|
Five hidden restaurant
gems in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island that will
surely please the appetite
by Eric H., Posted
4/4/07
A hidden gem restaurant might
have few patrons on a Saturday night, be located between East
Washbucket and West Podunk, or have no advertising budget, but
don't let that keep you from dining on some of the region's best
food. Generally best known and enjoyed by locals, these hidden
gems are sure to please during your central and southern New
England travels:
Stoggy Hollow General Store
and Restaurant, Woodstock Valley, Conn. (Northeast Connecticut)
-- What makes the Stoggy Hollow
General Store and Restaurant a true hidden New England restaurant
is that it's located in a equally hidden New England community.
Tiny Woodstock Valley may be the epicenter of northeast Connecticut's
"Quiet Corner," a place that makes "Green Acres"
look like Times Square. Pies, cakes and other delicious baked
goods occupy the charming country store side of this ancient
1836 wooden building while hearty breakfast, lunch and dinner
selections fulfill the biggest appetites on the restaurant side.
The pulled pork is particularly good, but you can't go wrong
with the fresh oversized sandwiches and great pancakes. What
puts Stoggy Hollow over the edge on the quality restaurant meter
is the life that it brings to the community in the most traditional
sense -- a place where people congregate to converse, buy the
Sunday paper, and enjoy the homemade foods. Stoggy Hollow may
be hard to find, but ultimately hard to beat when it comes down
to good old country cooking, located in the proverbial "middle
of nowhere."
Stoggy Hollow 492 Eastford
Rd.(Rt.198), Woodstock Valley, Ct. 06282. Tel. 860-974-2889
Main Street Cafe, North Easton
Village, Mass. (South Boston suburb)
-- In appearance, the Main Street Cafe comes across as plain
as its name with worn wooden floors and bargain bought table
and chairs only slightly enhanced at night by the decorative
white lights creating the somewhat inviting outside. What's not
plain about the Main Street Cafe is the chef's ambition to take
conventional breakfast, lunch and dinner menu items to the next
level by using high quality raw materials and adding a flourish
here and there while keeping the prices down. Standouts include
the tender baked lamb dinner that has a sauce that tastes different
and better than what most restaurants turn out, pizza with chourico
(a spicier version of linguica), and a blueberry saturated muffin
that seems almost bigger than tiny North Easton Village. The
Main Street Cafe also serves a great hot fudge sundae, has an
inviting counter section, and accommodates rather interesting
poetry group readings on Wednesday nights.
Main Street Cafe 122 Main
Street, North Easton Village, Mass. Tel. (508) 238-6788
Reed's Country Store, New
Braintree, Mass. (Central Massachusetts) -- If you're expecting a classic New England
country store with quilts, penny candy, home furnishings, the
overwhelming smell of candles, and an owner with an unintelligible
local accent, then Reed's Country Store isn't for you. While
the country store section is pretty much convenience and package
store merchandise, the restaurant is what really shines with
its family-style breakfast and lunches, and Friday night dinners.
Our party of four had omelettes, a fresh salad and chocolate
chip pancakes as good as any we've experienced in our extensive
New England travels. With stone walls, a pleasant, cozy dining
room, an open kitchen and friendly, attentive service, Reed's
Country Store represents the best of "local dining,"
a place that locals depend on, as validated by the crowds.
Reed's Country Store. New
Braintree Rd, New Braintree, Mass., Tel.: (508) 867-9512
Colonial House Cafe, Norwood,
Mass. (Southwest Boston suburb) --
Set in a residential neighborhood and looking like an auto body
shop from some angles, the Colonial House Cafe seems like an
unlikely place to have a restaurant. Once inside however, the
colonial look with nice wooden floors, post and beam ceilings,
a fireplace and comfortable booths has the look of a true New
England traditional restaurant. The menu is huge, specializing
in very fresh seafood -- including lobster specials and excellent
New England clam chowder -- Italian dishes almost as good as
the North End of Boston, and some very solid steak and chicken
dishes. Particularly good are the calamari, steak tips and eggplant
parmagiana. Locals who tend to wear baseball caps 24/7 love the
bar and dining room sections, but outside Norwood and perhaps
neighboring Walpole, Westwood and Dedham, very few people know
about this place that looks like just another neighborhood house
-- or auto body shop depending on the angle.
Colonial House Restaurant,
33 Savin Ave, Norwood, Mass., Tel. (781) 762-3000
Western Hotel Pizza and Tavern,
Burrillville, R.I. (Northern Rhode Island)
-- This 1700s stagecoach stop once accommodated Abraham Lincoln,
but today bikers, families and blue collar workers looking for
great straightforward American food have replaced the stovepipe
hat crowd. Looking like something out of Gary Cooper's "High
Noon," the Western Hotel with its long, imperfect western
saloon-like structure and swinging doors leading to the bar,
has a great signature dish in the very tender "Back Diamond"
steak, a delicious baked potato, good bar pizza and authentic
Rhode Island red clam chowder. Located in a town center with
a service station, old homes, and an almost deafening silence,
the Western Hotel is one of those great word-of-mouth places
that really delivers the goods in a truly unique setting.
Western Hotel Pizza and Tavern,
610 Douglas Ave., Burrillville, R.I.,
Tel. (401) 568-6253
|
|
|
Find
the perfect place for your New England vacation |
|
The New England Lodging
Guide
Find guaranteed lowest rates
and make reservations online at New England's best hotels, inns,
bed and breakfasts and motels.
New England lodging page
|
|
The
New England Marketplace |
|
Shop New England style online
VermontTeddyBear
Stonewall Kitchen
is best known for their award-winning
Specialty Foods, also offers a wide variety of gourmet foods
and gifts, kitchen and cookware, home decor and garden accessories,
recipes and their classic Product of the Month, always 10% off.
|
|