Any favorites on Hancock St. in Quincy?

[Pegmeister]

I miss Classic India and Kagawa has good sushi. There are plenty of Irish pubs to pick from and I finally made it to Alba's Trattoria. Finian's still seems to be a staple, and I believe Napoli is still there? Still left for me to try are Fuji's; the Brazilian BBQ place; and Little Q. So, who would like to share their experiences at these places along with any others I've forgotten. For my experience, I haven't been to Finian's in years; Alba's was very pleasant. Nice open space, tables comfortable for lingering and the prices were more than fair. I had the seafood fra diavolo ($19) and it was almost as good as anything I've had in the North End. Bad Abbots is a great place for chips & curry or the smashed potato pizza when they have it on special. Love the bar at the Fours and the shrimp rafael (fried shrimp with a creamy cajun dipping sauce). You can even go to the divey Granite Rail (off of Hancock) for a pizza. So, share your favorites and please let's not think about the new road going through. IMHO it will never happen. Hope I'm right!!

[joestrummer]

Pho Hoa is now open on Hancock and Billings, N Q.
Haven't had a chance to try it yet.

[Karl S]

Hong Kong Eatery.

[chowfamily]

I've been meaning to explore the area more too, but keep being drawn back to Little Q. I was there Friday night and had the lobster combo with herb broth, corn noodles and vegetables ($20.00), It was delicious. My DC enjoyed the ribeye with Mongolian broth, corn noodles, and vegetables ($17.00), They usually serve small dishes of pickled radish and soaked peanuts, but have substituted crispy snacks for the summer. The scallion pancakes are excellent ($2,50), others love their noodle special which has a bit of heat and a ground meat topping, if I recall ( $6.00). There are many options for ingredients to cook in any of the six hotpot broths

I returned today, rationalizing that my throat was a bit scratchy and it would be good for me (though any excuse will do!). I had the lunch special, which comes with beef, chicken or shrimp, and vegetables with a choice of broth and noodles ($7.50). I get cravings for the watercress!

They now have a paper menu with guides to cooking times for the various ingredients, and servers who speak different languages. There is a diverse clientel, which is nice to see. It is a very soothing experience.

Fuji has good sushi and a hip atmosphere. It is the go-to place for the young adult in our family to get together with friends for special occasions. (It is by no means limited to that age group!)

A while ago I had a piece of eggplant Sicilian pizza at Napoli, and it was very good.

I miss Classic India too - what a loss for that neighborhood.

I am determined to try many of the great recommendations you and the rest of the hounds provided in response to this great topic!

[BC4321]

I'm not surprised the Alba Trattoria is closed. It was awful. I had the chicken parm. The breaded chicken was still half frozen when they served it. My sister had a similar experience with a terrible meal. In contrast, the Alba restaurant across the street (more formal) is excellent.

[HeatherT]

They didn't close because of business issues. They closed because of this - many other businesses will fall to a similar fate:

http://ci.quincy.ma.us/filesDownload/...

[emilief]

Get Fresh, slightly on Hancock sTreet but slightly in the back I think around the corner from Fajita and Rita has quite good food. The owner/chef used to be the chef at Fava in Needham and she is quite talented. I believe she has quite a loyal following.

[CocoDan]

Peg, I'm sure you've been to many more dining spots in Quincy than I, and I've been here a long time. I think the best offerings are "Alba's" and "Trattoria Alba". They do a nice job. Both fairly limited menus, but still worthy of a visit. "Gennaro's" which is actually on Quincy Av. can be good from time to time, but there's something about it that looses me. Forget "Finian's", just awful. "The Alumni" has greasy small pan pizza only, but when you're in the mood every five years, their good with a couple of cold ones. "Five Spices" is oddly pretty good. Salt and Pepper Crab is a specialty. They will cook anything you want, any way you want it. Boy, Hancock Street doesn't have much outside of Sushi. Sad to say!
Try to Enjoy,
CocoDan

[jjbourgeois]

Trattoria Alba is closed, or will be closing very soon. They're going to be extending the highway from the Bergin parkway through Quincy center. Little Q is trying to fight the issue in court, but they will mostly likely also be forced to close.

