Metrowest Boston Area Dining Guide

1699 Worcester Rd
Framingham, MA 01701
(50 879-2822

Not yet reviewed.  Feel free to share your comments here!

Not yet reviewed here.  Feel free to share your comments!

Review on yelp with link below.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/yama-japanese-restaurant-wellesley

Recommended for: Couples, Large Parties, Private Functions, Lakeside Dining, Bar Scene

Food: Excellent

Service: Excellent

Cleanliness: Good

Wine List: Excellent

Beers on Tap: Just OK

Prices: Appetizers $9, Salads $5 - $7, Entrees $15 - $24

Awards: 2007 Wine Spectator Award of Excellence

Alicante is a Lakeside, upscale casual restaurant that serves contemporary Spanish, Mediterranean/Iberian cuisine.

The first thing you notice when driving to the restaurant are the cars lined up and down the street, then it’s the full lot.  Luckily, there’s complimentary valet parking available.  Upon entering the restaurant, the smells of garlic, lemon and fresh rosemary wash over you as if to let you know you’re in for something special.  The atmosphere is inviting with vaulted ceilings in the dining room containing properly spaced tables with white cloths and brilliant blue glassware.

The menu consists of a wide range of Mediterranean and Spanish items that one might describe as “comfort food”.  Stuffed artichokes, bacon wrapped scallops, mushroom caps stuffed with crabmeat and the calamari are all worth a try for appetizers.  At my last visit, a special consisting of a veal chop stuffed with Maine lobster made my night.  Portions are usually large enough to take a second day’s meal home with you.

The servers in the dining room are what you would expect at a fine dining establishment, very professional and informed. 

Alicante also has a bar scene, although it is a different experience than in the dining room.  There is a small area of cocktail tables and a horseshoe bar.  Trying to find a seat at the bar is as hard as parking legally in Boston but eventually someone pays their bill while a small crowd builds up behind them jumping at their stools like an adult game of musical chairs.  They pump music into the area at a level that makes it hard to talk but most people don’t seem to mind, not even the healthy percentage of pre and post retirees that claim one end of the bar.

Although Alicante is a bit of a drive from any major highway, if you’re in the mood for a satisfying meal with an ethnic flair, this restaurant is worth a try.  Dining al fresco by the lake will be available this summer.

http://legalseafoods.com/index.cfm?cd=LOCATION&pid=11279&cdid=11848

Reliably fresh seafood with innovative preparations is what Legal Sea Foods is all about.  Although Legal Sea Foods is a chain, they do a great job at masking that well with a funky neon, and brightly lit decor, excellent service, and freshly prepared seafood and fish.  The Framingham location has established a relationship with a small cheese shop in Wellesley as well bringing in a variety of unusual and hard to find cheeses for an appetizer or after dinner delight.

The wine list is very good, often bringing in new selections each season.  You can choose a wine flight as well here and the waitstaff does a fantastic job of describing the wines before trying them.  The staff also knows the menu well and is very comfortable offering suggestions based upon your mood.

Legal’s does offer a kids menu.  Although you won’t ever find the place packed with little ones, you can feel comfortable bringing the family here.  And for business travelers from out of town, looking for that authentic New England clam chowder or crab bisque, you will find it here along with fresh lobster and a variety of other seafood and fish dishes to choose from.  If you’re in the mood for something lighter, try one of the salads and have grilled shrimp or fish topped on it.  One of my favorites is the pear and blue cheese salad with a bit of grilled shrimp.  Legal’s knows how to cook and not once have the shrimp ever come out to me at anything less than perfectly cooked.

Legal Sea Foods can be expensive depending upon your ordering preferences but it is well worth the cost for the fresh and pleasantly prepared meals.  A great place to go for a business dinner or lunch with out of town clients.

http://www.fireflysbbq.com/Marlborough.htm

View the review of the Framingham location.  Link below.

http://metrowestbostonrestaurants.com/category/framingham-restaurants/fireflys-bbq/

http://www.altastradarestaurant.com/

Located on Rt. 16 in the heart of Wellesley center you’ll find Alta Strada (which was once the home of Fig’s).  The friendliest and most attentive waitstaff that I’ve encountered in a long time.  Customer service was excellent and the staff is hugely knowledgeable about the offerings. Our server even knew the wine list well enough to describe the grapes and the regions in which the selections came.  Impressive for the ‘burbs.

The menu is well comprised of Italian selections from anti-pasta starters, a good selection of salads, pizza, and pasta dishes from which to choose.

I ate out with a group of 5 and we all enjoyed our meals.  We started with a homemade ricotta appetizer served with sage and olive oil along with some marinated eggplant.  I recommend the ricotta.  It was wonderfully creamy with just the right amount of sage.  We sampled a chicken dish, beef, pasta, and seafood dishes which were all well prepared and tasty with proper portion sizes - not the crazy overloaded plates you’ll find at some Italian restaurants.

