Sweet

We decided to stop at Sweet to see what they can do for a Fire Truck themed cake for my son's Birthday. They had many of ideas, and are willing to do almost anything we want, from cupcakes, to a 3D cake. Also my neighbor recommended trying their cupcakes, so while we were there we got some cupcakes to try.

Appearance: When you walk in, you are instantly amazed by the cakes, and desserts. Every thing looks amazing. They are still slightly under construction. They are remodeling the back for a dessert bar, where you can relax and watch them make your favorite desserts right in front of you while sipping on a coffee, or cocktail.

Food: Well they have cakes, cupcakes, cannolis, and lots of other desserts to choose from. We decided to try some cupcakes. My wife went with the Jumbo Red Velvet, excellent moist cake covered in wonderful frosting. I had a tough time deciding between the Funky Murphy, the Peanut Butter, and the Margarita cup cakes, and in the end decided on the Funky Murphy which had Guinness in it. You could actually taste the Guinness, it was the best cupcake I have ever had.

Value: The jumbo cupcakes are 2.75 each, and are so big I could barely finish it. But don't worry, I did finish it, and my wife's too.

Service: We were waited on by the owner, who was very helpful. She gave many of ideas for my sons birthday cake, and then helped us choose our cupcakes.

We are planning on getting mini cupcakes for my son's party so most of you can try them then, but if we don't see you, i highly recommend going to get some for yourself.

Sweet Pastry Shop & Dessert Bar
305 Shrewsbury Street
Worcester, MA 01604
http://www.sweetworcester.com

The Melting Pot

Well after our horrible experience at Lazio's we decided after much contemplation to head to the melting pot for dessert. We arrived around 8PM, and the place was packed. We got lucky to get a table in the bar area right away.

Appearance: Slightly hard to find, hidden on the hill heading to Jordan's Furniture.The appearance is great. The dinning area is almost like private dining, and a very romantic atmosphere. The Bar area was small but very nice. All tables have built in hot plates for the fondue.

Food: I have been for dinner, and it can be confusing for the first timer, but the waiters are very helpful. I would recommend the Big Night Out to the first timer as it comes with all the courses for one flat price. But this time we were just there for dessert. For drinks My friend had a cappuccino, our wives had coffee's, and I tried the blackberry margarita. The cappuccino was weak, the coffee had a few grounds in it, and the margarita was excellent, but served in a daccari type glass with no sugar or salt on the rim. For Fondue we went with the original, and the chocolate s'mores. The original is chocolate with crunchy peanut butter mixed in, and is to die for. The chocolate s'mores was chocolate with marshmallow, and then lit on fire table side, and then mixed in gram crackers, very yummy!! Each fondue served with a plate of strawberry's, banana's, brownies, rice crispy treats, pound cake, marshmallows, and cheesecake. It was all excellent.

Value: The melting pot is very pricey, but you are paying for the experience. Dinner for 2 will cost you around $100 without drinks, but it will take you around 2 hours for your dinning experience. Our dessert fondues were $16 each for smalls, and dessert for 4 cost us $60 with drinks, and a generous tip.

Service: Our service was great. The waitress very pleasant, and willing to explain things for you. We were defiantly not rushed, even after we were done our food.

The Melting Pot
92 Worcester Road
Framingham, MA 01702
http://www.meltingpot.com

Lazio Italian Grill

I found Lazio's through WXLO's Feed me Fridays website, and bought a gift $50 certificate though them for $25. After mentioning it to a friend from work, he also purchased a certificate, and we set a night to give it a shot. On a side note, my friends wife accidentally threw away their certificate. So Saturday night we got sitters for the kids, and met at Lazio's for 6PM. Absolutely no wait, there were only a couple of tables filled.

Appearance: The place looks really nice. A patio outside that you have to walk though to get into the restaurant didn't seem like a good idea to me. The tables all set, an the lighting was dim. Every table in the restaurant can see the open kitchen.