[jjbourgeois]

Drove by tonight and Trattoria Alba is closed. Won't be long before a few more are forced out of business.

[Guinness02122]

Ooh, forgot Mascot Chef which is suppose to be great Chinese-American food.

Hancock Tavern is another overrated spot.

Also, is Carralilly all done? That was Walsh's right?

Barry's Deli is good

Great Chow is dwindling

[Pegmeister]

I thought Carralillys was still open, but I'm not positive. That location originally was Kelly's and a few other names before it became Carrililly's. Walshes was at the location where the electric place now resides. I always liked Great Chow but the parking is horrid.

[joestrummer]

Carralilly's is history. I've seen it being gutted recently.
Haven't noticed a "Coming Soon" sign for anything.

[Pegmeister]

Can't tell you how many times I've driven by and not noticed. I wondered what will take it's place.

[joestrummer]

Just noticed that Pho Hoa is opening store # 4 on the corner next to old Caralilly's.
Hancock and Billings.

[Guinness02122]

Yeah, I saw that. However, I don't know if I could ever eat at a place that was a laundromat. It's like eating at a toxic waste dump.

Also, Great Chow seams to be slipping.

[Guinness02122]

Also, also, forgot to mention:

Early American is a decent burger joint

Fowler House is barely OK

This Takes The Cake is very good at basic cakes

[Panini Guy]

Moved from Quincy in 2001, but have to ask, is the Alumni still there? Not that it' would ever quality as "great" pizza, but it definitely has a niche - the perfect food over some tap brews after a few rounds of beach volleyball or softball.

Used to work right across from Stop n'Shop HQ. They have a cafeteria there. Not sure if it's still open to the public, but it used to be and we'd eat lunch there at least once a week. It was cheap and for what it was, it was suprisingly decent - a better value than most of the sit-down places nearby for lunch.

And I really miss the sirloin tip sandwich from The Fours (technically a half block off Hancock).

[Guinness02122]

I heard the Wheelhouse, or one of those diner style places, has the Montclair Deli inside it. I miss the original Gobbler sandwich.

Alumni has decent bar pizza.

I liked both Fuji's. One is gone now, I think.

Murphy's Twin Shamrocks is a notch above the Fowler House.

There's an old greasy spoon breakfast joint off Hancock down from Goodyear Tire. The place holds about 10 people.

I think you're talking about 5 Spices which I don't know about.

Acapulco's is lousy Mexican.

The Fudge Shoppe (I think that's the name) is very good.

Paddy Barry's is about 100 yards from The Holy Ground going north. The owner of The Holy Ground owns Paddy Barry's also.

[joestrummer]

No deli in the Wheelhouse. It's tiny. I only go on weekdays because it's way too claustraphobic for me on weekends.
Great food though.

[mkel34]

I would say that the Alumni is better than decent, I would go as far as to say its the pinacle of south shore bar pizza. You can't beat the $2 afternoon special if you are eating in the bar/restaurant. Burke's Seafood in North Quincy about 100ft off of Hancock does a good fish and chip. I've been happy with the food and service at Trattoria Alba on my two trips.

[Guinness02122]

I like Burke's, but I think it's too expensive for the portion. Also, Rennaisance Cafe isn't bad. Better than Balducci's.

[chowciao]

I'd still prefer the Lynwood pizza to Alumni, but enjoy the Alumni quite a bit - especially at their prices!

[Guinness02122]

Sorry about the rambling. Yes, I believe the Alumni is still there

[Guinness02122]

On Hancock Street:

1. Siam House
2. Beni
3. Brother's Roast Beef
4. East Chinatown
5. Gennaro's (I think that's still Hancock Street)

Haven't been to Alba or Alba's Trattoria, but I heard they have a twin lobster dish for cheap.

Hate Finians

Terra Brazili is OK.

Little Q = lots of work
I had no idea what to do with the meat, so I put it in the boiling broth for like 10 minutes. The Chinese guy who didn't speak english finally showed me what to do (after watching me screw up)

Also, great Guinness at Paddy Barry's. On par with Nash's and Grafton Street.

