Worcester, Mass

[Busboy]

Any tips on dining in Worcester? Interested in anything from decent upscale to ethnic and diners. In fact, I find myself respectfully skeptical of anything upscale and would probably be happy with a cut-above-the-chains burger place for a big meal. All replies mentioning Legal Seafood will be ignored.

[katbalou]

piccolo's on shrewsbury st. legal seafoods is no longer here. boulevard diner also on shrewsbury st. shrewsbury st. is possibly your best bet, as it has everything from sushi to upscale and homestyle italian. el basha on corner of lake ave and rte.9 for greek, the manor in west boylston isn't bad. 86 winter,(which is actually now on water st)american comfort food, a little upscale.

kathee

[WHS]

Weintraub's on Kelly Square is a great old jewish deli with hand-cut pastrami--looks like a time capsule from 1941. Good chopped liver and fries, matzoh ball soup--eh. Next door is a good Eastern European grocery store selling multi varieties of sausage, etc. Seedy neighborhood, great atmosphere.

Edited September 30, 2007 by WHS (log)

[Busboy]

Unfortunately we never made it to Shrewsbury Street, and the boy -- a WPI freshman -- was anti-Italian because pasta is apparently the only non-disgusting thing in the dining hall.

Fortunately, based on the recommendation of "some guy from California" my son guided us to Baba, which is a hip and excellent sushi joint somewhere downtown. I'm not sufficiently sushi-fied to rank sushi on a fine and delicate scale ("I give this futo-maki a 94.6 on a 100-point scale"), but I'm happy to go out on a limb and call the quality of the sushi well above average even in comparison with the big city stuff. I loved the yellowtail roll and the uni -- sea urchin -- was as delightful as anything I've ever put in my mouth. We also got a tasty bit of twice-baked yellowtail jaw, lacquered with a soy glaze, a slightly overcooked bit of beef on a skewer and an oyster shooter from an extensive non-sushi menu. The restaurant also offered six or eight types of cold saki, so we had a little taste test. I forget which one won. Seemed quite reasonably priced, as well, given how rapidly my family can run up a sushi-n-saki tab.

The restaurant itself is tiny, maybe eight tables and the bar, and the decor is lovely and calming and hip; as my daughter said, "even the bathroom is cool." The chef won some chosen "best Chef in Worcester" competition and that, along with glowing reviews means that if fills up quick. We got lucky when we arrived at 6 on Sunday evening, but I'll call ahead next time.