Food: Our waitress served, or should I say spilled water while taking our drink orders 3 sodas, and I had a Magic Hat Draft. Once drinks were served, we placed our appetizer order. We chose the pick 3 sampler, and went with Brushetta, calamari, and toasted ravioli's ($14). Very disappointed with the size of this sampler, 2 small pieces of brushetta, 3 ravioli's, and a pile of calamari that didn't look appetizing as they serve the little rings, and the tentacles. My wife actually said that looks disgusting. It was OK, but not worth $14. For meals My wife ordered the Tuscan tips with mashed potatoes, and asparagus($19), my Friend had the mixed grill ofTuscan tips, chicken, and sausage with potato lasagna and asparagus($19) and added a Cesar salad($2), his wife went with the chicken Parm ($18), and I ordered the Veal Saltimbocca ($20) and added a house salad($2). When the salads were presented my first thought was I paid $2 for this, but it was actually pretty good, they were just very small. Then came the main course. The chicken parm was the only meal that looked worth the money form the presentation point of view. While eating our meals, my friend noticed a HAIR on his potatoes. He did not want to send it back as you never not what you will get in the second shot even being able to see the kitchen. But this got us all looking, and his wife noticed MULTIPLE HAIRS on her Chicken Parm. OK now we have to say something, and or course can not find our waitress, so I flag down the first person we see. I say that there is hairs on both of their plates, and she grabs their plates and heads to the kitchen. Quickly our waitress is back apologizing asking if they want their dishes remade, or want to order something else which they passed on. Shortly after the manager stops by our table also apologizing an saying the whole meal is on the house, and to order dessert or drinks if they would like to. A few minutes later our waitress is back gain also saying the whole meal for everyone is free, and hands my friends a $100 gift card in hopes they will return to give the place another shot. They believed it to be that they recently switched to a new linen company, and that they wipe the plates before serving. MAYBE!!! who knows. Also my veal was tasteless, and my wife's tips were dry, besides the fact we didn't even want to eat at that point.

Value: I think I already covered this, but way over priced.

Service: Besides spilling water, our waitress was OK. Everyone went out of there way to make things right in the end.

So now I still have $50, and our friends now have $100 to a place neither of us are really sure we would go back to. Maybe Pizza and beers will be how we spend our money..

Lazio Italian Grill
318 Main St
Northboro, MA 01532
http://www.lazioitaliangrille.com/

Joey's Bar and Grill

Friday night, I got home from work, and started the grill. We were going to have one of our favorites, grilled pizza. While the grill preheated, I started doing other things, and forgot to grease the grill and the dough stuck, very quickly we had burnt stuck dough. So we headed out, not sure where we were going to eat, and ended up at Joey's. It was around 7 PM, and the bar was full with the Sox Vs Yankee's game on, but there was no wait for a table.

Appearance: Just a small place next to Coes Pond you might not have even noticed if nobody told you about it. The Bar is very nice, with some pub type tables, and the restaurant has a very nice, but casual ambiance to it. I also notice a small patio in the back of the restaurant.

Food: Well lets start with this is not my first time visiting Joey's and I always have a tough time making a decision. While we looked through the menu, we placed a drink order and nibbled on the bread and garlic dipping sauce. My wife had a soda, my Son a Chocolate milk, and I went with a Sam Summer. We decided to start with the deep fried pickles ($5) About 6 half sour spears coated in an excellent batter, served scorching hot with a honey mustard dipping sauce. It too a few minutes until we could even try them. My wife decided to have the BBQ pork quesadilla's ($7)with a Cesar salad($7). The quesadilla's were shredded pork with black beans an corn, and were grilled to perfection, the salad needed more dressing. I ordered the baked haddock($19) off the special menu, and was extremely pleased. The haddock was topped with a crumb stuffing, fresh pineapple, and lobster, and served with mashed potatoes and carrots.

Value: Joey's is a little on the pricey side, but everything is home made, and portion sizes are good. We ate for $52 without tip

Service: As always, the hostess was pleasant, and the waitress was friendly as ever. Dinner usually takes a bit at Joey's as you have time to rest in-between courses. Always a slow relaxing dinner.

Well as I said already, this was not my first time at Joey's, and I am sure it won't be my last. I hope some of you give it a shot, and let me know what you think. Maybe even give me a call on your way, and I will meet you there as it is just around the corner.

Joey's Bar and Grill
242 Mill Street
Worcester MA 01603
508-797-3800

Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville - Myrtle Beach

Just got back from a great vacation at Myrtle Beach and thought I would review a few places we ate at while we were there. The first place we ate was Margaritaville. It was lunch time, and we waited about 5 minutes for the to make a table big enough for 7 people.

