Category : Bella De Lucca, Casa De Lucca, Channel Cafe, Garden at the Cellar, JP, Review
I've had a bunch of reviews I've been meaning to get to, but have been too lazy to do a full write up on each of them. So I decided to clump them all together into one post.
Channel Cafe
Located on Summer Street in South Boston in the Fort Point Channel area, Channel Cafe is a very quaint cafe located on the basement level of a artist studio condo building. Basically, this place is a lot better than it needs to be. There's a DJ in the corner by the bar with tons of small tables in the open area of the basement. We started with the cheese plate which was accompanied by apples and honey. Abby got the veggie burger and I went with the carnitas tacos. Both were excellent. Finally, even though we were both stuffed, I just had to order the doughnuts for dessert. Hot and fresh, it was a great way to end the meal. Prices aren't bad either. I give Channel Cafe a 4 out of 5.
Garden at the Cellar
A place we've been dying to try for the food for a long time and it seems like every Friday night that we've come here, it was over 2 hours to wait for a table. I've been here before for just drinks and any bar that serves Boddingtons on tap is my type of place. Finally, during a birthday bar crawl for our friend Heidi, we stopped in to get a quick bite while the rest of the crawl continued on their drunken way. I ordered the cuban sandwich with the famous tater tots. Good god was that a great sandwich and the tots were as good as advertised. We will definitely be back to try out dinner one of these nights. I give Garden at the Cellar a 4 and 1/2 out of 5.
Bogies
We had our hopes up to try out this great BBQ joint near Abby's parent's house in Great Barrington called Route 7 Grill. Sadly, it was 3:30 on a Saturday and it was between lunch and dinner so we were out of luck there. Down the street was Bogies, a bar that Abby used to frequent often in her younger years. On it's premise was a driving range, which I thought was pretty neat. Too bad the rest of the bar wasn't as neat. It was cheap, I'll give it that. But the food was medicore and the service was a little slow, especially since there was only us 4 and a group of people watching the World Cup. The driving range and the games in the back adds 1/2 a point and I give Bogies a 2 and 1/2 out of 5.
Casa De Lucca
If you are in Beverly, MA for some reason and are looking for dinner, you can do a lot worse than Casa De Lucca. Very above average Italian fare with extremely generous portions, Casa De Lucca is basically an Olive Garden run by a family. (And I mean that as a compliment, I really do.) There's the never ending breadsticks and salad that comes with every pasta dish. There's the older lady waitress that's super sweet and smiles every time she comes to our table. There's wine that's a good price for a whole bottle. I ordered the Southern Italy tour which comes with full portions of lasagna, linguine bolognese, and chicken parm. (It really comes with eggplant parm, but I asked to have it switched out and they did it with no extra charge.) Try as I might, I couldn't even put a dent into this plate. I'll be having leftovers for the next two days. Casa De Lucca won't come close to the best North End restaurants, but it doesn't have to. The prices are dirt cheap and the food is good. What else do you want? I give Casa De Lucca a 3 and 1/2 out of 5.
Pho Hoa Quincy
Recently profiled in Boston.com Cheap Eats, Pho Hoa in Quincy is another in the famous Vietnamese chain. The prices are a bit cheaper than in Boston and I thought the pho bo broth was tastier. The place was clean and the service quick and friendly. I give Pho Hoa Quincy a 3 and 1/2 out of 5.