[Pegmeister]

Never heard of Paddy Barry's. Is it in the square near the other Irish pubs? It's really amazing how many restaurants are in this area. I'm close to Beni and have gone so far as to check out their menu but haven't made it there yet. Same deal with East Chinatown. I tend to go to Burke's Seafood and grab lobsters and chowda.

[mwk]

East Chinatown is excellent; you should try it. Also very good is Quincy Dynasty, which is next to Burke's.

Another option for you is the Wheelhouse Diner. Their food is outstanding...basic diner fare, but all homemade and very tasty. They are open until 3pm.

[Pegmeister]

Wheelhouse Diner has been there for ever and most people love it. Parking is horrid but you can always park at Hannaford's and walk back. East Chinatown looks more interesting then Beni, but I want to get to both. Today, I went off Hancock to Little Duck. Enjoyed my lunch but next time I would ask them to kick up the heat in the dish a little, or actually a lot! Oh, and for the poster below (Panini Guy) the Alumni is still there, still serving decent pizza and still serving the same patrons they have for the past 30 years!

[mwk]

Hi,

Terra Brasilis (the BBQ) place is very good. They beefed up their salad bar a bit the last time I was there, and there were a few nice surprises on it--a lovely caprese salad with nice ripe tomatoes, some of the yucca root/black bean mixture, a chicken stew, some soups, macaroni and potato salad as well. The meats are mostly good. The lamb was overcooked for my tastes, and the pork was a bit dry. However the beef was all succulent and delicious, the poultry was juicy and crispy on the outside, the short ribs were good as well. Also, the sausages were very spicy and full of flavor. They even had the chicken hearts, which I like.

They also make a great Caprihna (sp?), and the desserts were pretty good too. I had a nice flan, and my companion had a passion fruit mousse, which was tasty.

As for Little Q, I love that place. It's one of my "go to" places for dinner when I don't feel like cooking myself, and I want something healthy. Taste of Taiwan is the place in the food court outside of Little Q. I've only been once for lunch, but it was tasty. They seem to specialize in shumai of different types.

Finians...yuk...imagine someplace that your grandparents would go to for the 4:30 early bird special. For the basic "American" type of food they have, you are MUCH better off going to Grumpy White's, or one of the pubs, or Jamie's in Braintree.

The Thai place on Hancock (Siam Garden, I think it is), is also quite tasty, although not quite as good as Little Duck. But, they make good curry dishes, with plenty of fire and plenty of fresh crispy veggies.

By the way, Kagawa also has great noodle dishes, like their Nabeyaki Udon soup. It's huge, and chock full of goodies like big prawns, chunks of tofu and Napa cabbage.

I know some people don't care for the Hong Kong Eatery branch on Hancock, but I've enjoyed the meals I've had there. They have very good noodle dishes, such as the dry fried beef chow foon. Other dishes looked good, as they were going to other tables, too.

[joestrummer]

On Hancock in North Quincy-

Beni Cafe - sushi and teppanyaki and apps. Same owners as Fuji.
East Chinatown. Chinese with seafood emphasis.
Tullios. Wood fired pizza and Italian. Nice atmosphere.

[chowciao]

Tulio's has long been one of our go-to places when we wanted to stick locally and still enjoy a nice meal. I love their spinach ravioli, the sauce is wonderful - not some heavy gloopy mess.

[joestrummer]

I agree but I wish they had longer hours. Lunch only a few weekdays and dinner from 5 or 6 til 10:30pm. They don't make it easy to pop in.

Any reviews on the breakfast place on Billings off Hancock, the OB Cafe I believe.
Or the Lucky 88 (?) Chinese place. If that place is good as well then the good Chinese factor in that area is off the charts.

[galangatron]

taste of taiwan
jnj turo turo filipino cuisine (short ride from hancock st)

[Pegmeister]

Actually, I drove by there the other day. Would you happen to know if it's open for lunch?

[galangatron]

which one?

[Pegmeister]

jnj turo turo filipino - It looked interesting and I've heard a few favorable reports. If they're open for lunch I may be able to torment one of my coworkers into going with me.

[galangatron]

yes. closed monday