Appearance: Very cool looking restaurant. there is a large blender in the middle of the room, planes hanging from the ceiling, and a big hurricane type thing spinning from the ceiling. While we were there they did a show with Jimmy Buffet songs playing, and the TVs going static, and then showed hurricane reports, and the planes and hurricane starting moving. we were sitting on the second floor, so we could not see everything, but still very cool.

Food: The menu was not very large, and kinda pricey, but we all found something to order. For drinks most had sodas, but My buddy, and I tried the Lone Palm Ale, and very much enjoyed them. For appetizers we had the Clipper Wings (buffalo wings) and they had a good bite to them. I had the Crab and corn chowder which was great. For meals we had a Mexicali Burger, a Barbecue Bacon Cheeseburger, a Cuban Survival, California Chicken Sandwich, Fish Sandwich, Chicken Fingers with Honey Mustard , and off the kids menu Cheeseburger in Paradise . Every on thought there meal was good, nothing spectacular, just good, except the California Chicken Sandwich, which totally lacked in the taste dept. We ended by having Strawberry Shortcake delivered to the kids for their birthday, and were greatly disappointed that they did not sing. So we sung Happy Birthday Ourselves, and embarrassed the kids.

Value: Total bill was around $110 for 7 people and drinks. They did not charge for the birthday desserts. I thought it was high priced, but you are paying for the atmosphere in a tourist area, so what can you expect.

Service: The Service is the one thing we defiantly could not complain about. Our waitress was great. Very personable!! She joked with us, and was very prompt at the same time.

A cool place to visit if you are in a touristy area, but not someplace to eat everyday.

Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville
1114 Celebrity Circle
Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
http://www.margaritavillemyrtlebeach.com

Pepper Terrace Thai Cuisine

A few weeks ago a co-worker and myself stopped at Pepper Terrace in Franklin to grab a quick lunch. The place was empty, but it was a weekday afternoon, I would except a bigger crowd for dinner time.

Appearance: Just a small place, but very nice inside. They have a takeout counter, which we used, and sell some Thai spices and noodles as well. The restaurant side is behind some wooden shades, and looked set up very nice.

Food: There menu is broken up into sections, they have appetizers, entrees, noodles dish's, rice dish's, Thai salads, duck dish's, curry dish's ect. My co-worker went with the Pad Thai Noodle for $7.50 ( Noodles stir-fried with chicken, shrimp, egg, bean sprout, scallion and ground peanut) and claimed it was excellent. I had the the Singapore Noodle for $7.75 (Thin rice noodles stir-fried with eggs, onions, scallions, peas, bean sprouts, chicken, shrimps and seasoned with curry). I ordered mine without shrimp, and was very pleased on how good it was. Both meals came with a side chicken noodle soup, which reminded me of a upscale ramen noodle soup.

Value: I was very surprised that the meals came with soups for the price, and we were both quite full after the meal. There are not a lot of places to get a good lunch for under $10 a person.

Service: We only did the take out counter, but the service was good, and the order was up in under 10 minutes.

I would defiantly recommend the Pepper Terrace to any one looking to get good Thai food reasonable. The menu is quite extensive, and the food was very good.

Pepper Terrace Thai Cuisine
400 Franklin Village Dr
Franklin, MA 02038
http://pepperterrace.com

Sandi's Diner

On our way home from Cape Cod we looked for a place to grab breakfast, and we found Sandi's Diner in Chatham. A Small family run diner right on main st. The place was very busy, we got lucky and found a table right away, after that there was a line waiting.

Appearance: A restaurant style diner, filled with booths, tables, and bar stools. You can see the food being cooked on the grill while you wait. The tables were crowded with your salt, pepper, sugar, creams, maple syrup, ketchup, etc...

Food: Sandi's only serves Breakfast, and Lunch, and the menu is very short. My son had the Sand Dollar Pancakes (3.00), my wife ordered Stuffed French Toast(6.95) off the special board, and I went with the Ultimate Omelet(7.50). The sand dollars were very dry pancakes, the french toast, stuffed with cream cheese and covered in strawberry's was very good, and the Ultimate omelet was stuffed with steak, onions, and cheese, and served with toast. I was very disappointed that the omelet did not come with home fries, and our bottomless coffees, defiantly had bottoms, as they never got refilled.

