for lunches and dinners for the rest of the week. Prices are extremely reasonable and the view and setting on the lake is a real bonus. Highly recommended for what it is.

[TrishUntrapped]

Thanks for the recs all. Our hour and a half time constraint narrowed even shorter - to about an hour and our party of six became a party of eight.

I decided on Cape Cod Cafe in Raynham because it is a very short drive away from Wheaton College and I figured it would be fast and it was.

I had only ever been to the mothership CCC in Brockton over the course of 40-plus years. That one is a dive bar, and I like it.

The one in Raynham is new and in a little strip mall very close to the 495 exit at Rt. 138. The cool thing is I actually got to see them make those little pies. I always suspected they were made in a pan with sides!

Takeout business as one might imagine was brisk on a Friday night as columns of brown paper wrapped pizzas started stockpiling on the oven.

We grabbed a couple tables and pushed them together. The place is clean and bright and there is no attention to decor. It is pleasant for a quick bite.

To order you go to the counter, there is no waitstaff. We ordered a variety of pizzas - plain, linguica, meat sauce, sausage, and barbecued chicken (there's always someone that orders these things).

I only sampled the linguica and it was delicious. We also ordered greek salads, a hamburger, and chicken parm sandwich.

Soft drinks and water are available only in bottles. No alcohol.

Bottomline--This is more of a takeout place and casual lunch place. I like being able to have a beer, so the original CCC still has a draw to me.

But the pizza in Raynham tasted the same as Brockton. Very decent bar pizza. And we made it back in time.

[Archimedic]

For Italian I can think of two places in the area

Mangia Bene on Main Street in Mansfield right by the common, Previously a take-out and Italian Deli now they have 6 or so tables, and the cashier to wait the tables. Very good pasta dishes and panini including an el crudo with prosciutto, fresh mozzarella and basil. The pasta specials are always very good. BYOB

Not my favorite, but if you are a fan the Chateau (of Waltham) They have a new location nearby on Bay Rd Norton, great location overlooking a lake but I don't like the food, typical red sauce joint.

http://www.chateaurestaurant.com/inde...

[TrishUntrapped]

Thans Arch, Mangia Bene sounds like it might fit the bill. Too bad about the other, that area is nice.

[fullbelly]

Ugh! I don't want to trash every Mansfield place (see previous de la Nonna thread), but my experience at Mangia Bene was not good. $7 bucks for a porketta sandwich. It was served on thick focaccia-like bread, with one thin slice of porketta. I kid you not. ONE SLICE. I was embarrassed for them. A small side-dish of pasta for my little boy was also very expensive and **stingy**.

There are places around that you could get to and from in an hour and a half, but the Italian stipulation is tough. On Friday nights, the Foxboro Country Club serves up a dinner that is supposed to be quite good. (See their website for the menu.) If you can handle an Irish pub, the Chieftain on Route 1 in Plainville has a generous bucket of steamers, very good fish and chips, and a healthy beer menu. If you are looking for something a bit more upscale, I'd either go for Sky in Norwood on Route 1 or Coriander Bistro in Sharon. Both need reservations. Norton is just plain void of choices. Norwood center is another option if you would be open to middle eastern food or possibly Mint Cafe for Asian. The Chateau in Norton is nice because it's on the water, but the food is on the dreadful-side with the heavy, salty red-sauced pasta options. Nice folks though.

[TrishUntrapped]

We are going tomorrow...so if anyone has any rec's please help!

Thanks