The restaurant is a bit tight.  Tables are close together and the restaurant does tend to get a bit loud on a weekend night.  Alta Strada tried to counter this by lining the brick walls with acoustic tiles to cut down on the noise but it doesn’t help much.  The decor is clean and modern with accents of brick and stainless steel.  Most patrons were in jeans so you didn’t feel as though the place was too pretentious but yet it still felt sophisticated.

If you don’t try dessert, be sure to stop downstairs in the market for a bag of their freshly made chocolate chip cookies to take home with you.  Alta Strada should offer these as a dessert served warm with ice cream because they are some of the best around, topping a few of the local pasty shops.

Reservations are highly recommended.  It is a popular place, in an easy to access location and small so be prepared to wait if you haven’t reserved a table.  If you are trying to make your reservations on Opentable.com; the hostess has informed me that you can’t make them for over 4 people so you’ll have to call the restaurant directly.

Alta Strada is a wonderful little restaurant with freshly prepared Italian food and incredibly great customer service.  Not to be missed. 

198 East Main St, Milford 508-482-1700

http://www.trufflesgrille.com/

This chef owned restaurant is an American contemporary bistro and wine bar.  Chef Anna Wallach is brilliant in the kitchen while her husband Howard skillfully handles the front and tends to the wine. 

The atmosphere is warm and inviting, upscale but comfortable, lit by a candled fireplace and set around an open kitchen.  The bar area is small but cozy, and perfect for striking up conversation with other folks in for a drink or a casual dinner. 

Everything from salad dressings to desserts are made in-house and the menu consists of clean, fresh, inventive dishes with a focus on flavor and texture.   The tenderloin bruschette appetizer is exceptional as well as the rack of lamb and duck.  The attention to detail is also superb as noted by the selection of flavored salts available from around the world.

For lovers of fine wine, you won’t be disappointed.  The inventory is huge with many affordable options.  Flights are available as well, artfully selected for you, making it the perfect way to turn a wonderful dinner into a wine tasting.

In an area suffocated by chain restaurants and sports bars, Truffles is a gem serving Boston food without the pretense.  Howard and Anna always make you feel like family.

http://cheesecakefactory.com/locations.htm

(50 653-0011

A Cheesecake Factory always seems to have a line and a wait.  Why?  Because there is definitely something for everyone on the menu.  It has to be the largest menu of any chain restaurant in the country (or at least one of them).  If you can’t find something on the Cheesecake Factory menu that you’d like to at least try, then you might as well just not eat.  For a chain, the food is above average.  Lettuce wraps are fresh, spicy and you are given a healthy-sized portion.  Salads are large and so are sandwiches.  The portabello sandwich is a great veggie option and for dinner, give a try to some of their specialties like Hungarian goulash.  You won’t leave hungry. Burgers are huge and served with ample portions of a bit salty but light french fries.   Sunday brunch is also served until 2pm with a good variety of egg choices and waffles.  Portions are large at the Cheesecake Factory.  And don’t forget dessert.  The chocolate cake is huge - bigger than a brick and you’ll have about a dozen different choices of cheesecake varieties to choose from.

Do expect lots of kids and lots of families.  This location (like many others) has a large bar so it is a good spot to meet up with friends for a drink.  Their wine list is long and the drink menu as well so you’re sure to find something to please. 

The only problem with the MetroWest Cheesecake Factory location is just that, it’s location.  It is smack-dab in the middle of the front parking lot off of Rt. 9 in Natick.  It is a stand-alone building so you cannot access it from the mall and the parking around the restaurant itself is minimal.  So, in the winter, you wind up parking in the Natick Collection parking garage, walking over to Lord & Taylor, walking out the door, into the cold (and sometimes snow and freezing rain) through the parking lot and into the Cheesecake Factory.  It makes absolutely no sense why they wouldn’t attach this restaurant to the mall itself for the convenience of its patrons.  There is a valet service if you want to fork over $7 or you can endlessly drive around the small, crowded lot in front and hope for the best. 

If you’re in the mood for the cuisine but not the dining, you can always do take out.  There are plenty of “10 minute” parking spaces out front for pick-up.

http://nicholas-restaurant.com/

A mix of Greek food is what you’ll find here; either fried, broiled or grilled.  There is lamb, stuffed grapeleaves, and meatballs on the dinner menu along with a large array of salads to choose from.  The dining atmosphere is bright with plenty of booths and is a budget friendly place to stop and eat.  Nothing really knocks your socks off here but you can get a good Greek meal at a decent price.  Nicholas is also open for lunch and recently started serving a Sunday brunch as well.

http://aegeanrestaurants.com/