Value: Our meal with drinks, came to around $23 for breakfast. I thought it was a bit on the pricey side. All omelet's were 7.50, and only came with toast, would have been around $10 with home fries.

Service: The waitress, I believe the owner, was very overwhelmed it seemed. It tool quite a while for our food to come up, and as I said our coffee's were never refilled.

I must say I would look around for some place different next time. But feel free to give it a hot if it's all you can find. The food was good.

Sandi's Diner
639 Main St
Chatham, MA 2633

Marion's Pie Shop

If you are ever on Vacation at Cape Cod, stopping at Marion's Pie Shop is a must. I found it a few years ago now, on the Phantom Gourmet Hidden Jewel list, and it is just that. A small bakery in Chatham, that is always packed with customers. We stopped there again over this past weekend, and once again, I can;t wait to go back.

Appearance: A very Small Bakery that any local can tell you how to get to. Maybe about 5 cars fit in the lot, but they are usually lined on the side of the street as well. Any more then 6 people in the place at once is a bit much, but more just keep piling into the place.

Food: There are the typical bakery things, danishes, cookies, brownies, cinnamon rolls, but I go for the pies. There are meal pies, and dessert pies. The list is too long to write. This time we tried the Dutch Apple pie (16.95) which has to be the heaviest pie I have ever held. We had some the first night right out of the box, and it was good, but the second night we heated it with ice cream, and OH MY!!! We also tried a small meal pie this time. We went with the Beef Steak Pie (9.95). It was Sirloin tips, Pearl onions, and carrots, and Gravy on the side. The pie came with baking instructions, and the small feed my wife, son, and myself for lunch. It was the most tender meat I have ever had, and was so good, I am already planning my next trip.

Value: A bit pricey for pies, but I feel well worth the money. They are Very filling, and very tasty.

Service: Very Friendly people that work there, willing to answer any and all questions you might have.

So if you are ever in the Chatham area, stop in a try a Pie. Make sure to let me know what you tried, and how it was, so I know if I want to try it next time.

Marion's Pie Shop
2022 Main St
Chatham, MA 02633
http://www.marionspieshopofchatham.com

The Edge

Thursday evening, we were all packed up, and ready to head to the Cape for the weekend. All we needed before we left was a quick bite to eat. So we decided to try the Edge Hot dogs, the home of the old Edgemere Diner on RT 20 in Shrewsbury. We arrived around 5PM, and there were only a few other people there.

Appearance: It is the old Edgemere Diner, cleaned up. There are bar stools, and a few booths inside, and a couple of picnic tables with umbrella's outside. Looks like any ordinary diner.

Food: The menu consists of Hot Dogs (Natural Casings, Skinless Skinnies, and All Beef Jumbo Dogs), Bratwurst, Sausages, and Chicken Sausages. They have many signature dogs to choose from, or pick your favorite toppings. They make some of their own topping, like Sweet Cucumber Relish, Pineapple Relish, BBQ beef sauce, and Chili. For drinks, and sides they don't have much yet, a few kinds of chips, and a cooler with few choices for drinks. They also serve Ice Cream. My wife went with 2 of their Works dogs (1.75 each) which was mustard, onions, and sweet cucumber relish, I had the Salsa Dog (1.75), and a Chicken apple sausage with pineapple relish(4.75), and my son just had a dog with ketchup(1.75). It was all excellent, and we liked the Cucumber relish so much that we stopped back on the way home from the Cape, and bought a container of it for $4 to bring to a cookout.

Value: Average prices for dogs and sausages. Added bonus that all the sauces and relishes are home made, you don't get that at a lot of places anymore. We had the 4 dogs, 1 sausage, 2 small bags of chips, 2 soda's and a milk for $17.

Service: I believe that is was the 2 owners there taking the orders, and making the dogs. They were very pleasant, and the order came up in a speedy fashion.

A great place on a hot summer day to grab a quick bite to eat. We will stop back for an ice cream some night to see how that is. An the Cucumber Relish that we brought to a cookout went over great.

The Edge
51 Hartford Turnpike (RT 20)
Shrewsbury, MA 01545