Watertown restaurant recs?
Some friends of mine are moving to Watertown (near Pleasant St out past Watertown Square) from upstate New York. I live in Somerville, and don't have a car, so I basically never make it to Watertown. I am looking for suggestions for restaurants, grocery stores, etc that I can pass along to them (and places to eat when I schlep out there to visit them). They have a ~6 month old, so takeout and casual places would be best.
I know about Russo's, of course, and Fordee's for falafel, but other than that I'm pretty ignorant about what is worthwhile in Watertown. Any tips would be appreciated!
By greenzebra
on Sep 29, 2009 02:52 PM
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La Casa de Pedro! Great Venezuelan food, nice atmosphere. Yum. I go for lunch and get the chicken quesadilla.
Also Halfway Cafe is good pub grub. I like the pot roast sandwich.
Not Your Average Joe's is just meh food but there's a nice happy hour bar scene in the evenings.
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Casa de Pedro isn't bad (great flan, otherwise OK), but is very child-friendly.
Closer to their end of town, there's the Meat Spot (sandwiches) and Demos (kebabs, etc.) for good pickup food. I like the Korean dishes at Asiana Fusion, which is also kid-friendly. Amarin is great for Thai. Upper Crust is reliable for pizza (lots of love on this board for Stella's, but it's on the other end of town).
Stellina is good for a date night, and there's a new Indian place opening up right next to it.
We have several good Persian places: Molana in Watertown Square, and Jasmine and Shiraz at the other end of town closer to Cambridge. They can also pick up Armenian and Middle Eastern prepared foods and ingredients at Arax, Sevan, and Massis. If you take the #71 bus out to Watertown, meet them at those places and get takeout. A new vegan/vegetarian place also opened recently in the same neighborhood, Red Lentil.
Sounds like they'll be closer to places in Newtonville, so you may want to get recs for over there too -- the ones I'm most familiar with are Bobalicious for bahn mi and Antoine's Pastry Shop for Italian pastries.
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FYI, I live pretty far away from Stella's, on Main over by the Halfway, but they never balk when I ask them to deliver a pie.
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In re: grocery stores, there's an entirely respectable Stop and Shop on Pleasant Street just a couple blocks past Russo's. They make a formidable one-two punch for an easy and quick shopping trip.
The Spot, on Main Street, is good for breakfast. I haven't had any of their lunch items, though.
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I second the spot for lunch, it was great when I went there. And don't foget Waltham, which is a very short hop from Watertown. Lots there.
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Coming from upstate NY, they will want to frequent Buff's Pub in Newton Corner for awesome buffalo wings. Very close to the side of Watertown where they will be living.
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Thanks for this rec - they are both originally from Buffalo, hopefully these will compare favorably to their hometown favorites.
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They are the closest to real Buffalo style that the Boston area has to offer. We were appalled when we first moved here from upstate and found most places served *breaded* wings!
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I have to vote "No" on Buff's Pub.. I went to school in Rochester and spent lots of time in Buffalo as well, and the wings at Buff's Pub are sub-sub par (plus, it's a cash-only establishment, which can be a pain at times).
In my opinion, the best wings in the Boston area are at Conley's, which is right on the Watertown/Belmont line.
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I went to school in central NY as well, eating more than my fair share of Buffalo wings, and I strongly disagree that the wings at Buff's are sub-par. I haven't had better wings at a restaurant around here.
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More info on Conley's please (location, wing size, hotness of sauce, cost)? Inquiring minds want to know. Thanks.
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The wings are well-sized, the sauce is Hot (in league with what I would consider "Hot" in Upstate NY).. IIRC, a dozen wings was around 7 bucks, but their menu is available on their site...
Conley's Pub
164 Belmont Street, Watertown, MA
http://www.conleyspub.com/
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Trying out the new Place function...
164 Belmont St, Watertown, MA 02472
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Thanks. I'll definitely try it. I also think Buff's is just OK. Originally from Toronto and fondly remember Buffalo food being good and hearty if not heart-healthy.
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I live way closer to Conley's, but think Buff's wings, and food overall is better and will gladly travel to Buff's.
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There was a 1/2 price offer on WBZ.COM this a.m. for Matilda's sandwiches - anyone been??
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Matilda's makes great sandwiches. My office frequently gets delivery from them and there has never been a complaint.
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I like Strip T's in East Watertown (mostly soups, salads, and sandwiches) and the Town Diner, also in East Watertown.
Last night, a group of us hit Stellina in Watertown Square. I thought the place was excellent, with terrific white pizza, lamb ragu, and homemade veal/pork/beef meatballs.
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I second Strip T's and Fordee's. Uncommon Grounds (on Mt. Auburn betweeen Town Diner and Fordee's) is also good for breakfast and sandwiches.
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Some great suggestions here. I'll add some of our favorites:
Victor's on North Beacon for good, reasonably priced diner food (Breakfast & lunch only) - very kid-friendly.
Stella's Pizza on Mt. Auburn Street - great thin crust, although a bit out of the way for them.
Also over that way is Eastern Lamejun on Belmont St. (runs parallel to Mt. Auburn) - pick up lamejun on the way home, heat, toss a salad, serve in minutes!
And Celebrity Pizza & Ice Cream on Mt. Auburn - a search on the board will tell you what folks like to eat there - we go mainly for soft-serve, which isn't as plentiful around here as is super-premium ice cream (see Rancatore's on Belmont St. - mmmmmm).
Just down Common St. across the line in Belmont is Kitchen On Common - we have never been but lots and lots of our friends enjoy take out from there and many go early w/their kids (limited seating, but very kid-friendly and family owned place).
Amarin for Thai - in Newton Corner
I'd also encourage Bobalicious & Antoine's and add to those the sausages from DePasquale's (not pre-cooked, but fresh and easy to cook), which is practically next door to the others.
When considering destinations and timing - they'll find out soon enough that trying to go thru Watertown Sq. to the "other side" is a pain in the you-know-what at rush hour!
GG
http://www.semisweetonline.com
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Also on the same block as Antoins and dePasquales is Steamers a good fish maket and down the block Vecchia Roma is pretty good. I miss this block alot since we moved to JP.
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throw in stoddards where you can get your knives sharpened, and a store dedicated to all things fly fishing (mayfly and co.), plus old school hardware store, post office, dunkin donuts and a liquor store, if stellas pizza was in this neighborhood, i would never leave
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If you're on Pleasant St, it's not that far to Taqueria El Amigo on Willow Street in Waltham.
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If you want some good, solid burgers Wild Willy's is where it's at
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Thanks for all the recommendations, I knew I could count on Chowhound.
Does anyone know if Amarin is vegetarian-friendly? They both love Thai food (more of the Americanized style than super-traditional), but one is a vegetarian so more traditional Thai restaurants can be tricky.
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There are some veggie-friendly dishes on the menu, but not too many - veggies & curry and a few tofu dishes. I mix 'n' match, so I'm not sure if a true vegetarian would find enough that'd appeal, but here is the menu:
http://www.amarinofthailand.com/index.html
GG
http://www.semisweetonline.com
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They might want to try Red Lentil, the new vegetarian restaurant in Watertown. 600 Mount Auburn Street. I haven't been yet, but it's gotten some positive reviews on here.
http://www.theredlentil.com/
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